[SBC] Info re Nov. 7 Mtg of MA African-American Heritage Bicycling Network
Enid Kumin
eckumin at gmail.com
Mon Nov 5 09:27:15 EST 2007
For those who may be interested in how the
Abolitionist/African-American route in Boston is shaping up.
Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bicycling Network
Organizing Committee
Fourth Meeting Agenda
6-8 PM
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Landmark Center; Conference Room D
401 Park Drive, Boston, MA
Take East bank of elevators to 4th floor; Check in at Security desk
Park in lot at Landmark Center (parking voucher provided)
Convener: Larry Finison Home Office: 781-483-3901 lfinison at bu.edu
Facilitator: Pamela Mason
Meeting Purpose: to continue to build a collaborative that will plan
the project and make it happen
================================================================================
Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bicycling Network
Organizing Committee
Introductory Packet
A. Flyer
-2
B. Themes, vision and mission
-3
C. November 7, 2007 draft meeting #4 agenda -4
D. Web sites with important maps and documents -5
E. Organizing committee members and interested others -6
F. Miscellaneous notes
-19
G. Introductory letter to Museum of African-American History - 32
Join the Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bicycle Route Network
Organizing Committee, Now Forming
The Bicycle Route Network Vision
A network of 10 to 400-mile bicycling routes that will guide
individuals, families and groups on a journey through the places that
show the rich African-American history of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
The Organizing Committee Mission
The Organizing Committee's mission is to further knowledge about
African-American and related history in Massachusetts, and
opportunities for increased physical activity, wellness, adventure and
local community involvement, through bicycling.
Main Themes
Education and learning about African-American history
Health – Exercise and wellness
Celebration of historical figures and ordinary people who make history
Partnerships – with diverse people in local communities, enhancing
civic engagement
Outdoor bicycling adventure – for individuals, families, and groups
Tourism - increase the prominence of Massachusetts as a destination
for theme tourism
Who Are We?
Our organizing committee already has over 25 members from all parts of
the state, and from diverse occupational and racial/ethnic
backgrounds. We had an inaugural meeting at the Museum of African
American History in June, 2007 and continue to meet to develop a
multi-year plan of action.
We Need You
We need bicyclists, historians, mappers, public health advocates,
fitness enthusiasts, people committed to developing good bike routes,
people who are interested in local community African- American
history, and tourism boosters. If you fit any of these categories and
want to know more, contact us.
Join Us
Email Larry Finison (Convener) at lfinison at bu.edu Tell us about your
interests, background, and contact information. You may also go to
yahoo.com and search for yahoo group MAAAB.
Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bicycling Network
Main Themes
Education and learning about our African-American history
Health – Exercise and wellness
Celebration of historical figures and ordinary people who make history
Partnerships – with diverse people in local communities, increasing
civic engagement
Outdoor bicycling adventure – for individuals, families, and groups
Tourism - increase the prominence of Massachusetts as a destination
for theme tourism
Bicycle Network Vision
A network of 10 to 400-mile bicycling routes that will guide
individuals, families and groups on a journey through the places that
show the rich African-American history of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
The Organizing Committee Mission
The Organizing Committee's mission is to further knowledge about
African-American and related history in Massachusetts and
opportunities for increased physical activity, wellness, adventure and
local community involvement, through bicycling.
Massachusetts African-American Heritage Bicycling Network
Organizing Committee
Fourth Meeting Agenda
6-8 PM
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Landmark Center; Conference Room D
401 Park Drive, Boston, MA
Take East bank of elevators to 4th floor; Check in at Security desk
Park in lot at Landmark Center (parking voucher provided)
Convener: Larry Finison Home Office: 781-483-3901 lfinison at bu.edu
Facilitator: Pamela Mason
Meeting Purpose: to continue to build a collaborative that will plan
the project and make it happen
Agenda Items
• Welcome and introductions
• Quick Updates: event and meeting results
o Mayor Taylor Century Sept 23
o Hub on Wheels Sept 23
o Altwheels Sept 28-29
o Meeting with Lt Governor's chief of staff Oct 2
o Jump up and Go Conference Oct 4
o Massachusetts Public Health Association Oct 11
o Moving Together 2007-Annual Bike and Pedestrian Conference Oct 17
o Bike Summit Oct 22-24
• Discuss "marketing map"
• Sub-Committee reports: [Each committee should meet together (either
in person or "virtually") and bring back the following report: (1)
How they are going to organize their committee work (2) What needs to
be done (3) How might it get done (4) What estimated cost.]
Development/Legal/Financial Committee: Coordinator Jane Bowers
Route Committee – outreach to town historical and biking groups:
Coordinator Thomas Doughton
Boston Route Committee – outreach to neighborhood groups:
Coordinators Karen Spiller/Marva Nathan
Youth Committee – outreach to youth groups: Coordinator Pamela Mason
Website/Electronic Media Committee: Coordinator Kevin Brooks
• Upcoming Events/Meetings
• Next meeting time and place
• Changing our name
• Launch event for next fall – BMB – Bedford to Medford and back?
• List action items
Websites with important information and maps of sites
(control-left click to access or paste website in your browser)
• Boston (Thanks to Knox Gardner)
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/boston.pdf
• New Bedford (Thanks to National Park Service)
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/newbedford.pdf
• Marthas Vineyard (Thanks to African American Heritage Trail of
Martha's Vineyard)
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/marthasvineyard.doc
or
http://www.mvheritagetrail.org/
• Northampton (Florence) – thanks to Steve Strimer
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/florence.pdf
• Portsmouth NH - Thanks to Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail at
http://seacoastnh.com/Black_History/Black_Heritage_Trail/
Or
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/portsmouth.jpeg
• Upper Housatonic (Thanks to Rachel Fletcher and the Upper Housatonic
African American Heritage Trail)
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/upperhousatonic.pdf
• Nantucket (from Museum of African-American History web site)
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/nantucket.pdf
• EOT Massachusetts bike route map (takes a long, long,long time to
download). Thanks to David Loutzenheiser
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/eotbikeroute.pdf
• Selected African-American historical sites overlaid on EOT
Massachusetts bike route map.
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/MAASitesandStateNetwork.pdf Takes a
long time to download. This is a test, and not the complete mapping
of sites.
• Draft Massachusetts African-American Bicycle Route Network.
Overlaid on EOT Massachusetts bike route map. The challenge is for
local communities to add detail, loops and spurs.
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/MAASitesandStateNetwork.jpg
• Organizing Committee member Ann Lusk wrote a dissertation on
trails/routes etc. Here is the URL to a summary chapter.
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/annlusk.doc
• All sites sent to lfinison at bu.edu in Excel file according to the format at
www.sigmaworksconsulting.com/maaabformat.xls will be incorporated
into map of historical sites. Note that we need either the exact
street address OR the decimal degrees latitude and longitude to do the
mapping. Road conditions can be described in the following ways, in
order of importance: Traffic density; Shoulder width; Line of vision
(e.g. blind corners)
===========================================================================================
Organizing Committee in Formation
(Meeting attendance in parentheses)
Marva Nathan (1,2)
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
JFK Federal Building, Room 2325
Government Center
Boston, MA 02033
(w) 617 565-1234
(fax) 617 565-3856
(h) 617-524-7848
Marva.Nathan at cms.hhs.gov
marva841 at aol.com
Member of bicycling Team Trinity (of the Trinity Episcopal Church)
Priscilla Douglas (1)
PH Douglas Associates
Somerville
(617) 718-7022
PHDouglasAssoc at aol.com
Organizational consultant and avid bicyclist
Celeste Bernardo (1,2)
Superintendent
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
33 William Street
New Bedford, MA 02740
(508) 996-4469 phone
(508) 994-8922 fax
celeste_bernardo at nps.gov
Thomas Doughton (1,2,3)
Professor
Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies
Holy Cross College
Worcester, MA
(508) 793-2396
tdoughto at holycross.edu
Teaching project on African American history in Worcester County
Mary S. Collins (1,2,3)
19 Apple Rock Way Suite 3
Shirley, MA 01464
(978) 425-6200
MaryCollins17 at juno.com
Tour manager, director; historical re-enactor
Karen A. Spiller (1,2,3) – Host, Organizing Committee meetings 2,3 &4
Project Manager, Jump Up & Go!
Community Relations
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Boston, MA
(617) 246-3924
karen.spiller at bcbsma.com
Pamela A. Mason (1,2,3)
Lecturer on Education
Director, Language and Literacy Program
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Pamela_mason at gse.harvard.edu
(617) 495-8798
Quad Cycles participant, former school principal
Jan Brown (1,2,3)
Assistant Regional Counsel
Office of the General Counsel, Region I
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
2250 JFK Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 565-4274
18 Buena Vista Park, No. 2
Cambridge, MA 02140
janbrown at earthlink.net
(617) 497-9113
Jan is Major Taylor's great granddaughter
Leslie E. Harris (2)
Associate Justice, Suffolk County Juvenile Court
Member, Board of Directors
Museum of African-American History
honharris at aol.com
Jane Bowers (2,3)
McCormick Bowers Associates
14 Beacon St., 614
Boston, MA 02108
617-742-7292 office
617-536-3426 cell
janemcba at aol.com
Experienced fundraiser
Ebi Okara (2)
10 Helen Drive
Canton, MA 02021
781-575-0630 (h)
781-956-6883 (c)
Department of Mental Health
edokara at comcast.net
Founder of bicycling Team Trinity
Kevin Brooks (2)
Motorola Labs
Lowell, MA
781-324-1758 H
978-614-2144 W
781-372-4272 W (old)
781-267-3798 C
Brooks at media.mit.edu
Ann Williams (3)
Ravenbike at gmail.com
Active bicyclist, contributed Bedford sites, active in youth work
Vivian R. Johnson (3)
617-332-5988
vjohnson at bu.edu
BU Emeritus faculty, author of Escape to freedom (about fugitive
slaves and the underground railroad in Massachusetts). Illustrations
and photography by Robert Freeman.
David Loutzenheiser (3)
Planners Collaborative
617-338-0018 x 113
drl at thecollaborative.com
He did the design work on the EOT Massachusetts Bike Route map
Mabray Andrews (3)
Bose Corporation
Framingham
West Medford MA (Home)
mabraya at usa.net
Avid bicyclist and strong interest in local history
Lorenz (Larry) Finison (1,2,3) - Convener
Boston University School of Public Health & SigmaWorks
Home Office: 781-483-3901
Cell Phone: 617-429-2853
Quad Cycles Bike Group
lfinison at bu.edu
Inaugural Host
Beverly A. Morgan-Welch
Executive Director
Museum of African-American History
Administrative Office
14 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
617-725-0022 Ext. 11
bmorganwelch at afroammuseum.org
On Organizing Committee for Invitation to November 7 Meeting
Karl Reid
Associate Dean and Director, MIT Office of Minority Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
617-253-7940 (W)
781-344-7398 (H)
kwreid at mit.edu
Jack and Jill Dad and avid bicyclist
Kerry Buckley
Director
Historic Northampton Museum
413-584-6011
kbuck at historic-northampton.org
Early work on WEB DuBois collection at UMass, Editor of "A Place
Called Paradise: Culture and Community in Northampton, Massachusetts,
1654-2004," bicyclist
Anne Lusk
Visiting Scientist
Harvard School of Public Health
Researcher on Greenways Project
617-879-4887
AnneLusk at hsph.harvard.edu
Gordon Doty
617-956-2174
Cambridge, MA
gsdoty at earthlink.net
At Belmont Wheelworks, also
Ex-Regional Marketing Director for Fuji Bicycles
Lee Blake
President of the New Bedford Historical Society
Also,
Assistant Director of the Education Compact
Southcoast Development Partnership
UMASS Dartmouth
LBlake at umassd.edu
Bill Hughes
Director, MyPearson
HIP - Core Technology Group
Pearson Education
bill.hughes at pearsoned.com
617-848-7756 W
617-309-6428 C
Jeff Robinson
92 Paul Revere Road
Arlington MA 02476
781-641-1069 H
617-872-0543 C
poetryjam at gmail.com
Musician/poetry jam MC/web designer/biker
Rachel Fletcher
Co-Director, Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail
(Trustee, Upper Housatonic Valley National Heritage Area)
113 Division St.
Gt. Barrington, MA 01230
413-528-3391
rfletch at bcn.net
&
Frances Jones-Sneed
Co-Director, Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail
(Professor, MA College of Liberal Arts)
PO Box 6
Williamstown MA 01267
413-458-9382
F.Jones-Sneed at mcla.edu
Jason Harris
Spanish teacher and bicyclist
(Leslie Harris' son)
Bigjlh17 at aol.com
Abby Atkins
The Medical Foundation
680 Pinewoods Avenue
Troy NY 12180
518-279-4775 (W)
518-424-3327 (C)
AAtkins at nycap.rr.com
Possible connections to Upstate NY sites and bike routes
James Hornsby
260 Lake Avenue
Fall River MA 02721-5423
508-672-6607
Fax 508-676-1876
jjhornsby at aol.com
Very knowledgeable about biking in SE Mass and RI.
Sue Congdon
44 Laurel Hill Road
Southbridge, MA 01550
508-764-6945 H
774-230-0085 C
suecongdon at charter.net
Innkeeper, part of group developing Southbridge – Dudley rail trail
and accommodations. Investigating 1897 pic of integrated Sandersdale
(Southbridge) bike club and possible routes to Prudence Crandall site
in Canterbury CT and a site on Brooklyn CT.
Josh Lehman
Massachusetts State Bicycle/Pedestrian Program Manager
617-973-7329
josh.lehman at eot.state.ma.us
Works at the state level in bike route planning
Maria Finison
Manager, Arts Program Management
Kennedy Center
Washington DC
541-543-5101
mfinison at yahoo.com
Experience in cultural tourism trails development
Dagny Ashley
Group Tour Manager & Multicultural Marketing
Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development
Transportation Building
Park Square
Boston, MA
617-973-8511
Dagny.ashley at state.ma.us
Nicole Freedman
617-918-4456
617-429-8440 (C)
Nicole.Freedman.bra at cityofboston.gov
Mayor Menino's bike coordinator, leading a bike mapping project and a
variety of other initiatives.
Interested Others (keep me informed)
Michelle Holmes
12 William Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-492-2214
mdhmd at aol.com
Physician, published on physical activity, hiker/biker, scout leader
Peter Lee
Director
Massachusetts Partnership for Healthy Communities
Dorchester, MA
plee at tmfnet.org
617-875-1707
Beth White
Director of Marketing and Communications
Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT)
617-973-8508
Beth.White at state.ma.us
Adelaide M. Cromwell
Professor Emeritus
Boston University
51 Addington Road
Brookline, MA 02445
617-731-4391
BU Sociologist/Historian emeritus
Denise Castronovo, President
Mapping Sustainability, LLC
4324 Blowing Point Pl
Jupiter, FL 33458
(561)776-5663
denise at mappingsustainability.com
Very knowledgeable about mapping and sustainable environments
Craig Della Penna, Executive Director
Northeast Greenway Solutions
P.O. Box 60211
Florence, [Northampton], MA 01062
mobile: 413-575-2277
Craig at GreenwaySolutions.org
Owner of B&B in Northampton and well connected with B&B world and
great interest in bicycling and pedestrian trails. 200 rail-trail
projects going forward in 100 mile radius around Northampton. See
website for central Mass. rail trail:
http://www.masscentralrailtrail.org/home.html
Margaret Morrissey
Adult Services Librarian
Jacob Edwards Library
236 Main Street
Southbridge, MA 01550
mmorriss at cwmars.org
508-764-5426
fax 508-764-5428
Karen Brown Donovan
KBD4OF5 at aol.com
Major Taylor great grand-daughter
Eli Post
Board of Directors Member, Charles River Wheelmen (CRW)
617-547-6778
617-306-1838
elipost at comcast.net
Joanne Riley, Director
The Massachusetts Studies Project at UMass Boston
Graduate College of Education
joanne.riley at umb.edu
617-287-7654
"The Bike Route definitely fits in with the Mass. Studies Project's
goal to "ground educators and students in their own communities
through local history, local culture and local environmental studies."
Lea Susan Ojamaa
Community Liaison for the Chronic Disease section
Mass. Department of Public Health 617-994-9843
Lea.Ojamaa at state.ma.us
Lynne Tolman
Active in the effort to recognize Major Taylor and development of the
Major Taylor Association LTolman at LTolman.org
David Watson.
Executive Director
MassBike
171 Milk St., Suite 33, Boston, MA 02109
(617) 542-BIKE www.MassBike.org
Bonnie Cronin
USS Constitution Museum
bonniemelrose at yahoo.com
The museum has considerable information about some of the free black
sailors aboard USS Constitution during the War of 1812 era.
Steve Strimer
413-582-5829
Expert on African American history in Florence, MA and Sojourner
Truth's Northampton period
Ron Bell
Director
Public Liaison Office
Office of the Governor
Ron.Bell at gov.state.ma.us
617-725-4020
Alex Goldfeld (1)
Museum of African American History
Administrative Office
14 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
617-725-0022
agoldfeld at afroammuseum.org
Glenn Daly
Director, Office of Youth Development
MA Executive Office of Health and Human Services
617-348-8463
Glenn.Daly at state.ma.us
Dan Driscoll
Planner
Department of Conservation and Recreation
617-626-1438
Dan.driscoll at state.ma.us
Other contacts from MassBike Festival August 25, 2007
Betsy Taylor-Kennedy
Betsy at taylor-Kennedy.com
Nathaniel Imani
Towilsax at aol.com
Karen Cashman
8 Harvard Street
Natick MA
508-680-6977
Kcash530 at yahoo.com
Eli Meir
emeir at simbio.com
Dave Conna
Stow
Knoctover at yahoo.com
Brian O'Donnell
30 Fayette Rd.
Bedford, MA 01730
781-275-3154
Brianod88 at yahoo.com
Kathleen Keating
34 Emerson Gardens Rd
Lexington MA 02420
KKeating at rcn.com
Jessica Goldhirsch
10 Brattle Terrace
Arlington MA
781-648-1508
jessicagoldhirsch at verizon.net
Laurie Dougherty
30 University
Brookline, MA 02445
617-504-0016
ldougherty at ipc.org
(contact Doug Mink about bike mapping)
Oliver Jones
124 Rattlesnake Hill Rd.
Andover, MA 01810
oj at cqmail.net
church history research, local churches, archives
Maria Solarez
14 Park Road
Winchester, MA 01890
781-369-1050
msolarez at gmail.com
Nancy Schlecht
197 Grant St.
Lexington
Nschlecht810 at aol.com
Gretchen Brion
99 Wallace Street
Somerville, MA 02144
617-718-0119
gbrionmeisals at gmail.com
(mapper->Eliza Johnston)
Joel Feingold
blammo at rcn.com
Contacts from Moving Together 2007
TheMillers at millersmicro.com
MassMarrier at yahoo.com
Giannini at frcog.org
Caulghent.kelly at state.ma.us
cneumann at berkshireplanning.org
cordis.thompson at mhd.state.ma.us
egyaglou at verizon.net
Contacts from Bike Summit, 2007
Lee Archung
Board Treasurer
Bikes not Bombs
Customvoice at yahoo.com
Mary Jane Williams
Boston Public Health Commission
617-534-5685
mwilliams at bphc.org
Other Contacts
Most cities have a bicycle coordinator these days. Boston currently
does not, but for Cambridge it is Cara Seiderman at 617-349-4629 and
for Somerville it is Stephen Winslow at (617) 625-6600 x2519.
Charles Price
Lexington MA
781-862-7835
chplmm at rcn.com
Re-enactor of the role of Prince Estabrook on Lexington Town Green
(and could do inaugural event) See also book: Prince Estabrook by
Alice Hinckle. See monument across street from green, listing Prince
Estabrook.
Mark Conti. Bike columnist for Worcester Telegram and Gazette
Tom McCormack. Finance Director Massachusetts Office of Travel and
Tourism (MOTT) 617-973-8514 Tom.McCormack at state.ma.us
Arthur Motta Executive Director Southeastern Massachusetts Convention
and Visitors Bureau. 70 North Second Street PO Box 976 New Bedford,
MA 02741-0976 508-997-1250 fax 508-997-9090
amotta at bristol-county.org www.bristol-county.org
Chrysandra Walter
National Park Service
Northeast Regional Director
Terry Savage
Superintendent
National Park Service, Boston
617-242-5644
Terry_Savage at nps.gov
Contacts from Knox Gardner
Sheri Jackson
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
200 Chestnut St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-597-7050
Diane Miller
Acting Chief
MWR Cultural Resources Division
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
National Park Service
601 Riverfront Drive
Omaha, Nebraska 68102
402-661-1588
402-661-1982 fax
www.cr.nps.gov/ugrr
Ryan McNabb
African American NHS
14 Beacon Street, Suite 401
Boston, MA 02108.
617 742-5415
Ryan_McNabb at nps.gov.
Miscellaneous Notes
Possible Routes and Landmarks:
• Start: African Meeting House and walking trail – Boston
• There exists an "Underground Railway" (self-guided) Bike Tour for
Boston. Last year it was posted on the Community Ride section of the
Hub On Wheels website (Ref. Knox Gardner/Steve Miller).
• Cambridge – many sites already developed by Cambridge Historical Commission
• Bunker Hill, Charlestown – Peter Salem played key role in battle
• USS Constitution Museum – information about and exhibits including
free black sailors available
• Royall House slave quarters – Medford
• Triangular trade – Medford
• Community Memorial plaque in the heart of West Medford's historic
black community – one of the oldest such communities in Massachusetts
(Jerome and Sherman street intersection)
• 54th Regiment training ground – Readville/Hyde Park
• James Monroe Trotter House - 68 Neponset Avenue Hyde Park
Crispus Attucks (Boston Massacre) – Framingham native
• Peter Salem – Framingham statue (see below)
• Central Mass Rail trail may be an important resource in the future –
extending from Boston to Northampton
• Central Massachusetts – many sites that will be researched by Prof.
Thomas Doughton's fall 2007 Holy Cross class, focused on African
American history in the area.
• Major Taylor site(s) – Worcester – famous black bike racer early 1900's
• Northampton Historical Museum (Historic Northampton) – Northampton
- Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass materials, statue of
Sojourner Truth overlooking the site of the Northampton Association of
Education and Industry. Also exhibit of the "Northampton bicycle"
part of industrial history of Northampton
• Use the rail-trail Belchertown – Amherst - Northampton
• WEB DuBois collection – UMass-Amherst
• WEB Dubois site(s) - Great Barrington
• Possible loops into the Troy/Albany area of New York state for
selected historical sites
• James Weldon Johnson summer home – Great Barrington/Alford
• Connects to the already developed 45 mile "Upper Housatonic Valley
African American Heritage Trail" – from Pittsfield, MA to western
Connecticut sites as far south as Warren, CT - see
http://www.uhvafamtrail.org/
• Possible loop to Hartford CT to the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Possible loop into Eastern Connecticut "hotbeds" of abolitionism,
e.g, Brooklyn, CT.
• New Bedford and Southeastern Massachusetts – many sites outlined in
Jeffrey Bolster's Black Jacks: African American Seamen in the Age of
Sail Also, relevant exhibits at the New Bedford Whaling Museum such
as one including materials on Paul Cuffe and Frederick Douglass and
others Museum contacts: Madeline Shah 508-717-6838, and Maureen
O'Brien 508-997-0046 x 116. Also New Bedford Historical Society has a
main focus on African American history.
• An underground railroad route is being developed in New Bedford.
• Possible visit to Schooner Ernestina – last passenger sailing vessel
from Cape Verde to Massachusetts – often at dock in New Bedford
o Ferry New Bedford to Martha's Vineyard
• Follow the African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard
• Martha's Vineyard – Oak Bluffs site(s)
o Ferry Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket (once per day June 16-September
16, otherwise go to Hyannis and then to Nantucket)
• African Meeting House and other site(s) – Nantucket
o Ferry Nantucket to Hyannis
• Bike return to Boston or
• Bike along Cape Cod rail trail to Provincetown and ferry to Boston
• End: – African Meeting House – Boston
Who might cooperate in the effort?
For each town along the route(s), high school/college students/
bicycle clubs or teams or youth groups could be recruited to do
research and provide additional sites and background of interest. The
route could be changed as more information becomes available. The
following groups might have specific interests in helping:
• Individual bicyclists around the state who have an interest in
African-American and Abolitionist history.
• Specific bicycling clubs, e.g., Charles River Wheelmen
(MetroBoston), Seven Hills Wheelmen (Worcester County), Nashoba Valley
Pedalers, Minutemen and Freewheelers bike clubs in Western Mass.
• City bicycle coordinators (e.g., Cambridge: Cara Seiderman and
Somerville: Stephen Winslow)
• Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (Beth White). They are
interested in multicultural tourism. Have attended the
African-American Travel Conference of African American tour operators.
Want to make Massachusetts a desirable destination for multicultural
markets, based on the many sites available.
• Churches
• Boston – Prince Hall Masonic Temple
• Other museums and libraries (e.g., Historic Northampton – the
director Kerry Buckley is very much interested and was formerly
curator of the WEB Dubois papers at UMass-Amherst. Also New Bedford
Whaling Museum - they have exhibits on African American and Cape
Verdean whalers. Also Nantucket Whaling Museum)
• Jeffrey Bolster – author of Black Jacks about African American
sailors especially around New Bedford and Nantucket
• Robert C. and Karen E. Hayden Authors of African Americans on
Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket
• MassBike chapters (Cape Cod, Pioneer Valley, MetroBoston)
• School teachers and college faculty who want to promote knowledge of
local history and African-American history, and get their students
involved in researching it.
• Bed-and-breakfast owners could be recruited to support in a variety
of ways, including discounted overnight stays. Or, participants would
have the option of camping along the way at state parks.
• A bike map-maker Andy Rubel 617-776-6567 info at bikemaps.com (Rubel
BikeMaps) already has bike-friendly routes worked out for
Massachusetts. He might be helpful in advising on mapping that would
use his base maps and incorporate MAAAB landmarks and other points of
interest (e.g., libraries or museums with significant relevant
holdings).
• Bicycle dealers might be interested in supporting the venture
through discounted bike and equipment rentals for persons flying in
from other parts of the country, or providing a destination for
shipped bikes. Some will do this for a fee.
• Some airlines give free transportation for bicycles for bike club
members (e.g., Charles River Wheelmen). They might be willing to do
the same for persons "joining" a special MAAAB club.
• Upper Housatonic Valley African American Heritage Trail Advisory Council
• Custom map-makers: Ken Dumas – map maker works for CTPS
Transportation Planning Staff 617-973-7070 kosh at ctps.org; Mapworks
Herb Heit & Eliza McClennon 781-659-7734 Norwell
• Virginia (Ginny) Sullivan Adventure Cycling Association
gsullivan at adventurecycling.org
800-755-2453 Missoula MT.
• African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard Board members
• Jack and Jill Clubs might be interested in doing research on local
sites and adding to the route as a group effort.
• Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts to research the route the as part of merit badges
• Human Rights Commissions might be interested in this project. There
is a state-wide organization that apparently meets at Medford City
Hall, on a monthly basis.
• Many cities and towns have Historic Societies that might be
interested in getting involved in this project.
• Bikes Not Bombs (Bikes Not Bombs Hub 284 Amory St. Jamaica Plain, MA
02130 Phone: 617-522-0222 Fax: 617-522-0922). Involves youth in
building their own bikes, group rides and safe bicycling practices.
This might be the place to start a Major Taylor team.
• MassBike Executive Director David Watson
Target Audiences
Jack and Jill Clubs
Bicycle tour groups and clubs
Church groups – for a social/learning/exercising event
Black history related courses and instructors
Adult education groups, e.g., Cambridge Adult Education
Vacationers with an interest in learning about African American history
African-American oriented tour operators
Others
Process:
• Form an organizing committee to determine the feasibility of such an
undertaking. Determine key members of such a committee.
• Determine further who are the "target audiences" for the trail.
• Determine how much and from what sources funding would be required
to hire a coordinator for the effort and pay for web development.
• Determine how to generate needed revenue on an on-going basis to
ensure sustainability and potential expansion.
• Investigate the development of similar road trails e.g., the
Underground Railroad Bike Trail
• Determine what legal "structure" such an effort would require
• Determine what materials are needed for MAAAB.
• Determine how to phase-in development of the road route and materials
• Determine what sort of publicity will be needed, e.g., ads in biking
magazines, links to biking sites on internet, links to Jack and Jill
Clubs around the country
• Determine what "events" might be developed such as organized rides
for which a registration fee might be charged as in many of the
"Century" bike rides organized by the bicycling clubs or in the
charitable rides such as the PanMass Challenge. Perhaps hold special
events "opening" new sections of the route as additional research is
accomplished.
Anticipated Problems:
• The biggest problem will be to develop a "bike friendly" route out
of downtown Boston/Charlestown. It is likely that the Paul Dudley
White trail on the Charles River will be that route. But the biker
unfamiliar with Boston urban streets may face a challenge.
• Signage, etc. Various possibilities including maps, cue sheets,
arrows on the roads, GPS waypoints. Some examples of signage are the
signs on the Minuteman Commuter Bike Trail in Arlington, commemorating
Revolutionary War battles, and the Slave Wall on Grove Street in West
Medford (at the intersection with Ravine Road). According to David
Watson (MassBike) signage must approved by local DPWs. How to do this
with local groups, and yet preserve some uniformity ("branding") may
be a challenge. Some signage is done with legislative mandate such as
the Pan-Mass Challenge and the Claire Saltonstall Bikeway Rte 1.
Other kinds of historical signs can be supported through the Federal
Transportation Enhancements Program (ref Josh Lehman and Mass Highway
website). An issue is how much signage is really needed, or will cue
sheet and maps suffice.
• Another problem might be in the sheer size of the development. To
the extent that participants in many towns are involved to research
sites and write up descriptions (where this has not already been
accomplished), it may prove challenging to pull it all together.
Perhaps there is some way to use "middleware" on the internet to do
the organizing job. One example of this is the Yellow Arrow Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_arrow The web approach has a lot
of appeal, since it is flexible. Would allow people to check in at
the end of the ride and update with comments (like wikopedia). In
addition if the signage along the road has multiple choice questions
about the historical figures, participants could enter their answers
and get a "score" that could be improved as they traveled more
sections of the route. Or, they could have a "record" on the site to
record how much of the route they had accomplished. Or they could
connect with others who have traveled the route – and build a sense of
community.
Possible Products
An audio product aligned with the route could be downloaded onto IPod.
The product could include historical descriptions of each site,
music, questions, etc. Berklee College of Music has mapped the jazz
clubs in Boston from the 1940's and 1950's. Perhaps some of the music
played there would be appropriate background. In addition there are a
fair number of well known jazz musicians (e.g., Harry Carney, baritone
sax player for Duke Ellington) with Massachusetts roots.
Why African American and Abolitionist
There are several reasons to combine African American and Abolitionist
history in the route.
• The histories are inextricably intertwined. According to one
source, some of the abolitionist statuary in Boston was paid for by
money raised in part by African Americans after the Civil War.
• As is explained in Boston Confronts Jim Crow, 1890-1920 (by Mark R.
Schneider Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1997), the relations
extend even to the 20th century. When the NAACP held its third annual
meeting in Boston in March 1911, the Boston Globe noted that
'descendants and relatives of William Lloyd Garrison, Parker
Pillsbury, Lucretia Mott and representatives of the Channing, Clarke,
Bowditch, Atkinson and other families' " were in attendance. However,
the Boston NAACP was a product of not only the white families
identified by the Globe, but also of the work of William Cooper Nell,
Frederick Douglas, Maria W. Stewart, Charles Lenox Remond, Louis
Hayden, and other African-American activitists of earlier generations.
Fifty years after the Civil War, Boston's antislavery tradition still
lived in the actions of the founders of the NAACP. The leaders of the
Boston Branch were also remarkably old. They represented the last
vigorous defenders of the antislavery tradition in Boston; during the
politically quiescent 1920s no new generation, black or white, came
forward with like energy." (pp 135-336)
• We are likely to extend the reach and the density of the route
markers and sites by including Abolitionist markers.
• Who knows, perhaps we will discover Abolitionist descendants who
could make a contribution to the effort. (see below on the Garrison
family)
"On August 6, 2005 The Museum of Afro-American History and The Boston
Public Library held a family reunion with the descendants of William
Lloyd Garrison. Guest Speakers included Deval Patrick, former
Assistant US Attorney General for Civil Rights, and Christopher Lydon
of "Open Source" Radio. Music was provided by Vivien Cooley-Collier
and the Youth Choir of the Eliot Congregational Church of Roxbury.
Special guests were The Massachusetts 54th Regiment, Garrison
descendents Lloyd and David Garrison, Rev. Jeffrey Brown, Union
Baptist Church and Andrea Cabral, Sheriff of Suffolk County." The
event audio and video is available on WGBH Forum Network
Major Taylor. See www.majortaylorassociation.org
"Cycling as we know it as a sport is considered on the low profile
list for African Americans. This was not always the case, for one
African American opened the door very wide back in 1895. His name was
Marshall "Major" Taylor. Taylor was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on
November 21, 1878. His father, Gilbert Taylor, served in the Union
Army during the Civil War. Young Marshall Taylor worked for a local
bicycle shop and learned to test the many tricks you could do using a
bicycle. Marshall wanted to test his skills as a bona fide cyclist,
and, with the help of a white ex-cyclist named Louis "Birdie" Munger,
Marshall did reach his goal. He took his desires and learned skills to
the town of Worcester, Massachusetts. At the YMCA, he joined the
Albion Cycle Club in 1895. He won most of the club's amateur cycling
prizes, and, in 1896, at the age of eighteen, he went professional.
Marshall had gained a lot of experience as an amateur cyclist and knew
about the previous racial barriers he had to overcome on his movements
to area cycling racing events in the southern U.S.A. His talent was
recognized, but his race made him unwelcome. African American cyclists
were not accepted in regional Cyclists Clubs. Later, the League of
American Wheelmen (LAW) excluded Blacks from their membership with
their "white only" clause. Marshall Taylor refused to be defeated and
entered the known cyclists' races as an outsider. By 1898, Marshal had
accumulated enough total points - 121, with 21 first place victories -
to become America's first African American National Cyclist Champion.
Marshall still wanted to fulfill his dream of being an American
champion exclusively. He first competed in Montreal, Canada and came
back to Chicago where he accomplished a record time in the one-mile
sprint. He was then acknowledged as an American Cyclist Champion for
the year of 1899. From 1900 to 1908, Marshall Taylor became a world
competitor as a cyclist in New York, France, Switzerland, Canada,
Australia, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Philadelphia, Paris, Belgium, and
Germany."
Major Taylor cycling clubs and teams exist in several parts of the
country (New Jersey, Pittsburg, East Palo Alto, Indiana University),
and a Major Taylor bike route exists in Southside Chicago.
An active nonprofit organization in Worcester, the Major Taylor
Association, www.majortaylorassociation.org, is trying to resurrect
the memory and accomplishments of Major Taylor. It is building a
statue of Taylor at the Worcester Public Library. A street has been
renamed Major Taylor Boulevard, and Taylor's house still stands.
Peter Salem (1750-1816)
Peter Salem was a member of the famous Massachusetts Minutemen and was
involved in a number of important battles, including the battles of
Bunker Hill, Concord, and Saratoga (the first American victory of the
Revolution). However, it was in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17,
1775, that he gained notoriety.
After the battles of Lexington and Concord, American troops from
Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island assembled
at Boston to confront the 5,000 British troops stationed there. The
outmanned American forces engaged the British outside the city. The
Americans were winning the conflict until they began running out of
ammunition. With the Americans near defeat, British commander Major
John Pitcairn (who had earlier led the British forces against the
Americans at Lexington) mounted the hill and shouted, "The day is
ours!" whereupon Salem promptly shot him, sending the British troops
into confusion and allowing the Americans to escape safely. Peter
Salem was honored before General Washington for his soldierly act.
Salem became a member of the Fifth Massachusetts Regiment and served
throughout the rest of the Revolution – a total of seven years of
military service in behalf of his country, a length of time achieved
by few other soldiers in the Revolution. Salem had entered the
Revolution as a slave but finished it as a free man, marrying in 1783,
at the conclusion of the Revolution.
A stone monument was erected to Peter Salem at Framingham,
Massachusetts, in 1882; and Salem is pictured in the famous painting
of John Trumbull titled, "The Death of General Warren at the Battle of
Bunker Hill."
W.E.B. Du Bois
The W. E. B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite in Great Barrington is dedicated
as the W. E. B. Du Bois Memorial Park.
1970 Simon's Rock College in Great Barrington establishes its W.E.B.
Du Bois Collection in Black history and culture.
1976 The W.E.B. Du Bois Memorial Park in Great Barrington is granted
National Historic Landmark status as the W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood
Homesite.
1983 An archaeological summer field school is at the W.E.B. Du Bois
Boyhood Homesite National Landmark in Great Barrington by the
University of Massachusetts/Amherst. School are conducted again in
1984 and 2003.
1987 The W.E.B. Du Bois Boyhood Homesite National Landmark in Great
Barrington is donated to the University of Massachusetts.
1994 The Great Barrington Historical Society places markers at the Du
Bois birth site and the graves of Nina Gomer and Burghardt Du Bois in
Mahaiwe Cemetery in Great Barrington.
1996 Simon's Rock College initiates its annual W.E.B. Du Bois lecture.
2001 The Clinton African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church initiates
its annual W.E.B. Du Bois lecture and birthday anniversary
celebration.
2002 The W.E.B. Du Bois River Garden is dedicated in Great Barrington.
2003 The W.E.B. Du Bois mural in Great Barrington is dedicated.
2006 Signs noting that Great Barrington is the birthplace of Du Bois
are placed on roads entering town.
James Monroe Trotter
James Monroe Trotter (1842-1892) was a prominent 19th century civil
rights advocate. He came to Boston to join the Massachusetts 54th
Regiment, the first African-American corps of soldiers in Civil War.
After the war, Trotter became the highest ranking African-American in
the federal government in his position as Federal Recorder of Deeds,
He was the father of civil-rights leader William Monroe Trotter.
Martha's Vineyard
"The African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard is a
physical entity comprised of 16 sites dedicated to the formerly
unrecognized contributions made by people of African descent to the
history of the island. At each of these sites a descriptive plaque has
been placed.
There is also a non-profit corporation, the African American Heritage
Trail History Project, which is dedicated to the research and
dissemination of the history of the African American people of
Martha's Vineyard.
The History Project serves as a source of participative community
education and celebration. The sophomore history classes at the
Martha's Vineyard Regional High School are involved as research
assistants in the work of the Trail and also act as tour guides, site
maintenance staff, mural painters, web site developers, and musicians.
The Mission of the Trail is to continue to research and publish
previously undocumented history and to involve the Island community in
the identification and celebration of the contributions made by people
of color to the island of Martha¹s Vineyard. The expense of building
the Trail is considerable and some income is generated through the
sale of our book: available from this site. Contributions to the
Heritage Trail are gratefully accepted and used to further develop the
Trail. Presently, the Trail is anxious to acquire the former home of
the Island's only African American Whaling Captain, William A. Martin.
The African American Heritage Trail, P.O. Box 234, West Tisbury, Mass.
02575. Further information is available about the Heritage Trail from
board members who can be reached via Email: Elaine Cawley Weintraub,
Carrie Camillo Tankard, Joseph C. Carter, John Budris."
African Americans on Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket
by Robert C. and Karen E. Hayden Select Publications, 1999, $25.00
ISBN 0-963- 56822-1
Much has been written about the African American presence on Cape
Cod's offshore islands. Some writers have insisted on the social--and
all too often social--climbing--aspects, while others have recounted
the extraordinary history of one of the country's longest surviving
black summer communities.
In the present volume the authors, Robert C. Hayden and daughter Karen
E. Hayden, take an encyclopedic approach. They have divided their
"history of ordinary and extraordinary people" of these islands into
11 categories ranging from "Community Development and People" to
"Sports and Recreation." These categories serve as chapter headings
for the listing of over 300 entries about organizations that define
the communities and people who are their mainstays. The listings are
of varying lengths and cover everything from the island's first
enslaved African Americans to members of the Polar Bears, a
contemporary, early morning swimming group that prides itself on
enduring the icy winter waters of the Atlantic.
Boy Scouts Merit Badge for Bicycling
"Avoiding main highways, take two rides of 10 miles each, two rides of
15 miles each, and two rides of 25 miles each. You must make a report
of the rides taken. List dates, routes traveled, and interesting
things seen."
"… lay out on a road map a 50-mile trip. Stay away from main highways.
Using your map, make this ride in eight hours."
Massachusetts Sites in National Park Services' National Underground
Railroad Network to Freedom Program
The Network
The network is an outgrowth of the two "Gatherings" held in
Massachusetts in 1999--one in Boston in September and another at the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in November--of scholars and
others interested in Underground Railroad research. The Gatherings
themselves were organized in response to the July 1998 National
Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act, which among other things
charges the National Park Service with producing and distributing
materials about the Underground Railroad and providing technical
assistance to public and private entities interested in Underground
Railroad sites and activities.
Links to Massachusetts Underground Railroad Network partners:
Boston African American National Historic Site
William Ingersoll Bowditch House, Brookline
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Center for Lowell History, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Essex National Heritage Area
Harmony Grove Research Center for the African Diaspora
Jackson Homestead
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Minute Man National Historical Park
Museum of African American History
New Bedford Historical Society
Sojourner Truth Memorial Statue
Tappan-Philbrick House, Brookline
Possible Route Loop to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Many sites have been located on the Portsmouth Black Heritage History
Trail. See:
http://seacoastnh.com/Black_History/Black_Heritage_Trail/Portsmouth_Black_Heritage_Trail/
STOPS ALONG THE PBHT
1. The Wharf -- Prescott Park
2. Stoodley's Tavern -- Hancock Street
3. Sherburne House -- Strawbery Banke Museum
4. William Pitt Tavern -- Court Street
5. Site of New Hampshire Gazette Printing Office
6. Macphraedris - Warner House
7. St. John's Church -- Chapel St
8. North Church -- Market Square
9. Site of Town Pump and Stocks
10. Site of Negro Burial Ground
11. Moffatt-Ladd House
12. Site of the Whipple Home
13. Samuel Penhallow House
14. Langdon House
15. Waterfront -- Ceres Street
16. Site of the Temple
17. South Church
18. South Ward Room
19. People's Baptist Church
20. 14-16 Market Street
21. Navy Yard
22. Rosary's Beauty Shop
23. Rockingham House
24. St. John's Parish Hall
________________________________________
"Portsmouth, New Hampshire has been home to Africans and
African-Americans for more than 350 years. This Portsmouth Black
Heritage Trail guide takes the reader to a selection of sites where
Portsmouth's black residents lived, worked, prayed and celebrated. "
"The Black Heritage [Trail] Resource Book was written by Mark
Sammons, then Director of Research at Strawbery Banke Museum in
Portsmouth, now Director of the Newburyport Maritime Society in
Massachusetts. Primary researcher was Valerie Cunningham, Director of
the African-American Resource Center, a native of Portsmouth and
founder of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail. Consultants included
University of New Hampshire Professors Jeffrey Bolster, author of
Black Jacks: African-American Seamen in the Age of Sail; John Ernest,
Director of African-American Studies; and David Watters, holder of the
James H. Hayes and Claire Short Hayes Chair in the Humanities."
Possible Route loop through Brooklyn and Canterbury CT.
Notes on Prudence Crandall
In 1831, Prudence Crandall, educator, emancipator, and human rights
advocate, established a school which in 1833, became the first Black
female academy in New England at Canterbury, Connecticut. This later
action resulted in her arrest and imprisonment for violating the
"Black Law."
Although she was later released on a technicality, the school was
forced to close after being harassed and attacked by a mob. She moved
with her husband Reverend Calvin Philleo to Illinois.
After her husband died in 1874, she and her brother moved to a farm
near Elk Falls [Kansas]. Prudence taught throughout her long life and
was an outspoken champion for equality of education and the rights of
women. In 1886, supported by Mark Twain and others, an annuity was
granted to her by the Connecticut Legislature. She purchased a house
in Elk Falls where she died January 27, 1890.
Over a hundred years later, legal arguments used by her 1834 trial
attorney were submitted to the Supreme Court during their
consideration of the historic civil rights case of Brown vs. Topeka
Board of Education.
The building which housed Crandall's academy in Canterbury,
Connecticut opened as a museum in 1984 and is administered by the
Connecticut Historical Commission. The museum's national importance
was recognized in 1991 when it was designated a National Historic
Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior.
Samuel Joseph May – Brooklyn CT
During the 1820s May's opposition to slavery was lukewarm. He belonged
to the American Colonization Society, which called for blacks to be
repatriated to Africa. When in 1830 he heard William Lloyd Garrison
speak in Boston, he experienced a profound transformation, and from
then on called for the immediate emancipation of slaves. He paid a
heavy price for this stand. He was isolated from his Boston Unitarian
colleagues, and was no longer invited to preach in their churches.
Joseph May, who regarded slavery as a necessary evil that would fall
away in time, worried that his son had become fanatical and
incendiary. Samuel was undaunted, however, and launched himself
headlong into abolitionism. He worked with Garrison for two difficult
years to form the New England Anti-Slavery Society (NEASS) and helped
revise Garrison's Declaration of Sentiments for the NEASS. May's
freedom from racial prejudice was rare in his time, even among
abolitionists. "It is our own prejudice against the color of these
poor people that makes us consent to the tremendous wrongs they are
suffering," he preached.
His principles led May in 1833 to support the cause of Prudence
Crandall, a Quaker educator in nearby Canterbury, Connecticut, who had
recently opened her small school to young black women. Crandall was
arrested for violating the newly-passed "Black Law," prohibiting
schools from educating out-of-state blacks, and asserting town
control. As her legal battle began, May made his parish the center of
her legal strategy. With money from New York abolitionist Arthur
Tappan, May funded Crandall's defense and started an abolitionist
newspaper, The Unionist. Crandall was ultimately acquitted on a
technicality, but, in response to violence and threats, was forced to
close her school in 1834. "I felt ashamed of Canterbury," May later
wrote, "ashamed of Connecticut, ashamed of my country, ashamed of my
color."
Antislavery and civil rights assumed a commanding position in May's
life. From 1834, he assisted in the underground railroad. By opening
up space in the first row of gallery seats to the daughters of a black
family, he introduced racially integrated seating to the Brooklyn
church, although not without friction. He traveled widely as an
antislavery speaker, finally, in the view of the congregation, failing
to meet his pastoral obligations. In 1835 he took a leave from
Brooklyn to become a full-time agent for the Massachusetts Antislavery
Society. May's fourteen months as an anti-slavery agent were marked by
threats of violence and dangerous encounters. On October 21, 1835, the
same day that Garrison was dragged through Boston by anti-abolitionist
rioters, May was mobbed as he attempted to speak in Montpelier,
Vermont.
This early commitment to immediate abolition was rare among Unitarian
clergy. It tested even May's friendship with Channing, who had a sense
of how much slavery was interwoven in the economy and society of the
United States, through his earlier life in Virginia and the
slave-trading port of Newport, Rhode Island. May's influence may have
been substantial in preparing Channing's moderate but significant
shift in views.
May later recorded that Unitarians had contributed more people to the
cause of antislavery than "any other denomination in proportion to our
numbers, if not more without that comparison." He nevertheless
considered that "the Unitarians as a body dealt with the question of
slavery in any but an impartial, courageous, and Christian way." "We
had a right to expect from Unitarians a steadfast and unqualified
protest against so unjust, tyrannical, and cruel a system as that of
American slavery," he wrote. "They, of all other sects, ought to have
spoken boldly. But they did not."
April 10, 2007
Beverly A. Morgan-Welch
Executive Director
Museum of African-American History
Administrative Office
14 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
Dear Ms. Morgan-Welch:
We are writing to you to ask for your participation as a member of an
organizing committee for a Massachusetts African-American/Abolitionist
themed road bicycle route (MAAAB). The organizing committee is in the
process of development, and includes the signatories of this letter.
The route would feature flexible connected routes that would allow the
rider to visit up to several hundred sites in Massachusetts. The
goals would be (1) to attract new out-of-state visitors to
Massachusetts, for recreation and learning about African-American and
related Abolitionist history; (2) provide an opportunity for
recreation and learning for Massachusetts residents; (3) add to the
"traffic" at the Museum of African-American History, and other museum
sites in Massachusetts that have significant related collections, such
as Historic Northampton, the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the USS
Constitution Museum; (4) provide a "hands-on" learning opportunity for
junior high through college students and adults throughout the state
who could be involved in researching and developing the road route and
the historic sites along it; and (5) provide for "route opening"
events in which sections of the route would be inaugurated with
special "rides" appealing to a wide audience and from which funds
would be donated to designated charities.
The MAAAB road route will be designed as "family friendly" and so
accessible to all ages. The route would be drivable as well.
One possible start and end of the road route would be at the African
Meeting House in Boston.
This road route would be similar in concept to the Underground
Railroad Bicycle Route (see Adventure Cyclist magazine Nov/Dec 2006)
from Mobile, Alabama to Ontario, Canada – about 2,100 miles. The
MAAAB would be similar in that all routes would be on the road, not on
off-road trails (or perhaps utilizing rail-trails in part), it has a
similar theme, and that it is a work-in-progress subject to addition
and change. It would be different in targeting Massachusetts rather
than the south and midwest, it would be shorter, and it would make use
of the rich resources of Massachusetts museums and other cultural
institutions. Partners in the Massachusetts Underground Railroad
Network may have a vital interest in the road route and could provide
"sites" along it.
Riders would have access to maps showing suggested routes and all of
the MAAAB points of interest along the routes and some discussion of
the history surrounding each landmark.
The routes would be flexible in the sense that riders could choose to
ride anywhere from 10 to 400 miles depending on their time schedules
and riding interests. Thus, the rider could do a two hour or day-ride
or have a week-long experience with overnight stays at established
bed-and-breakfast inns or at campgrounds. Families could do day trips
by driving to a location, e.g., Northampton, and then ride the
Northampton-Amherst sites using the established rail trail between
those two locations. Riders could use the routes anytime April –
October, while car drivers could use it year round.
The development effort might result in:
• Brochure and website materials – to "market" the road trail
• Road route design adapting principles in "Twenty Three Design
Guidelines for Greenways" (Anne Lusk)
• Possible development of Major Taylor Bicycle teams, particularly
among African American youth, to help research and inaugurate sections
of trail
• Cue sheets showing mileage and alternative routes (with GPS locations)
• Bike-friendly maps with significant MAAAB landmarks and bicycle services
• Possible maintenance of road arrowing for the routes, perhaps using
a distinctive logo.
• Posted messages along the way, similar to some French hiking trails,
where users are challenged with questions about the area or historical
figure in question, and then turn over the question sheet and reveal
the answers. For example, at the Sojourner Truth statue in
Northampton, the rider might be asked: What did Sojourner Truth do?
Why did she live in Northampton? What was her connection to Frederick
Douglass?
• T-shirt or biking jersey with a symbol, e.g., "I did the MAAAB!"
This is not a request for investment on the part of the Museum, simply
an evaluation of whether this is an idea that might be of interest to
you enough to become part of the organizing committee for a short
time, as we get started. We would also love to have our first meeting
at the Museum.
We have attached notes resulting from significant research to date.
Sincerely,
Larry Finison
Boston University School of Public Health & SigmaWorks
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