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Address:
African Meeting House
Location:
Joy & Smith Court, Beacon Hill
Phone:
(617) 929-4523
Hours:
Sept-May, Mon-Fri: 10am-4pm; May-Sept, daily: 10am-4pm; closed holidays
Cost:
Adult: Free
Child: Free
Senior: Free
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Overview Inside Tips
Africans are among America’s oldest ancestors. The first ones arrived as slaves in Boston in February 1638, only eight years after the city was founded. By 1705, there were 400 slaves in Boston and the nucleus of a free black community formed in the North End. By 1790, after the American Revolution, Massachusetts became the only state in the Union to record no slaves.
The life and struggles of these free blacks centered around The African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. A National Historic Landmark, The Meeting House is the oldest extant black church building in the United States built by free African American artisans.
The Museum of African American History (MAAH) oversees the Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School in Boston, as well as The African Meeting House on Nantucket. Through its exhibits and the Black Heritage Trail, the Museum places pre- and post-colonial African American experience in an accurate social, cultural, and historical context. MAAH’s resouces bring to life the remarkable stories of the free blacks and white abolitionists who endured great risks that remade the nation.
The Black Heritage Trail explores the history of Boston’s 19th century African American community. The 1.6 mile (2.5 km) walking tour wends its way through the largest collection of historic sites in the country evoking the life of a free pre-Civil War African American community.
A self-guided walking tour map and guide are available at the Museum. Guided walking tours are offered daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend or, at other times, by special request.
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