Publisher's Synopsis
A thought-provoking look at New England's Black heritage; Few people think of a rich Black heritage when they think of New England. In the pioneering book Black Portsmouth, Mark J. Sammons and Valerie Cunningham celebrate it, guiding the reader through more than three centuries of New England and Portsmouth social, political, economic, and cultural history as well as scores of personal and site-specific stories. Here, we meet such Africans as the ""likely negro boys from Gambia,"" who debarked at Portsmouth from a slave ship in about 1705, and Prince Whipple, who fought in the American Revolution. We learn about their descendants, including the performer Richard Potter and Elder John Tate of the People's Baptist Church, who overcame the tragedies and challenges of their ancestors' enslavement and subsequent marginalization to build communities and families, found institutions, and contribute to their city, region, state, and nation in many capacities. Individual entries speak to broader issues - the anti-slavery movement, American religion, and foodways, for example. We also learn about the extant historical sites important to Black Portsmouth - including the surprise discovery of an African-American burial ground in October 2003 - as well as the extraordinary efforts being made to preserve remnants of the city's early Black heritage.
