In its 60th Anniversary Forum Series The Bay State Banner presented on February 12, “The State of Black America.” Two open forums complemented the newspaper’s special essay section to commemorate Boston and black history. WGBH sponsored mid-day talks at the Boston Public Library moderated by the Banner’s editor Ron Mitchell. Panelists included Dr. Noelle Trent, executive director of the Museum of African American History of Boston & Nantucket, who spoke about the effort to restore last year’s funding cuts from the Institute of Library and Museum Services. Because black museums are grassroots efforts, the funding has been crucial to the health of the organization. With the community activated an appeal was filed, which resulted in an injunction and restoration of funding. She also elaborated on how other American black museums have contributed to laying the foundation for African American museum scholarship. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Black History
“What is your hand in this?”
Commemorative concerts for America’s 250th anniversary will be dotting the musical landscape in 2026. An inventive program that may prove to be one of the most challenging for audiences has been launched by Davóne Tines and Ruckus, “a shapeshifting, collaborative, baroque ensemble with a visceral and playful approach to early music.” Sanders Theater hosted them on January 31, 2026, as part of their ten-cities tour.
Created by bass-baritone Davóne Tines, bassist Douglas Adam August Balliett, and Clay Zeller-Townson, founder of Ruckus, the program called “What is your hand in this?” recasts “Colonial and Revolutionary-era hymns, ballads, and Baroque compositions, on a musical journey that weaves through the pre-Civil War period, the Civil Rights era, and into the present day.” (Everyone 250 Continue reading
Honoring Absalom Jones
Known as the “Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church,” Absalom Jones’s feast day is February 13. Following tradition, numerous Episcopal churches and dioceses are holding commemorative services. The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston announced that our diocese’s celebration would be held at 4pm on February 14, 2026, with the Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth presiding and the Rev. Canon Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas preaching. Continue reading
The Fierce Urgency of Now
On Monday, January 19th, 2026, the 56th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast will be held in Boston.
The MLK Breakfast Memorial Committee is comprised of representatives from St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church and Union United Methodist Church. The event is the longest-running celebration of its kind in the U.S.; scholarships are provided each year to students from nine Boston public high schools.
Virginia Theological Institute’s Reparations
Our Racial Justice Working Group follows the news of ongoing reparations processes as they unfold in institutions of The Episcopal Church. One of TEC’s oldest seminaries, the Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS), recently announced the next phase of its historical research and monetary reparations: “VTS breaks ground on reparations memorial honoring at least 557 African American laborers.” —Episcopal News Service, September 26, 2025 Continue reading
#DouglassWeek
Fall has arrived and we are back to learning about and attending programs related to racial justice. As we write, Boston and other Massachusetts cities are hosting the annual celebration of #DouglassWeek.
Launched in 2021, the collaborative event series highlights Frederick Douglass’s time in Ireland in 1845. He spent about four months there in self-imposed exile after the publication of the first edition of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.
King’s Chapel unveils ‘Unbound’.
photo credit: WGBH Boston
On September 14, 2025, King’s Chapel unveiled its Memorial Sculpture, “Unbound,” by artist Harmonia Rosales.
Rosales’s work was stewarded by the MASS Design Group. It is a tribute to the 219 enslaved parishioners brought to church by their enslavers.
As many of you know, King’s Chapel has been actively engaged in studying and revealing many aspects of its racial history over recent years. A rich summary, including their plans for an ongoing project, is presented online via the page entitled King’s Chapel Memorial to Enslaved Persons.
September 22, 2025 –Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin.
Juneteenth Events in the Boston Area
Aside
The local commemorations of Juneteenth included three events of note. Dio Mass held its Juneteenth service at St. Stephen’s Church, Lynn, with the Rev Bernadette Hickman-Maynard presiding. At Old South Church. The Reverend June Cooper, Theologian in the City of Boston and alum of the United Boston Sankofa Cohort, preached. Her reflection on the holiday, and the unfinished work of repair, appears in this blog post, Juneteenth, and the Unfinished Work of Freedom.
Juneteenth at Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters was held on June 22, 2025. The accompanying video, Who are my ancestors? highlights the reflections of the descendants of Cuba and Darby Vassall, who lived at the house. Continue reading
Faith Communities in the Historic West End
June 10, 2025
On our June 8th Chapel Camp tour of the Vilna Shul, we learned that the synagogue purchased the building occupied by the Twelfth Street Baptist Church in 1906. The Twelfth Street pews were kept at the site, 43-47 Phillips Street, and were used by the synagogue until 1919 when they moved to 18 Phillips Street. Services are still held once monthly and on the High Holydays and the building is now a center for Jewish Culture.
Twelfth Street Baptist Church was known as “The Fugitive Slave Church” — many of its congregants were abolitionists and self-emancipated slaves, Lewis and Harriet Hayden and Anthony Burns among them. The Reverend Edward Grimes, pastor from 1848 to 1874, led the congregation with vibrant advocacy and energetic activism. The church grew steadily, mobilized by Grimes to raise funds for those who sought freedom. A notable celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation was held January 1863. Frederick Douglasss attended and wrote glowingly about the event.
For more about the history of these communities of faith, see the West End Museum site: The Vilna Shul and Twelfth Street Baptist Church.
–Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin
The Green Book Tour of Boston’s South End
May 26, 2025
A reprise of the Green Book Tour of Boston was offered on May 17, 2025. The tour was organized by The Reverend June Cooper, social justice educator, activist, and Theologian in the City at Old South Church.
She invited Byron Rushing to be our guide. Byron was Massachusetts State Representative for the South End from 1983-2019 and has been lay deputy to our General Convention since 1973. The tour was supported by the Boston Faith and Justice Network.
Victor Hugo Green, a postal worker, created the first Green Book in 1936. It was published until 1966 (with the exception of the years 1940-1946). A guide to establishments open to black travelers during the Jim Crow era, it served as an essential tool in welcoming them to many U.S. towns and cities.
Included on the Boston tour are the Union Combined Parish, the Columbus Avenue AME Zion Church, and Harriet Tubman Park, along with jazz club locations, other community gathering places, and Slade’s, operating since 1929. We also stopped at the home of Julia Henson, 25 Holyoke Street, which was the first Harriet Tubman House, founded to provide housing for black women who were excluded from college dormitories and rooming houses. Henson founded the African American Northeastern Federation of Women’s Clubs and was active in the settlement house movement. Harvard’s Houghton Library acquired a copy of the 1949 edition of the Green Book, and it is freely accessible via this link.
The chapter on Massachusetts lists 50 businesses open to Black travelers in Boston, including hotels, restaurants, beauty parlors, barber shops, tailors, and one jazz club. In the Introduction, we read: “There will be a day sometime when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal opportunities and privileges in the United States. It will be a great day for us to suspend this publication for then we can go wherever we please, and without embarrassment. But until that time comes, we shall continue to publish this information for your convenience each year.”
—Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin