Places & Maps
This collection of exhibits center space and place in early Black Boston through various categories of mapping including (1) static maps (2) interactive maps and (3) people & places. Included are exhibits that range in format from “Mapping the Journey of Phillis Wheatley Peters,” to those that looks at the connection between space, people, and movements like “Copps Hill Burial Ground,” and “Faneuil Hall: Cradle of Liberty, Funded by Slavery,” amongst spatial depictions of areas in Boston, such as “Black Beacon Hill/West End" and “Roxbury and Dorchester in the 19th Century.” This collection aims to bring attention to the places, people, and movements that are rarely mentioned in most narrative histories of early Boston but have nonetheless immeasurably impacted the city's formation.
Static Maps
This sub-heading of exhibits looks at maps of early Black Boston and gives historical context for major spaces in the 18th and 19th century. Included are maps on “Black Beacon Hill & West End,” “South End Map of Black Boston,” and “Roxbury & Dorchester in the 19th Century.” These static maps engage with movement, origins, use, and impact then and now in the contemporary moment.
Beacon Hill was home to the largest Black community in Boston before the Civil War. Black Bostonians began to settle on the north slope of Beacon HIll in the late eighteenth century and the population rose population rose to over 1,000 people.
Boston’s South End has a rich history of Black entrepreneurship. In the late nineteenth century, the Black population grew significantly because large groups of Southern Black African American migrants and West Indians (from Jamaica and Barbados) moved to the South End.
Interactive Maps
This sub-heading of exhibits looks at maps that speak to the entanglement between space, movement, people, and the contemporary moment today. Included are “The Black Heritage Trail and the 'Trails to Freedom' Initiative,” “Copps Hill Burying Ground,” “Faneuil Hall: Cradle of Liberty Funded by Slavery,” "Boston Jobs and Populations Overview," and “African Meeting House.” These exhibits speak to the formation of early Black Boston, the resilience/resistance of the Black community, and how these sites still continue to exist today.
The Black Heritage Trail and the "Trails to Freedom" initiative are both related to the preservation and promotion of African-American history and heritage in the United States.
Established in 1659, Copps Hill Burying Ground is one of the oldest burial grounds in Boston. It served as the final resting place for a diverse group of individuals, including prominent citizens, ordinary settlers, and people from various backgrounds and walks of life.
Often referred to as the "Cradle of Liberty,"Faneuil Hall hosted numerous abolitionist meetings and anti-slavery speeches during the 19th century. It was also a site for civil rights activism.
People & Places
This sub-heading of exhibits looks at place in relation to people, giving us the space to visualize and locate how Black people engaged with space in early Boston. Included are interactive maps, “Mapping Phillis Wheatley Peters” and forthcoming “ Map of Sarah Roberts.” These interactive maps seek to draw connections between people, places, communities, and movements.