Black History Month

​In 1619 the first black American indentured servants arrived in the American colonies. From then right through to today, black history in this country has been marked by deep oppression and struggle. 
 
Timelines: 

Several timelines offer a quick dive into Black History.

The National Park Service website includes a terse timeline of black history from 1619 to 2008. 

The History Channel’s black history timeline delves into more detail, with many links.

George Washington University has a timeline of human rights-related events throughout the world. 
 
The African American Heritage website has a timeline of Black History in this country, with a specific focus on Massachusetts.
 
This timeline is just about slavery in Massachusetts. 
 
Events and Programs:

Communities all over Massachusetts hold special events and programs to mark Black History Month. A few ways to seek out ways to find out about black history near you follow:

• The African American Trail Project is a collaborative public history initiative housed at Tufts University. This project maps African American and African-descended public history sites throughout Massachusetts. The African American Trail Project aims to develop African American historical memory and intergenerational community, placing present-day struggles for racial justice in the context of greater Boston’s historic African American, Black Native, and diasporic communities. 
• The Museum of African American History is New England’s largest museum dedicated to preserving, conserving and interpreting the contributions of African Americans. The Museum has preserved two historic sites and two Black Heritage Trails that tell the story of organized black communities from the Colonial Period through the 19th century. It has locations in Boston and Nantucket.
• In the eighteenth century, the Royall House and Slave Quarters was home to the largest slaveholding family in Massachusetts and the enslaved Africans who made their lavish way of life possible.  Today, it is a museum whose architecture, household items, archaeological artifacts, and programs bear witness to intertwined stories of wealth and bondage, set against the backdrop of America’s quest for independence. The Slave Quarters is the only remaining such structure in the northern United States.

 
Other options for exploring Black History:

http://features.wgbhnews.org/exploring-bostons-black-history-and-culture-through-15-significant-sites
https://www.massvacation.com/explore/holidays/black-history-month/
https://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/black-history.html

Books:

Note: Please purchase when possible from a local bookseller or nonprofit (e.g., the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, the Museum of African American History)

Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North, by C.S. Manegold
Ten Hills Farm once extended along the banks of the Mystic River in Medford and Somerville, MA. Some of this property eventually became the Isaac Royall House and Slave Quarters.
 
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England, by Jared Ross Hardesty
 
Exploring the Legacy: People and Places of Significance, by Rosalyn Delores Elder
http://www.africanamericanheritagemassachusetts.com/shop/exploring-the-legacy-people-and-places-of-significance