PROPOSAL TYPE
Roundtable
SEEKING
- Seeking Additional Presenters
- Seeking General Feedback and Interest
RELATED TOPICS
- Leadership
- Place
- Public Engagement
ABSTRACT
Many New Englanders still consider slavery to have been simply part of the faraway agricultural South. However, multiple pillars of the northern economy, from rum distilleries and textile factories to trade, rested on the foundation of slavery. Through local public history, cities and towns can challenge this historical amnesia; recognition can help explain ongoing racial disparities in the demographics of many New England communities today. In an era when federal and state governments are minimizing the history of slavery in the U.S., public historians have an important role to play in local and city government to present the complex realities of our past and encourage active citizenship in the present.
DESCRIPTION
This proposal aims to bring together representatives from the New England region for a conference roundtable panel discussion about effective and engaging Black public history initiatives. We are looking to identify panelists from other New England communities who can highlight their creative public history work. Currently, we have two panelists from Newburyport, MA, including the city’s Senior Project Manager Geordie Vining and historian Dr. Kabria Baumgartner of Northeastern University. In addition, we are looking for general feedback on the proposal and the framing of the subject matter.
The present is shaped by the stories that we tell and the ones we do not. We hear many well-meaning New Englanders (when people reflect upon it at all) ask why their communities remain so disproportionately white. We also continually hear New Englanders who consider the legacy of slavery to have been simply part of the faraway agricultural South and have little to do with the North. But multiple pillars of the northern economy (rum distilleries, textile factories, trade, etc.) rested on the foundation of slavery. This is an uncomfortable truth that challenges the myth of a bloodless prosperity created by hardy New Englanders.
Along similar lines, as cities and towns celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution and the nation’s founding ideals of freedom and independence, it is an uncomfortable truth that on the eve of Revolution a significant number of Americans were simply not free. Thousands of Black people were enslaved, up to 20% of the entire population of the colonies, while white revolutionaries bitterly characterized themselves as the “slaves” of Great Britain and King George. There is a significant gulf between the soaring rhetoric of liberty and the reality of slavery and racism.
In 2024, the AASLH recognized the Newburyport Black History Initiative (NBHI) with a Leadership in History Award for bringing history out of the classroom, museum, and library into the streets. Quite a few cities and towns have developed creative local public history projects that challenge historical amnesia. Particularly in an era when the federal government seeks to focus on a “celebratory” vision of American history, local cities and towns need to break through and show the complex realities of how and when the United States have fallen short of foundational ideals, so responsible and active citizens can organize and mobilize to push for change.
If you have a direct offer of assistance, sensitive criticism, or wish to pass along someone’s contact information confidentially, please get in contact directly:
Geordie Vining, City of Newburyport, MA, [email protected]
All feedback and offers of assistance should be sent by November 15, 2025. If you have general ideas or feedback to share, please feel free to use the comments feature below.