New Hampshire is observing Juneteenth, a holiday that has evolved to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. At the center of that commemoration is the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. The organization promotes awareness and appreciation of African American history and life in order to build more inclusive communities. That’s a tall order in today’s society, when programs that discuss that history and appreciation are under fire. Here to discuss Juneteenth and more is JerriAnne Boggis, the executive director of the Black Heritage Trail.
By Rosemary Ford and Caitlin Agnew
This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Melanie Plenda:
Let’s start with Juneteenth at the Black Heritage Trail. Can you tell us more about what Juneteenth is and what events you have coming up this weekend and beyond?
JerriAnne Boggis:
One of the things I do want to say about Juneteenth is just to make a correction. Juneteenth, the celebration of June 19, which is the derivative of Juneteenth, really doesn't celebrate the end of slavery across America. It does celebrate the end of slavery in Galveston, Texas. But we know that there were pockets of enslavement across the country long after that — long after two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was made. Juneteenth was just when the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, heard that they were free, when an army came in to enforce proclamation. And so it's traditionally a Texas celebration, but it spread across the country and became what it is today, celebrating emancipation, but slavery really didn't end then.
This year our focus is “The Reckoning: Reclaiming the Past, Remembering Black Voices, Reshaping the Future.” And this is a look at the stories that we tell about our founding fathers and really try to add the other side to that story — that the founding fathers were not exactly paragons of virtue. They did some amazing things, but America’s story is so complex and so one-sided, so we thought we’d look at the narratives of some of the black descendants of some of these founding fathers — the people they enslaved.
Melanie Plenda:
Can you tell me about Ona Judge and her story?
JerriAnne Boggis:
Ona Judge was born into enslavement with Martha Washington. She was what they call a “dowager slave” — she came into the marriage and was added to the enslaved people that George Washington had.
On her 18th birthday, she was told that she was to be given as a wedding present to Martha's niece. And I think before that, she might have thought that she was part of the family, but then she realized that she was this property, this tool for commerce, and so she decided to be responsible for her own life and her own well-being, to do what our founding documents say — to pursue her own happiness. So she escapes the presidential mansion with the aid of the black community in Philadelphia. She gets on a little ship that brought her to Portsmouth to the underground railroad.
We know she lives here for a while, and she ends her life in Greenland, New Hampshire. Her story is one of courage, fortitude, creativity, and defiance. She defied the most powerful man in the country.
Melanie Plenda:
What was it like putting this event together this year? I’d imagine there were more obstacles than usual.
JerriAnne Boggis:
So when we started this early January, it was a different world than where we ended up now and where we ended up a few months after deciding on this theme.
We thought this was a brilliant theme, because we like to bring these thought-provoking themes to our population so we can have some critical thoughts about our history. Where we began, where we are now, and where we can go by really looking honestly at what our history is. It didn't prove to be that way, as we had hoped, because our political environment, our cultural environment, totally shifted. Last year, when we were bringing the Amistad [a 19th century slave ship that was the site of a historic slave revolt], we had about 500 students registered for the tours to come and see the Amistad. This year, when we put out the information on this reckoning around the Founding Father — to date, we have zero students signed up.
We were wondering what was going on. What is the story behind this? Historically, we bring a lot of students through our tours. After speaking with some of the teachers, what we found out is that, because of the environment — the assault on DEI programs, the assault on black history, the divisive concepts legislation — the teachers were very reluctant to send this information home with students, because all it would take is one angry parent or one person not believing that children need to know these stories, or that we're changing the notion of what the founding fathers were to open an investigation on the school and their whole curriculum.
This whole thing had a very chilling effect on what teachers felt that they could do or wanted to do, the chances they wanted to take, the fear surrounding their livelihood, and so we ran smack dab up against this whole notion that we were telling a story that didn't put the founding fathers in the positive light that they needed to be in.
Melanie Plenda:
Were you surprised when the funding cuts and the anti-DEI fervor started happening?
JerriAnne Boggis:
I was totally shocked. I thought America had moved much further along this line than we actually did. It just made me see and believe that this was all window dressing. For what purpose? I'm not sure. I should probably say that it really depends on our leadership, the narrative, the way people fall around. We had an air, an aura around civility, the kind of values that we say we stand for. It was this thought that we all stood for those things, right? But within an instant, that changed.
I don't want to talk about the people who believe this, because there is a pocket of us that totally believe in these values and principles. But right now, what I'm grappling with is the loud voice — are those the actions of the majority or just a loud group? Is it the one-third that believes this or the two-thirds that really are working towards equality, a just society, a country where those who want to thrive are allowed to thrive?
Melanie Plenda:
How would you sum up the overall impact on the Black Heritage Trail over the last few months?
JerriAnne Boggis:
What we're seeing is this trickle-down effect of these orders, and we've had to rethink some of our strategic plans as an organization. I still think it's a little too early to say just what this is. I think a lot of us were shell-shocked, so we're still trying to figure out the environment that we're in. We're kind of in a bubble. We're kind of singing to the choir, so the people who support us are our choir, so we’re able to continue to go on.
But what we're seeing is the damage that a long-term effect could do. We're not in the classrooms talking about this, engaging our students in critical thinking, where we can then be bridge-makers, break stereotypes — create these places for real intellectual dialogue and thought, then there's the danger of losing this generation.
One of our strategic plans was to bring our stories to New Hampshire seventh and eighth graders, when they study New Hampshire history. That's when we would bring the stories to them — the local stories, the stories that are right there in their backyards. They don't get that again after they leave, so then we lose that ability to tell them. Our community dialogues are in libraries or spaces where people gather, our community gathers. If we don't have our libraries anymore, then how do we gather? How do we communicate?
We have to think about what we value, and our organization is committed to be truth-tellers, to telling these stories, because we can see what happens when we know these stories, how they break down barriers, how they break stereotypes. They distort the stereotypes and they give us a better understanding of how we got to where we are, and where we are going now.
Melanie Plenda:
Despite all this, you’re still here, and your organization is still putting on events. Can you talk about the dedication it takes — from you and your volunteers — and what that means to you?
JerriAnne Boggis:
So I think for us as an organization, it’s what we value. Because you have made a commitment to these values, you're seeing it through. It's not just creating a program, it's not just writing something up — it's creating this sense of belonging. It's going beyond that narrative. It's going to the human story.
We rely on our volunteers, we rely on our boards to keep us going. We rely on each other to keep optimistic about the environment that we are in, and we rely on the value and the impact that we can see. When we started this work eight years ago — and before, with Valerie Cunningham who started in 30 years ago — I can look back at our first conversations. They were very superficial — it was an early part of learning. Now, our tea talks are like a place for deep, meaningful dialogue on issues that are so complex that you get deeper into a subject. That’s what it takes — this building up of community, over and over.
Melanie Plenda:
For our audience, what would you like to tell them about celebrating Juneteenth this year?
JerriAnne Boggis:
This year, we're going to be at the Portsmouth African Burying Ground on June 19 — it is the 10th anniversary of the African Burying Ground Memorial Park. So we’re going to be celebrating this 10th anniversary.
Because of this really complex time that we're in, this troubled time, we thought we would also do a fun activity with our communities. There's a dance that's viral on Tik Tok called “The Boots on the Ground,” and we will end our celebrations with that, asking the community to come together in this dance. Dance and song and that joy have always been part of Black communities from African times — during times of hardship, during times of joy and sharing, the community came together and expressed that joy in being together.
We can look at the civil rights movement. We can look at the enslaved people doing the stomp dance. It is protest, showing that we can get through this. You can't stop us. We will get through this. You can't erase us. We are here. You can't silence us. We're visible. We may not be able to say certain things, but our feet can. So we're asking our community to join in this dance, because we need all our boots on the ground now in understanding this environment that we are in and doing what we can towards justice and equality, equity and inclusion.
Melanie Plenda:
After Juneteenth, what’s next for you and the Black Heritage Trail?
JerriAnne Boggis:
We've got our tours throughout the season, people can come and join us — not only here in Portsmouth, but across the state. We're in four other towns across the state. We've got our marker projects going up.
And, for the Black New England Conference, which I'm really excited about — that is one of the programs that we really had kept as we head towards the 250th anniversary [of the United States]. So we're bringing together a group of young social media creators to discuss the state of African Americans over the last 250 years. Have we improved? Have we moved? What have they seen? We wanted to hear from the youth and their perspective. What has this march to 250 years brought and meant for African American history, African American culture, equity, enterprise, the media, how we're portrayed? What are they seeing and what are they thinking?
Melanie Plenda:
Great talking to you, as always. Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire Executive Director JerriAnne Boggis — thank you so much for joining us.
“The State We’re In” is a weekly digital public affairs show produced by NH PBS and The Marlin Fitzwater Center for Communication at Franklin Pierce University. It is shared with partners in the Granite State News Collaborative, of which both organizations are members. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.