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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 NPS 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. Reformer Wendell Phillips addresses an antislavery meeting on Boston Com­ mon, April 11, 1851 (far left). 1638 First enslaved Africans Col. Robert Gould Shaw, son of a Boston abolitionist family, commanded the 54th Massachusetts Regi­ ment, the first all-black mili­ tary unit raised in the North in the Civil War (middle). Body of Liberties defining legal slavery in the colony. Poster in Boston recruiting African Americans for ser­ vice in the 54th Regiment, 1863 (near left). Mas­sa­chu­setts. Abiel Smith School 1798 First black private school 1855 Boston integrates public 1800 Free black population 1861 Civil War begins. 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 Freedmen’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. brought to Boston aboard the slave ship Desire. 1641 Massachusetts enacts 1770 Crispus Attucks, an es­ caped slave, is first colonist killed in the Boston Massacre. 1783 Slavery abolished in opens in home of Primus Hall. nears 1,100. 1806 African Meeting House 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 land Anti-Slavery Society at the African Meeting House. © JOANNE DEVEREAUX 1835 Abiel Smith School opens, 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 Garri­ son established The Liberator in Boston in 1831. He devoted the four-page week­ ly 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, US mar­ shals 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. Car­ ney, the nation’s first black Medal of Hon­ or recipient (left). BOTH: MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY ALL PHOTOS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS UNLESS OTHERWISE CREDITED MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 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 tion signed; 54th Massachu­setts Vol­unteer Infan­try Regi­ment formed, the first all-black regi­ ment raised in the North. 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 Massachu­ setts Regi­ment, receives Medal of Honor for rescuing the flag during the Battle of Fort Wagner, SC, 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. Planning Your Visit Black Heritage Trail Boston African American National Historic Site works in partnership with the Museum of African Ameri­ can 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. Robert Gould Shaw/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, Massachusetts was the only state in the Union to record no slaves. Robert Gould Shaw/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 Massachusetts 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, SC. In this hard-fought battle, Col. Robert Gould Shaw and many of his soldiers were killed. Sgt. Wil­ liam 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 dedi­ cated May 31, 1897, in a ceremony that included Carney and members of the 54th Regiment. Beacon Hill. George Middleton (1735–1815), one of the original owners, was a Revolutionary War veteran. Middleton led the Bucks of America, one of three black mili­ tias 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. George Middleton House 5–7 Pinckney Street Built in 1787 this structure is one of the oldest standing homes on John J. Smith House 86 Pinckney Street Born free in Richmond, VA, John J. Smith (1820–1906) moved to Bos­ The free African American community in Boston was concerned with finding decent housing, establishing independent supportive institutions, educating their children, and ending slavery in the rest of the nation. Between 1800 and 1900, most African Americans in Boston lived in the West End, between Pinckney and Cambridge streets and be­t ween Joy and Charles streets, a neighborhood 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. © JAMES LEMASS Phillips School Anderson and Pinckney Streets This architecture is typical of 1800s Boston schoolhouses. Built in 1824, this was a white-only school until 1855. Black children attended school on the first floor of the Afri­ can Meeting House or, after 1834, the Abiel Smith School. When the Massachusetts Legislature abol­ ished segregated schools in 1855, the Phillips School became one of Boston’s first integrated schools. Charles Street Meeting House ton in the late 1840s. He opened a barbershop that became a center for abolitionist activity and a ren­ dezvous point for people escaping on the Underground Railroad. Dur­ ing the Civil War, Smith was a re­ cruiting officer for the all-black 5th Cavalry. He was later elected to the Massachusetts House of Represen­ tatives 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 1807 by the white Third Baptist Church of Boston. New England’s segregationist tradition of church seating prevailed. Timothy Gilbert, church member and abolitionist, tested the tradition in the mid1830s by inviting black friends to his pew one Sunday. Gilbert was expelled. Joined by other white abolitionist Baptists, Gilbert found­ ed the First Baptist Free Church, which became Tremont Temple— considered to be one of the first integrated churches in America. After the Civil War, Boston’s black population increased, and the larg­ est of its churches bought the building in 1876. The African Methodist 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 Rail­ road. The Haydens reportedly kept kegs of gunpowder in their home that they threatened to ignite if slave catchers tried to enter. Hayden 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 Associ­ ation, an organization dedicated Lewis and Harriet Hayden House Abiel Smith School at Smith Court to helping people escape from slavery. In 1851 he was arrested, tried, and acquitted for the court­ house 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-found­ er and captain of the Massasoit Guards, a black military company in 1850s Boston that was a precur­ sor to the 54th Regiment. ington was a bootblack, laborer, and African Meeting House deacon. • Numbers 7 and 7A Joseph Scar­ lett, chimney sweep and entrepre­ neur, owned this building in the 1860s; it served as rental property. • Number 2 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 2 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 strug­ gle to integrate Boston’s schools in 1855, is considered the nation’s first published black historian. • Number 5 Owner George Wash­ 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 apart­ ments provided inexpensive, dense housing units for the waves of late-1880s European immigrants. Except for the Smith Court Resi­ dences, 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 ALL PHOTOGRAPHS © SUSAN COLE KELLY EXCEPT AS NOTED building with Smith’s legacy. In 1835 Boston’s black children at­ tended the Smith School, which replaced the school in the African Meeting House. The school re­ mained 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. IGPO: 2019—407-308/82322 Last updated 2019 Printed on recycled paper. Black Heritage Trail® This 1.6-mile walking tour begins at the Robert Gould Shaw/54th Regiment Memo­ rial and ends at the Abiel Smith School (see map). For information about tours, call 617-742-5415 or visit www.nps. gov/boaf. Accessibility We strive to make our facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. More Information Boston African American National Historic Site 15 State Street, 9th Floor Boston, MA 02109 617-742-5415 www.nps.gov/boaf To learn more about national parks visit www.nps.gov. Museum of African American History The museum pre­ serves, conserves, and inter­ prets the contributions of Afri­ can Americans­in New England from colonial times through the 1800s. It also honors those who found common cause with African Americans in the struggle for liberty and jus­ tice. The museum operates the Abiel Smith School and African Meeting House. Museum of African American History 46 Joy Street Boston, MA 02114 617-725-0022 www.maah.org