For the last 18 years, JerriAnne Boggis of Milford has been helping to tell the stories of New Hampshire’s black families and individuals, bringing light to achievements often forgotten by local history.
On Monday, during Jaffrey’s annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Boggis will serve as the keynote speaker for the day’s festivities, which this year has the theme of “Our Beloved Community.”
The Monday event is set to start at 5 p.m. at the United Church of Jaffrey at 54 Main Street in Jaffrey.
The event begins with the ringing of the Church’s Paul Revere bell as part of a national bell-ringing ceremony in honor of King, followed by a reception and exhibit in the parish hall.
Boggis, a Milford resident, currently serves as the executive director for the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, first became interested in unearthing New Hampshire’s black history in 2002, when she first heard the story of Harriet Wilson, who published the first novel written by a black woman in the United States. She was also from Milford, and Boggis said she was astonished not to have heard of her before reading a news article on her in 2002.
“This was a history no one knew, and it was being buried. If Harriet Wilson had been the first white woman to publish a novel in English, and she was from Milford, her name would be everywhere in town,” Boggis said.
These stories are important to tell, Boggis said.
“One of the things history does is give a sense of belonging and roots in a place you often feel you don’t belong,” Boggis said.
Things like street or park names create a sense of connection to space and time for the people that come afterward. But black people and other ethnicities are often left out of that history, leaving some people to think it might not exist at all in New Hampshire, which has a high concentration of white residents.
“New Hampshire has a vivid, long, black history, but it’s been systematically erased. I think it makes a difference in the way we view our state,” Boggis said. “From the history of the beginning of the United States, there was no place black people didn’t exist. I think it’s important to recognize that it’s history, not a segregated black or white history. The more we can tell that story, the more honest we are being.”
Those living in Jaffrey may have heard the story of Amos Fortune, a former slave who moved to Jaffrey with his wife after purchasing both their freedoms. He set up in Jaffrey as a tanner, and was successful enough to leave the church and school endowments, and is remembered through the town’s Amos Fortune Forum.
But there are other notable New Hampshire figures you may not have heard of, such as Richard Potter of Andover, who was the first American ventriloquist, and during his lifetime, became nationally famous with his touring magic and ventriloquism act.
Or Wentworth Cheswell of Newmarket, considered the first African American elected to public office in the United States.
It also tells the stories of the everyday people who settled here. The Black Heritage Trail has established a trail and accompanying history for Hancock, which includes what little is known of the first black residents of town, Jack Weare and the Due family, who were likely poor farmers. The history was mainly compiled by Eric Aldrich of Hancock, who became interested in the story – which, Boggis said, is how many of the stories the Black Heritage Trail highlights come to the light of day.
New Hampshire Youth Poet Laureate Rachel Sturges will open the ceremonies with an original poem. Sturges led poetry workshops with elementary students on the theme of beloved community. Selected poems from the workshops will be shared.
The program also includes awards in the MLK Student Poetry Contest and music by school choirs. Benches built and painted by volunteers for MLK National Day of Service will be presented to the Jaffrey and Rindge communities.
This year’s Martin Luther King Day celebrations in Jaffrey include the showing of two movies – “Shadows Fall North,” a documentary about the history of Africans and African-Americans in New Hampshire, will be shown Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Jaffrey Public Library, and Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Ingalls Memorial Library in Rindge. On Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jaffrey Woman’s Club, The Park Theatre will present “The Great Debaters,” an award-winning feature film starring Denzel Washington based on a true story about the ascent of the debate team from a small Black college to the national championships.
All events are free and open to the public. For updates, including weather cancelations or rescheduling, visit the MLK Celebration Jaffrey-Rindge Facebook page.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.