Latest news with #AfricanMeetingHouse
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Second graders trying to save African Meeting House in Boston after federal funding cuts
The African Meeting House located in Boston's Beacon Hill area is facing some tough budget cuts, but a second grade class is trying to help save it. "We are in an amazing historic space. There are not a lot of existing structures built by African Americans, used by African Americans, and lived in by African Americans in this nation," Chief Curator Angela Tate said. Built in 1806, it's the oldest Black church built in America, a known gathering spot to the 54th Regiment during the Civil War and its halls tell the stories of great leaders who spoke there like Frederick Douglass. "Our museum was part of the sweep of organizations and institutions said to be un-American and that our narratives around African American history were not patriotic," Tate said. $500,000 federal grant cut WBZ reported on this story back in April when the museum received notice that their $500,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services was in jeopardy. The ILMS grant is the largest gift the museum has ever received. Now it has been taken away, affecting staffing positions and programs. "That funding was critical for our future, but we will make it through, but we are also very, very dependent on the support of the community," Tate said. And that support has arrived in a very unusual way. The Advent School's second grade class has been studying Changemakers and Social Movements. They recently took a field trip to the African Meeting House, spoke from the same podium as Frederick Douglass and were hugely impacted by its rich history. Second graders raise funds, awareness When they heard about the cuts in federal funding, they rallied together to help raise awareness. They wrote letters to their community and even advocated at the State House to help raise funds. "We've been thinking about how we can use our voices for change. We need to keep this museum as supported as possible so other kids can learn too this incredibly important history," teacher Bridget Parker said. For 8-year-old Annalu Piedrahita it was important for and her classmates to take action. "It shares important history and artifacts and all those amazing changemakers that were there and supportive of the abolitionist movement. It just shows how much work they did," Annalu said. The museum says they've already raised $100,000 in donations from the community. For Angela Tate it's a gift for future generations. "The fact that these second graders are living this legacy of this space is amazing and inspirational," Tate said.
CBS News
11-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
African-American history museum in Boston worried about future as its federal grant is cut
A museum dedicated to the African-American history of Boston is now concerned about its future, as their federal grant has been cut. "If you look at the ground, you will see that the planks are over 200 years old, these are original," said Dr. Noelle Trent, the president and CEO of the Museum of African-American History Boston and Nantucket . The museum is home to the African Meeting House of 1806, as well as the country's first public school built specifically for Black students in 1835. "There were lectures by Frederick Douglass here and William Lloyd Garrison." Last June, the museum received a $500,000 three-year federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. But Trent said that is no longer the case. "Yesterday, we received notice from the federal government that our grant had been terminated and part of the reasoning was that we no longer align with the White House policies," said Trent. Trent said the capacity building grant was supposed to support school field trips, educational programs and to increase staff. "There is frustration because we worked very hard to create something new for the museum," said Trent. In addition, the museum may have to pay back any undistributed funds it has already received from the grant. "It will affect our ability to do programming moving forward," said Trent. "We're talking over $100,000." Now this national treasure located in the heart of Beacon Hill has a different fight ahead of it. "If you care about this place, we need you. We need you to join us in this fight," said Trent. "And what's important for us is to engage with our community and continue to make sure that these stories are here and that these buildings remain here for the next 100 years."
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Follow in Malcolm X's footsteps on a civil rights history tour in Boston
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Malcolm X's birthday will be recognised as a new annual holiday in Boston this May. Though born in Nebraska in 1925, the civil rights activist lived in the Massachusetts city on and off for 12 years during a pivotal — if controversial — era in the fight for African American rights in the US. The formative years he spent in Boston — becoming a leading Muslim minister here before his assassination at a New York rally in 1965 — have left a lasting legacy that can still be seen in the city's monuments and thriving Black neighbourhoods. Boston's Black history starts long before Malcolm X, though. The Massachusetts capital was one of New England's key slave ports in the 17th century and the state later became one of the first to abolish slavery. While the city's 2.5-mile Freedom Trail charts the national institutes that were pivotal in the country's fight for independence, the 1.6-mile Black Heritage Trail focuses on Beacon Hill, a historic neighbourhood that was home to the city's largest community of African Americans prior to the Civil War. Today, it's a pretty suburb of narrow, gas lamp-lit cobbled streets and the location of the Museum of African American History — a good starting point to understand what came before Malcolm X. The museum's collection spans the colonial era to the 19th century and includes stories and artefacts from Black communities. Fittingly, it's housed within the red brick walls of the African Meeting House, built in 1806 as the African Baptist Church of Boston and now considered the nation's oldest still-existing Black church building. Plans are underway to extend the Black Heritage Trail to the neighbourhood of Roxbury, where Malcolm X lived during his time in Boston. In his 1965 book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, released posthumously, he said that living in Roxbury gave him a great 'sense of being a part of a mass of [his] own kind for the first time'. Today, it's the epicentre of the city's African American community. Take a neighbourhood tour with passionate guides from Live Like a Local Tours Boston to discover spots such as Frugal Bookstore, a Black-owned business and community hub, and Tropical Foods, a longstanding, family-owned Afro-Caribbean and Latin American supermarket. At the latter, pick up snacks such as fresh pies and spicy beef patties. As part of the planned updates to the Black Heritage Trail, Roxbury's Malcolm X Boulevard is set to be extended further into Dudley Street, a major thoroughfare beside Nubian Square — a block that's long been considered the heart of Black Boston thanks to its historical connections to social activism and African American culture. In Nubian Square, check out the Faces of Dudley mural, which features prominent local Black figures including Malcolm X, community and civil rights activist Melnea Cass and fellow campaigner Martin Luther King Jr, who met his wife Coretta Scott King a mile north of here, at the New England Conservatory of Music. Black-owned businesses thrive in the area surrounding the square; make a pitstop at Nubian Markets cafe-restaurant for classic dishes like chickpea peanut stew and jerk chicken with fragrant coconut rice — a homage to Roxbury's African diaspora. (MLK and Malcolm X only met once. Here's the story behind an iconic image.) There's other interesting street art to check out in the neighbourhood, too. The Roxbury Love Story mural sits at the intersection of Shawmut Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, on the site of the former Twelfth Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr was once assistant minister. The artwork depicts Martin Luther King Jr and Coretta Scott across two walls of a residence building, with a telephone line connecting them. A plaque highlights the significance of the site and details prominent locations pertaining to the Kings. Roxbury has had other famous residents over the years; head down Washington Street and you'll find a mural of Roxbury-born disco queen Donna Summer. The singer-songwriter has been immortalised on the side of Black Market Nubian, a community-led enterprise hub that aims to strengthen Nubian Square's Black-majority community through art projects. No visit to Roxbury would be complete without walking by the Malcolm X–Ella Little-Collins House on Dale Street, where Malcolm X lived with his half-sister, Ella Little-Collins, from 1941 to 1944. The modest house was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2021 and is the only surviving residence from Malcolm's time in Boston. It's currently under restoration, with plans to offer tours for the first time. Before leaving Roxbury, take a stroll through Malcolm X's greatest Boston legacy project: Malcolm X Park, formerly Washington Park, which recently underwent a $9.6m (£7.5m) renovation. Local artists were commissioned to paint three new murals on the outdoor basketball courts, and an outdoor swimming pool remains free for all — perfect for a dip on hot days. Published in the USA guide, available with the Jan/Feb 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
