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From YouTube: "Slavery in Boston" Exhibit Ribbon Cutting 6/16/2023
Description
Mayor Wu joins city officials to unveil the Boston Slavery Exhibit. Located in Faneuil Hall, the exhibit explores how laws and policies in Boston helped create and maintain the institution of slavery and how many residents of Boston still experience the aftereffects and legacy of slavery today.
A
We
are
gathered
in
Native
space
and
on
the
lands
of
the
Massachusetts
tribe,
whether
you
are
visiting
or
live
here,
I
ask
you
to
treat
our
lands
and
our
Waters
as
something
precious,
because
they
are
ten
thousand
years
ago.
Boston
Harbor
was
dry
land
and
we
were
here
one
thousand
years
ago,
much
of
what
is
now
known
as
the
city
of
Boston
was
underwater,
and
we
were
here
400
years
ago,
English
Colonists
came
to
occupy
our
land,
and
we
were
here
today.
Most
of
greater
Boston
is
a
major
urban
area
occupied
by
others.
A
A
A
This
is
where
we
interacted
with
people
who
came
from
across
oceans.
These
interactions
brought
new
things,
new
tensions,
new
ideas,
new
challenges
here
is
where
some
of
the
visitors
brought
diseases
that
killed
most
of
our
people,
leaving.
Those
of
us
who
are
left
behind
bereft
here
is
where
those
of
us
who
survived
remained
and
continued
to
make
our
lives
here
is
where
the
English
began.
Their
conquest
of
the
continent
here
is
where
our
relationship
with
the
colonists
were
built,
destroyed
and
rebuilt.
Again,
some
of
these
relationships
were
friendly
and
beneficial.
A
A
Here
is
where
we
maintain,
sometimes
in
secret,
our
commitment
to
our
own
values
and
beliefs
about
the
nature
of
the
world.
The
land
and
people
here
is
where
we
made
alliances
into
married
and
made
new
communities
with
people
from
other
native
groups
and
with
those
from
other
cultures
here
is
where
we
continue
to
make
our
lives
here
is
where
we
laugh
cry.
Love
make
music
practice.
Our
beliefs
share
both
food
and
knowledge.
May.
A
This
could
not
take
place
without
embracing
the
idea
that
the
espouse
values
of
Liberty,
Justice
and
equality
were
not
designed
to
apply
to
all
who
live
here
and
were
in
fact
dependent
upon
denying
them
to
peoples
who
had
already
been
living
here
for
thousands
of
years
and
those
who
were
kept
as
property
to
assure
the
comfort
and
enrichment
of
those
in
power
we
visit.
This
exhibit
knowing
that
it
examines
hard
truths
and
that
the
experience
may
be
difficult.
A
B
I
want
to
thank
and
recognize
that
you
will
you'll
hear
from
a
few
of
our
colleagues
to
come:
Reverend
mariama,
whiteham
and
the
chief
of
energy
environment
and
open
space
for
the
city
of
Joe
Bagley,
who
is
the
archaeologist
for
the
city
of
Boston,
our
credible
leader
in
so
many
different
ways,
but
part
of
our
community
Advisory
board
for
representative
Byron.
Rushing
I
also
want
to
thank
I,
see
city
councilman
is
here.
B
Thank
you
for
all
your
work
in
engaging
community
and
making
sure
this
could
be
accessible
to
all
co-curators
Dr,
Jared,
Ross,
Hardesty
and
Kyra
Singleton
and
project
advisors,
Dr,
Jane,
backer
and
Dr
David
Landon.
This
exhibit
was
a
product
of
a
true
Community
collaboration.
I
want
to
thank
more
than
200
community
members
who
participated
in
meetings
and
shared
feedback
on
what
it
would
mean
to
have
a
space
that
honestly
explores,
acknowledges
and
reckons
with
Boston's
history
and
relationship
to
slavery.
B
This
exhibit
doesn't
just
Chronicle
the
origin,
Legacy
and
impact
of
enslaved
labor
in
Boston.
It
recognizes
more
than
1
300,
enslaved
bostonians
people,
whose
labor
built
our
city
and
our
regional
economy,
and
it
goes
even
further
to
widen
the
lens
Beyond
slavery
as
a
practice
and
an
institution
to
explore
the
agency,
activism
and
resistance
of
those
who
were
enslaved.
B
This
exhibit
celebrates
the
black
brown
and
Indigenous
people
who
organized
protested,
spoke
out
and
fought
back
and
I
want
to
acknowledge.
The
particular
significance
of
this
exhibit
occupying
space
here
at
one
of
the
country's
most
visited
tourist
attractions,
a
building
itself
that
was
constructed
in
part
by
funds
generated
from
enslaved
labor.
Our
Administration
is
committed
to
confronting
these
histories.
B
These
are
histories
that
our
communities
have
never
forgotten,
but
that
for
many
years
have
been
suppressed
and
obscured
by
those
who
would
prefer
to
look
away.
The
work
of
healing
requires
that
we
Center
the
people
at
the
heart
of
the
Injustice
that
we
honor
and
celebrate
them
by
Reckoning,
with
the
full
reality
of
their
experiences
and
marking
and
celebrating
their
contributions,
their
lives,
their
families
I'm
grateful
for
the
opportunity
that
this
exhibit
presents
to
do
that
work.
B
It's
work
that
extends
well
beyond
today
and
this
weekend,
as
we
celebrate
Juneteenth
and
emancipation,
and
next
month,
when
Boston
hosts
the
NAACP
for
their
annual
National
Convention
to
the
work
we
do
every
day
to
create
a
more
just
more
Equitable
city,
a
city
where
the
policies
we
create
in
in
the
Investments
we
make
are
driven
by
our
commitment
to
celebrate
the
full
Humanity
of
all
of
our
residents
and
communities.
We
create
this
open
invitation
for
all
of
our
residents
to
engage
and
be
in
dialogue
to
shape
all
the
policies
of
the
city.
B
C
There
is
so
much
more
that
we
need
to
do
and
that
we
will
do
to
ensure
that
those
who
have
contributed
to
this
history
are
lifted
up
as
much
as
all
of
the
famous
names
that
people
have
come
to
know.
We
no
longer
want
to
view
Boston's
history
in
silos,
but
to
acknowledge
the
interconnectedness
of
our
history.
C
He
brings
with
him
a
background
of
doing
this
work
and
multiple
other
parts
of
the
country
and
the
world
and
we're
looking
forward
to
his
leadership
expanding
this
work.
We
also
want
to
take
an
opportunity
to
thank
the
community
preservation
act
for
the
grant
that
helped
to
make
this
possible
and
for
the
multiple
extensions
we
had
to
get
because
the
pandemic
stopped
it
from
being
done
on
the
original
schedule.
C
But
we
do
want
to
also
encourage
you
to
go
to
the
basement,
because
in
that
space,
that
is
where
we
have
the
wall
of
enslavers
and
I
want
to
note
that
in
many
instances
we
do
not
have
pictures
of
enslaved
people.
In
some
instances,
people
didn't
even
bother
to
note
their
names.
They
showed
up
as
pieces
of
property
and
a
ledger.
C
C
We
hope
that
when
you
walk
and
see
the
stories
of
enslaved
people
on
the
first
floor,
that
you
will
also
particularly
take
note
for
the
two
children
who
are
lifted
up
in
this
exhibit
I've
been
doing
work
around
history.
For
quite
a
significant
part
of
my
life.
I
used
to
run
a
youth
program
particularly
focus
on
the
history
of
the
Civil
Rights
Movement.
C
You
will
also
see
the
story
of
Jack
and
Acton
enslaved
men
who
were
exceptional,
potters
and
created
Ceramics
in
the
neighborhood
of
Charlestown.
There's
a
lot
more
work
to
do.
We
asked
the
question:
where
did
they
learn
their
craft?
How
might
they
have
Incorporated
their
African
Heritage
in
the
products
that
they
were
making?
C
C
As
I
said,
this
is
just
a
beginning.
What
we
hope
is
that
there's
actually
even
more
information
that
we
couldn't
fit
on
the
panels
without
make
we
needed
to
make
them
readable,
so
there
wouldn't
be
too
small.
There
was
many
things
that
still
need
to
be
explored
stories
that
need
to
be
told,
and
we
need
both
professional
and
citizen
historians
to
continue
doing
the
work.
There
are
many
people
who
are
listed,
but
we
do
not
know
their
names.
C
C
C
We
hope
that
people
who
come
here
to
visit
will
know
more
about
the
complicity
of
this
city,
but
there
is
still
a
lot
of
work
to
take
this
information,
also
out
into
communities
to
the
Shirley
Eustis
house,
which
has
slave
quarters
to
the
Lauren
Greenough
house
in
Jamaica
Plain,
which
also
had
slave
quarters
to
multiple
places
throughout
our
city,
where
people
lived
and
worked
and
raised
families
and
contributed
to
their
communities,
and
their
stories
deserve
to
be
told
with
that
I'm
going
to
pass
it
over
to
our
city.
Archeology,
a
city
archaeologist
Joe,
Bagley,.
D
Thank
you
I'll
keep
my
remarks
brief
and
focused
mostly
on
thanking
the
many
many
people
who
many
of
whom
are
here
on
who
helped
make
this
exhibit
happen.
First
of
all,
thank
you,
mayor
Wu,
for
creating
an
environment
where
this
type
of
Storytelling
can
happen
in
a
safe
space
and
an
open
Community.
Thank
you.
Chief
Reverend,
Mary
I'm,
a
white
him
and
for
your
incredible
support
and
guidance
throughout
this
project,
especially
in
the
past
year.
We
really
wouldn't
be
able
to
pull
this
off
without
you.
D
Of
course,
I
want
to
thank
the
funders,
the
community
preservation
committee,
an
important
funding
source
for
for
work
like
this
in
the
Boston
and
the
National
Endowment
for
art
for
humanities.
I
want
to
shout
out
to
the
key
project
team
on
this
project:
Dr
Jared,
Ross,
Hardesty,
I'm,
curious
Singleton,
who
I
think
is
somewhere
over
there
as
well,
and
Jacob
garfinkel,
Dr,
Jane,
Becker
and
Dave
Landon.
Without
you
all
writing,
and
doing
a
lot
of
the
the
heavy
lifting
on
this
project
going
all
the
way
back
to
2018.
D
You
wouldn't
see
anything
here:
the
design
team,
Chester,
Conan
and
Brett
Hart
from
AECOM
who
actually
created
the
designs
that
you
see
and
the
artwork
to
Laura
Roberts
for
her
incredible
work,
Gathering
community
members
together
and
helping
us
organize
all
throughout
covid.
In
fact,
many
many
of
the
people
I'm
mentioning
I've
met
for
the
first
time
today,
because
so
much
of
this
was
happening
during
shutdowns.
D
He
had
an
amazing
advisory
team,
Leila
Vermeer
from
the
MFA
Karen
Goodfellow
from
arts
and
culture,
Dr
Nidra
Lee
from
UMass
Boston
Lori
Nelson
from
the
equity
cabinet,
John,
Luke
Parade
from
nay
Cobb,
the
Native
American
Indian
Center
of
Boston
Marita
Rivero
Byron,
rushing
Elizabeth
tiblink
from
Embrace
Boston
and
Brenda
Tyndale
from
Harvard.
We
had
incredible
researchers
who
contributed
to
this
work,
including
Abita,
Levi
and
Kathleen
vanyena,
who
are
the
two
folks
that
are
mentioned
in
the
exhibit
for
their
work.
D
Much
of
this,
the
early
phases
of
this
work
about
a
year
a
year
and
a
half's
worth
of
work
happened
back
at
the
laboratory
processing
the
artifacts
that
actually
came
out
of
the
ground
here
at
Faneuil
Hall,
quite
literally,
under
the
under
your
feet,
where
you're
going
to
be
walking.
If
you
go
all
the
way
downstairs,
that
work
was
done
by
Maddie
Maddie,
Penny
and
Megan
rapini
of
AECOM,
and
also
Sarah
Kylie
Schoff.
Who
did
a
lot
of
work
at
the
beginning
stages
of
this
back
in
2018
and
2019
in
the
grant
writing
process.
D
D
If
you
want
to
see
some
of
those
go,
all
the
way
downstairs,
you'll
be
able
to
see
them
in
person,
Nadia
Klein,
who
did
not
only
the
digital
website
that
you
will
see
through
the
QR
codes,
but
she
I
also
asked
my
team
about
two
months
ago
to
write
down
every
17th
century
enslaved
Bostonian
in
the
probate
records,
which
is
about
15
to
20
000
pages
of
documents
to
go
through
and
they
managed
to
pull
it
off
and
Nadia
did
an
incredible
amount
of
work
to
get
that
online.
Thank
you.
So
much
for
that
work.
D
E
What
is
both
unique
and
exciting
about
this
exhibit
is
that
parts
of
the
stories
of
all
three
are
told.
Factually
and
honestly,
let's
thank
all
the
people
who
made
this
exhibit
possible.
We
have
heard
the
leadership
and
researchers
and
advisory
committee.
He
acknowledged.
Let
us
also
acknowledged
the
hundreds
of
bostonians
who
Took
time
out,
to
participate
and
review
the
concept
originally
and
critique
its
development
as
it
went
along
until
today.
Until
this
day.
E
E
E
E
C
So
now
we
want
to
focus
on
giving
you
the
opportunity
to
see
for
yourselves.
We
know
that
some
press
folks
might
have
questions
if
you
want
to
stay
in
for
the
questions
you're
more
than
welcome
to,
and
we
also
wanted
to
give
people
the
opportunity
to
see
the
exhibit
to
interact
with
it
and
to
connect
with
it.
So
we're
going
to
do
we
have
a
ribbon.
Are
we
cutting
an
actual
ribbon?
C
Yes,
okay,
all
right,
so
we're
gonna
go
inside,
we'll
cut
the
actual
ribbon
and
then
folks
will
be
able
to
interact
with
the
exhibit.
We've
heard
that
some
press
folks
want
to
ask
questions
we'll
come
back
outside
to
do
that,
but
we
don't
want
to
hold
up
everybody
if
they
want
to
actually
see
the
exhibit.