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Black Boston: The North Slope of Beacon Hill Black Boston Highlights: 1638-1909 Crispus Attucks, black martyr of the Boston Massacre, was the sym­ bol of sacrifice in the name of lib­ erty for black Revolutionary War soldiers who helped bring a free nation into being. Yet American promises of freedom and equality rang hollow in the ears of slaves like Quok Walker, who sued for his liberty in 1783. With his victory, Massachusetts abolished slavery, declaring it incompatible with the state constitution. Free blacks, uniting families and seeking mutu­ al support, concentrated in Bos­ ton’s North End near the docks and sea where many worked. Black Bostonians’ organizations, like the African Society and Prince Hall Masons, spoke out against racial discrimination and slavery. Establishment of the African Bap­ tist Church and construction of its African Meeting House on Beacon Hill in 1806 drew many blacks to hear the church’s dynamic minister, Thomas Paul. Soon the center of an active community, the meeting house hosted a school, community groups, musical performances, and antislavery agitation. From these slopes Prince Hall denounced the ill treatment of blacks in Bos­ ton, David Walker exhorted south­ ern slaves to rise up against their massachusetts historical society masters, Maria Stewart called black men to greater exertions on behalf of their race, William C. Nell spearheaded the successful movement for school integration, Lewis Hay­den defied southern slave catchers, and Frederick Doug­ lass inspired black men to enlist in the Civil War to end slavery. In 1831 white abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison launched his radical newspaper The Liberator promot­ ing interracial antislavery alli­anc­es and the protection of fugitive slaves on the Underground Rail­ road. Boston earned its reputation as a strong center of abolition dur­ ing antislavery protests in the wake of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Black and white Bostonians took direct action to protect and some­ times rescue fugitives seek­ing shel­ ter in the city. In the Civil War black Bos­tonians formed the core of the 54th Massa­ chu­setts Regiment, fighting to pre­ serve the United States and de­stroy slavery. Boston’s blacks, mainly domestic workers, laborers, and sailors, created an active communi­ ty on Beacon Hill that fought for better working conditions. They joined other blacks and white abo­ litionists, building a campaign that brought freedom to all blacks. Boston’s African American community has traditionally lived in neighborhoods shown here. Col. Robert Gould Shaw, son of a Boston abolitionist family, commanded the 54th Massachusetts Regi­ ment, the first all-black military unit raised in the North in the Civil War (middle). Poster in Boston recruiting African Americans for service in the 54th Regiment, 1863 (near left). After the Civil War many freed African Ameri­cans moved north. Boston’s black pop­ulation in­ creased from fewer than 2,500 in 1860 to nearly 12,000 by 1900. Most newcomers came from the Southeast, some brought by the Freedman’s Bur­eau for training and employment as domestic servants. They expanded black residential ar­eas, settling in Boston’s South End and Roxbury. Gradu­ally longtime black residents of Bea­con Hill moved their businesses and homes to that area. By 1930 South End and Roxbury were home to most of Boston’s 21,000 African Americans. 1638 First enslaved Africans brought to Boston aboard the slave ship Desire. 1641 Massachusetts enacts Body of Liberties defining legal slavery in the colony. 1770 Crispus Attucks, an es­ caped slave, is first colonist killed in the Boston Massacre. 1783 Slavery abolished in Mas­sa­chu­setts. Abiel Smith School 1798 First black private school opens in home of Primus Hall. 1855 Boston integrates public 1800 Free black population nears 1,100. 1861 Civil War begins. 1806 African Meeting House tion signed; 54th Massachu­setts Vol­unteer Infan­try Regi­ment formed, the first all-black regiment raised in the North. opens as First African Bap­tist Church. 1808 Hall house school moves to Afri­can Meeting House. 1826 Massachusetts General Coloured Association, a black abolitionist group, founded in the African Meeting House. 1829 David Walker publishes The Appeal, an essay urging slaves to fight for their freedom. 1831 William Lloyd Garrison be­gins publishing The Liberator. 1832 Garrison forms New Eng­ © Joanne Devereaux land Anti-Slavery Society at the African Meeting House. Fugitive slave Ellen Craft and Boston antislavery activist Lewis Hayden (right). The light-skinned Craft and her husband William Craft were two of many fugitive slaves that Hay­den helped keep out of the hands of slave catchers. Afri­can Meeting House (left). William Lloyd Garrison established The Liberator in Boston in 1831. He devoted the four-page weekly newspaper to the defeat of slavery.  the bostonian society / Old state house The slavery trial of Anthony Burns (right) in Boston galvanized North­­ern op­po­si­tion to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. After the trial, U.S. marshals and a company of marines escort Burns to a ship to take him back to Virgin­ia and slavery (far right). John J. Smith, Boston abolitionist (above left). Sgt. William H. Carney, the nation’s first black Medal of Honor recipient (left). both: Museum of AFRICAN American History All photos Library of Congress unless otherwise credited Museum of AFRICAN American History Reformer Wendell Phillips addresses an anti-slavery meeting on Boston Common, April 11, 1851 (far left). The largest African American community in Boston during the decades before the Civil War was on the northern slope of Beacon Hill, in the shadow of the Massa­chusetts State House. Al­t hough some black Bostonians lived in the North End and in the West End north of Cam­bridge Street, over half the city’s 2,000 blacks lived on Beacon Hill just below the homes of wealthy whites. The historic buildings along today’s Black Heritage Trail® were the homes, businesses, schools, and churches of a thriving black community that organized, from the nation’s earliest years, to sustain those who faced local discrimination and na­t ion­a l slavery, struggling toward the equality and freedom prom­ised in America’s documents of national liberty. National Historic Site Massachusetts Boston African American National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Text by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton 1835 Abiel Smith School opens, Boston’s first black public school; replaces African Meeting House school. 1849–50 Sarah Roberts unsuc­ cessfully challenges segregation in Boston public schools. 1850 Fugitive Slave Law re­quires fugitive slaves be re­turned to their owners. schools; Abiel Smith School closes. 1863 Emancipation Proclama­ 1865 Civil War ends; 13th Amend­ment abolishes slavery. 1897 Robert Gould Shaw Me­mo­rial honoring 54th Massachu­­­setts Regiment dedicated on Boston Common. 1898 Black congregation at Af­rican Meeting House moves to Rox­bury; meeting house be­comes a Jewish synagogue. 1900 Sgt. William H. Carney, veteran of the 54th Massachusetts Regi­ment, receives Medal of Honor for rescuing the flag during the Battle of Fort Wagner, S.C., in 1863. 1901 William Monroe Trotter begins publication of influential African American magazine The Boston Guardian. 1909 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) founded, with overwhelm­ing support of black and white Bostonians. Black Heritage Trail ® Planning Your Visit 54th Regiment Memorial George Middleton House Phillips School The American Revolution was a turning point in the status of African Americans in Massachusetts. In 1783 the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts declared slavery unconstitutional. When the first federal census was counted in 1790, Mas­ sachusetts was the only state in the Union to record no slaves. 54th Regiment Memorial Park and Beacon streets Responding to pressure from black and white abolitionists, Pres­ident Lincoln admitted African American soldiers in­to the Union forces in 1863. The 54th Regiment of Mas­ sachusetts Volunteer Infantry was the first black regiment re­cruited in the North. On July 18, 1863, the 54th regiment led an assault on Fort Wagner in an at­tempt to cap­ ture Con­feder­ate-held Charles­ton, S.C. In this hard-fought battle, Col. Robert Gould Shaw and many of his soldiers were killed. Sgt. William Carney of New Bedford was wounded while saving the flag from capture. Carney was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery, the first black soldier to receive this honor. This bronze memorial by Augustus Saint-Gaudens was dedicated May 31, 1897, in a ceremony that included Carney and members of the 54th Regiment. (1735–1815), one of the original owners, was a Revolutionary War veteran. Middleton led the Bucks of America, one of three black militias that fought against the British. After the war he became an activist and community leader, helping found the Free African Society and serving as the 3rd Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons, a fraternal order started by black Bostonian Prince Hall. The free African American community in Boston was concerned with finding decent housing, establishing indepen­ dent supportive institutions, educating their children, and ending slavery in the rest of the nation. Be­t ween 1800 and 1900, most Afri­c an Ameri­c ans in Boston lived in the West End, between Pinckney and Cam­bridge streets and be­t ween Joy and Charles streets, a neigh­ borhood now called the North Slope of Beacon Hill. Many of these homes are part of the Black Her­i­tage Trail.® Note: Historic homes on the Black Her­i­tage Trail® are private residences and not open to the public. Please respect the privacy of homeowners. George Middleton House 5–7 Pinckney Street Built in 1787 this structure is one of the oldest standing homes on Beacon Hill. George Middleton © JAMES LEMASS Charles Street Meeting House a barbershop that became a center for abolitionist activity and a rendezvous point for people escaping on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, Smith was a recruiting officer for the all-black 5th Cavalry. He was later elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for three terms. Smith lived here from 1878 to 1893. Charles Street Meeting House Mt. Vernon and Charles streets This meeting house was built in Phillips School 1807 by the white Third Baptist Anderson and Pinckney streets This architecture is typical of 1800s Church of Boston. New England’s Boston schoolhouses. Built in 1824, segregationist tradition of church seating prevailed. Timothy Gilbert, this was a white-only school until church member and abolitionist, 1855. Black children attended school on the first floor of the Afri­ tested the tradition in the midcan Meeting House or, after 1834, 1830s by inviting black friends to his pew one Sunday. Gil­bert was the Abiel Smith School. When the ex­pelled. Joined by other white Massachusetts Legislature abolabolitionist Baptists, Gilbert foundished segregated schools in 1855, ed the First Baptist Free Church, the Phillips School became one of which be­came Tremont Temple— Boston’s first integrated schools. considered to be one of the first integrated churches in Ameri­ca. John J. Smith House After the Civil War, Boston’s black 86 Pinckney Street population in­creased, and the largBorn free in Richmond, Va., John J. Smith (1820–1906) moved to Bos- est of its churches bought the building in 1876. The African Meth­ ton in the late 1840s. He opened o­dist Episcopal Church (A.M.E.) re­mained here until 1939, the last black institution to leave Beacon Hill. Lewis and Harriet Hayden House 66 Phillips Street Lewis Hayden (1816–1889), born enslaved in Lexington, Ky., escaped with his wife Harriet and settled in Boston. Lewis became a leader in the abolition movement, and the Hayden House became an integral stop on the Underground Railroad. The Haydens reportedly kept kegs of gunpowder in their home that they threatened to ignite if slave catchers tried to enter. Hay­ den also recruited for the 54th Regiment, was a Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons, and was later elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. John Coburn House 2 Phillips Street John Coburn (1811–1873) was a clothing retailer and community activist. He served as treasurer of the New England Freedom Association, an organization dedicated to helping people escape from Lewis and Harriet Hayden House Abiel Smith School at Smith Court slavery. In 1851 he was arrested, tried, and acquitted for the courthouse rescue of Shadrach Minkins, a freedom seeker who was caught in Boston by federal slave catchers empowered by the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. Coburn was co-founder and captain of the Massasoit Guards, a black military company in 1850s Boston that was a precursor to the 54th Regiment. and African Meeting House deacon. • Numbers 7 and 7A Joseph Scarlett, chimney sweep and entrepreneur, owned this building in the 1860s; it served as rental property. • Number 10 Scarlett also owned this property next to the African Meeting House. At his death in 1898, Scarlett owned 15 properties in Boston, a testament to his hard work and success in business. Smith Court Residences 3, 5, 7, 7A, and 10 Smith Court These five homes typify those of black Bostonians in the 1800s. • Number 3 Owner James Scott’s Underground Railroad activity is documented in the records of the Boston Vigilance Committee. Like John Coburn (see 2 Phillips Street), Scott was arrested, tried, and acquitted for the 1851 rescue of Shadrach Minkins. William Cooper Nell, abolitionist and community leader, also lived at Number 3. Nell, the driving force in the struggle to integrate Boston’s schools in 1855, is considered the nation’s first published black historian. • Number 5 Owner George Washington was a bootblack, laborer, The brick apartment houses on the west end of the court and on the corner of Joy Street typify the tenements that developers built between 1885 and 1915. The apartments provided inexpensive, dense housing units for the waves of late-1880s European immigrants. Except for the Smith Court Residences, most wooden houses were torn down to make way for these four- and five-story apartments. Abiel Smith School 46 Joy Street White philanthropist Abiel Smith willed money to the city of Boston for educating African American children. The city built this school building with Smith’s legacy. In ALL photographs © susan cole kelly EXCEPT AS NOTED 1835 Boston’s black children attended the Smith School, which replaced the school in the African Meeting House. The school remained Boston’s black public school until public schools were integrated in 1855. African Meeting House 8 Smith Court The African Meeting House, built by free black laborers in 1806, is considered the oldest surviving black church building in the United States. In the 1800s the building served as the center of religious, social, educational, and political activity for Boston’s free black community. William Lloyd Garrison founded the New England AntiSlavery Society here in 1832. Fred­ erick Douglass spoke here, and it was a recruitment station for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment dur­ ing the Civil War. At the end of the 1800s a Jewish congregation bought the building, and it served as a synagogue until 1972, when it was acquired by the Museum of African American His­tory. ✩GPO:20xx—xxx-xxx/xxxxx Reprint 20xx Printed on recycled paper. Boston African American National Historic Site works in partnership with the Museum of African American History, the City of Boston, and private property owners to promote, preserve, and interpret the history of Boston’s free African American community on Beacon Hill in the 1800s. It includes homes, businesses, schools, and churches of a community that struggled against the forces of slavery and injustice. tours, call 617-742-5415 or visit www.nps.gov/boaf. Black Heritage Trail® This 1.6-mile walking tour begins at the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial and ends at the Abiel Smith School (see map). Ranger-led tours are available yearround. For information about To learn about national parks and National Park Service programs in America’s communities visit www.nps.gov. Accessibility Ask the park for details. Service animals are welcome. More Information Boston African American National Historic Site 14 Beacon Street, Suite 401 Boston, MA 02108 617-742-5415 www.nps.gov/boaf Museum of African American History The museum preserves, conserves, and interprets the contributions of New England’s African Americans­ from colonial times through the 1800s. It also honors those who found common cause with African Americans in the struggle for liberty and justice. The museum operates the Abiel Smith School and African Meeting House. Museum of African American History 14 Beacon Street, Suite 719 Boston, MA 02108 617-725-0022 www.maah.org