Black History Month Events: Boston, Eastern MA

February is Black History Month, and we’re celebrating all over the state! Find our list of Massachusetts Black History Month events below; if you have an event you’d like to submit for inclusion, please email Joshua Murray: murray@nonotuck.com.

Statewide

All Month

Virtual Black Heritage Trail Tour

The Black Heritage Trail® is a 1.6 mile walk through the heart of Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The trail showcases residences and community buildings associated with a Black community that thrived on, and near, the north slope of Beacon Hill before, during, and after the American Civil War. on Black Resistance.

Eastern MA

All Month

Museum of African American History

46 Joy street. Daily {except Sundays} 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. hourly

National Park Service Ranger-led tours allow visitors to walk in the footsteps of Frederick Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Stewart and all of the abolitionist leaders who helped bring slavery to an end in this country. The meeting house is an Historic Landmark, recently restored to its 1855 appearance. In recognition of Black History Month, the Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation are partnering with the Museum of African American History in Boston to provide free admission and tours for all visitors from February 18 to 23, coinciding with school vacation week in the city.

Boston African American National Historic Site

Centered on the north slope of Beacon Hill, the African American community of 1800s Boston led the city and the nation in the fight against slavery and injustice. These remarkable men and women, together with their allies, were leaders in the Abolition Movement, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and the early struggle for equal rights and education.

African American Patriots Tour

Celebrate the African-American patriots that played a vital role in the start of the American Revolution in Boston and in the formation of our country. Led by an 18th-century costumed guide, visitors view history through the eyes of African-American revolutionaries such as Crispus Attucks, Phillis Wheatley, Prince Hall, Peter Salem, and more.

Black History Month Film Festival

The Boston Globe is proud to host its 4th annual Black History Month Film Festival. This event series aims to celebrate the lives, culture, and creativity of Black Americans through a mix of classic and new films, which will be available for viewing throughout the month. Each screening will be followed by a panel discussion to provide insight and context for these stories of strength, joy, and love.

Boston Black Restaurant Challenge

Massachusetts State Representative Chynah Tyler and The Boston Black Hospitality Coalition invite you to experience the cultural and culinary excellence of Boston Black Owned Restaurants and Bars.

The Embrace Monument

Boston Common
139 Tremont Street

Visit the Embrace monument near the Boston Common Visitor Center. The abstract bronze sculpture is based on a photo of an embrace between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King, and celebrates their history in Boston. The Kings met and fell in love here in the 1950s, when he was a doctoral candidate at Boston University’s School of Theology and she had a fellowship at the New England Conservatory of Music.

African American Women in Cambridge Walking Tour

Recurring Daily

This tour provides an opportunity to visit and interact with the spaces that influential Black women in Cambridge inhabited during the 19th century. These historical figures include Harriet Jacobs, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Alberta V. Scott, Pauline Hopkins, Maria Baldwin, Mary Walker and more!

Cambridge Black Trailblazer Bookmarks

Recurring Daily

Biographies of eighteen Trailblazers have been published as bookmarks and distributed to all Cambridge public school libraries and to all Cambridge Public Library branches. This project offers young readers free bookmarks featuring images on the front and biographies on the back. The goal is to familiarize a broader audience with a cohort of pioneering black individuals who have yet to be commemorated with physical landmarks in the city.

Roxbury Memory Trail

Recurring Daily

Take a self-guided tour of Grove Hall and Nubian Square. Download the mobile app by visiting the Google Play or Apple app store · Download the ‘Distrix’ app · Make sure location is on · Select Roxbury Memory Trail · Have fun!

Steve McQueen: Lynching Tree Exhibition

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
25 Evans Way, Boston

Artist Steve McQueen reveals the hidden and erased histories that haunt the American landscape we inhabit, and the ways we negotiate the possibilities of the world we seek to create.

The Emancipation Proclamation: A Pragmatic Compromise

46 Joy Street, Boston

The MAAH exhibit space offers a new showcase exhibit, The Emancipation Proclamation: A Pragmatic Compromise. This exhibit shares the factual story of the rationale and impact of this celebrated American document that changed the course of the Civil War, freed enslaved people in the Confederacy and allowed men of African descent to join the fight for freedom.

Walking Tour: African American Heritage Site North of Boston

Site 1: Hamilton Hall, 9 Chestnut Street – Hamilton Hall was designed by the famous architect Samuel McIntire and built in 1805. In the early nineteenth century, Hamilton Hall was the center of the catering business of John Remond, an immigrant from the Caribbean Island of Curacao.

Site 2: Harmony Grove Cemetery, 30 Grove Street – Harmony Grove Cemetery was consecrated in 1840 and is a beautiful example of “rural garden” cemetery, with landscaped trees and winding paths. This cemetery holds the burial plots of many members of the Remond family. Charles Lenox Remond shares a common marker with many of his family. He was one of the first African Americans to be paid to lecture on the abolitionist circuit.

Site 3: Salem Lyceum, 43 Church Street – The Salem Lyceum opened in 1831, and its rows of banked seats quickly filled with residents of Salem eager to watch demonstrations, lectures, and concerts. Many activists in the abolitionist movement came to the Lyceum. The hall was also used for meetings and lectures by the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, whose members included the noted African American abolitionists Charlotte Forten and Sarah Parker Remond.

Site 4: African American Sailors, Pond Street – In the 1830s and 40s, Pond Street was home to an ethnically diverse population and included many of Salem’s sailors. Between 1842 and 1846, approximately 46% of African American males with an occupation listed in the Salem City Directories were sailors.

Site 5: Charles A. Benson, Sailor, Rice Street – Charles Benson was an outstanding sailor who lived on both Pond Street and Rice Street. He sailed for twenty years, and because of his skill he earned more than the able bodied seamen in his crew.

Site 6: Cedar Street – Like Pond Street, Cedar Street was home to several African American families. During the Civil War, several residents of the street served in the Union Army.

Site 7: Cemetery Howard Street – When the Howard Street Cemetery was established in 1801, a portion was dedicated to Salem’s African American population. Many prominent members of the African American community are buried in the cemetery.

February 8

Gender in the Workforce Through the Black Lens

1 City Hall Square
Boston, MA 02201-200
12:00pm – 1:30pm

Join us on February 8th for an empowering panel on gender and race in the workplace.

Join the conversation as we explore ways to prioritize equity, embrace cultural nuances, and empower individuals from all backgrounds.

February 9

Selections from Songs of Free Men: Honoring Baldwin’s Centennial

2136 Washington Street
Boston, MA 02119

An evening dedicated to commemorating Black History Month, featuring the music of Negro Spirituals and narratives honoring James Baldwin.

Free Food will be provided. 6:30PM – 9:30PM

February 10

Danvers Black History Month Celebration

Danvers Senior Center, Stone Street, Danvers, MA, USA

25 Stone Street Danvers, MA 01923

4 – 6 p.m.

Join us for the Danvers Black History Month Celebration, a vibrant in-person event honoring the rich heritage of the African Diaspora.

Cape Ann Youth Musical Showcase: Black History Month

On Second Saturdays, music students of Alexandra Grace Music Studio will join the Cape Ann Museum for the ‘Cape Ann Youth Musical Showcase’. Every month will have a different theme, and students will perform songs in a fun and creative evening of live music. A young visual artist will also be showcased each month and will display their art at the museum to accompany the show. This February, celebrate music composed by Black artists of many cultures and genres!

Black Women in Science: The Legacy of Annie Malone

Join us for this exciting program series that honors the contributions of Black women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. In this program, explore the work of Annie Malone – a groundbreaking entrepreneur who used her passion for chemistry, and hair, to become a pioneer in the Black beauty and cosmetics industry. Be inspired by her work as you explore a variety of molecule modeling materials, study some hair samples under a microscope, and learn about the importance of Black hair throughout history.
1 – 2:30 p.m.

February 11

The Singing Souls of Black Folk (at North Andover Historical Society)

North Andover Historical Society
800 Massachusetts Ave
North Andover, MA 01845

3:00 p.m.

Rev. Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes will be speaking at the North Andover Historical Society’s Stevens Center on Sunday 2/11 at 3 pm for Black History Month. Rev Dr. Gilkes is a highly engaging speaker not to be missed! In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois published his classic “The Souls of Black Folk” where he used the sacred music of African Americans, “ten master songs,” to shape the analytical foundations for interpreting their history and culture. In 1924, Du Bois expanded that analytical foundation with his lesser known but highly significant volume, The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America. “The Singing Souls of Black Folk” uses Du Bois’s analyses as a springboard to explore the role of African American music, sacred and secular, in the continued “making” of America and to highlight the importance of celebrating “the Arts” in the African American experience.

February 16

Boston Conservatory Orchestra: Celebrating Black History Month

Symphony Hall , 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston

“Boston Conservatory Orchestra celebrates Black History Month in Boston’s historic Symphony Hall with a powerful program featuring historically important African American composers William Grant Still (“Festive Overture”) and Margaret Bonds (“The Montgomery Variations”), as well as a recent work by Valerie Coleman (“Seven O’Clock Shout”) celebrating the spontaneous outdoor applause the New York City medical profession received during the pandemic. Concluding the program is Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Toussaint L’Ouverture,” which will include heretofore long-lost parts specially created by conductor Bruce Hangen for this performance. At the program’s center will be a special narrator, to be announced shortly, reciting the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Joseph Schwantner’s “New Morning for the World.”

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge

With the power of gospel and the precision of Broadway, Ladysmith Black Mambazo is the undisputed king of mbube, South African a cappella singing. The multi-Grammy-winning group came together in the early 1960s and continues to thrill audiences around the world with its strong, proud melodies harmonized in layers of call and response.

February 17

The Melanin Roll

11 Rhoades Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
12:00PM – 3:00PM

Come with your family and experience roller skating to the rhythm of your favorite 90’s music. The Melanin Roll welcomes attendees to dress in 90’s clothing/costume while enjoying the newly renovated Mattapan treasure Chez Vous.

February 24

Black Veterans Appreciation Luncheon

Florian Hall
55 Hallet Street
Dorchester, MA 02124
11:00AM – 2:00PM

Please join Mayor Wu in celebrating and honoring the contributions and sacrifices of Black Veterans in helping to create and add to our great nation’s legacy. We will also be honoring deserving veterans with Community and Outstanding Service awards.

Do you plan to bring more than one guest? Please email John.Allison@boston.gov. Space is limited and we must account for all guests.