Black History on Concord’s Black Heritage Trail
Learn about Concord’s rich history of Black Concordians on this walking tour that highlights many of the key locations of the Black Heritage Trail . The tour will visit and discuss the deeper stories behind the interpretive markers at key sites across Concord to illuminate Black heritage and history, presence, and contributions of Black individuals and families in the town’s past and present.
The tour will visit sites highlighting Concord’s history around enslavement as we learn about those who fought bravely for freedom. We will meet the first generation of self-emancipated leaders and the power and agency they took as they fought for freedom and equality for all people. We see how these families strived to support themselves in the town and worked to shape their own destinies as free people.
Families such as the Robbins, Garrisons, Dugans, and Freemans will be highlighted. The tour will discuss Patriots of Color Cesar Robbins and Brister Freeman, the life of educator and civil rights pioneer Ellen Garrison, as well as the visits to the town of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass in the 19th century.
Concord’s identity as a historic destination is well established. Making Black history visible within it is at once an act of historical completeness, an investment in a community that reflects the full range of people who shaped it, and a signal about who is welcome here today.
Duration: 90 minutes to 2 hours 2 miles
