If
you thought there were no black people on
Nantucket Island back in the day, other than
Frederick Douglass delivering his anti-slavery
speeches, you’ll quickly be disabused of that
notion. Visit the Museum of African American
History on Nantucket and speak with the
African American staff members there.
Like
libraries, museums are vital institutions.
African American museums are rare. They
represent a small percentage of all U.S.
museums. The fact that the Museum of African
American History (MAAH) in Massachusetts has
two historic sites -Boston and Nantucket-is
unique. Both sites offer a diverse range of
enriching cultural programs, exhibits,
artists, and social events throughout the year
under the leadership of Dr. Noelle N. Trent,
President and CEO. Both sites were involved
with the Underground Railroad and today are
part of the Black Heritage Trail.
Bee
Blunt’s designs
MAAH’s
recent event enticed my spouse and me to
embark on a daylong trip to Nantucket. On July
19, we met Portia Blunt at MAAH Nantucket,
where she showcased her “Bee Blunt” clothes
collection, “Threads of Legacy: Nantucket
Narratives.” Blunt redefines the conventional
notion of the “American Classic Style” with
her inimitable technique of narrative-driven
designs, showcasing the illustrious beauty of
Black history and culture.
“Our inspiration starts with
our rich culture and the legacy of style it
has given us.” Blunt has a card next to each
of her displays.
“As an Apparel Industry
executive & veteran, I am a designer who
loves to tell stories and learn. I figured
if I can tell the stories that have been
left untold, we can uncover the beautiful
legacy of black American culture and show
how rich and beautiful it is through
fashion,” Blunt wrote on her website.
Blunt’s red
Inkwell sweater is
one of her most popular items. The design
represents the century-long resilience of
Black joy in the historic African American
summer vacationing community of Oak Bluffs,
Martha’s Vineyard, which was founded in the
1890s during the Jim Crow era and is still
thriving today.
At
the Nantucket site, Blunt displayed her new
designs, including the Nantucket sweaters. For
the freezing AC ferry ride back to Hyannis, we
purchased sweaters. My spouse purchased the
blue and grey New Guinea sweater. When asked
about its name, Blunt beamed to tell us that
New Guinea was a predominantly Black enclave
comprised of Native Americans, Cape Verdeans,
and free and formerly enslaved Blacks. Shantaw
Bloise-Murphy, director of the Department of
Culture & Tourism, chimed in to tell us
about Black Nantucketers who were part of the
whaling industry, the abolitionist movement,
entrepreneurs, and landowners.
“This history can easily get
lost because people don’t know enough about
us on this island, setting up our
independence. But you know us, we always
found a way.”
Bloise-Murphy
grew up on the island, graduated from
Nantucket High, and met my husband there. “My
hope is more tourists of color will come here,
especially after reading about our history on
the museum’s website to hear from us about the
island.”
I
purchased the red and white Nantucket sweater,
which features the date 1825, the date its
African Meeting House was founded. The AMH
functioned as a multi-site, meeting place,
church, and school. And like the African
Meeting House founded in Boston in 1806, it
was the hub of the Black community during the
18th and 19th centuries. Both Houses are now
part of MAAH.
Black
Home Ownership
Born
in Richmond, VA, in 1893, Florence Elizabeth
Higginbotham came to Nantucket to work as a
cook in 1911. Ten years later, in 1921, she
purchased the historic Seneca Boston house for
rental income. In 1933, she purchased the
adjoining historic African Meeting House,
renting it out for storage and, on one
occasion, as a studio that’s now part of MAAH.
I
asked whether black homeownership was the
exception, especially with the Fugitive
Slave Act hanging over the New Guinea
community’s heads.
“You could come here with the
help of the Quakers as part of the
Underground Railroad. You get a job and you
get real opportunities to build yourself
up,” Charity Grace Mofsen told me, who was
the former Associate Director of Nantucket
Operations for the MAAH from 2016- 2018.
“A lot of people who came
here they bought homes. They started
businesses,” Mofsen said, who is now the
island photographer. Since 2015, Nantucket
has been her home. “Nantucket’s dark skies
give the opportunity to capture the Milky
Way, which is such a gift.”
A
distinctive “Black space”
We
have always found creative ways to honor Black
History through our griots, songs, dances,
writings, artists, and entrepreneurs, such as
Bee Blunt’s clothesline. Black museums will
preserve the dignity and legacy of not only
our huge icons but also our local and
community heroes. These museums are an
investment in us. With the deliberate aims to
erase Black History, the unending attacks in
Critical Race Theory, and the dismantling of
all things associated with DEI, these museums
preserve our rich stories.
Today,
the history of New Guinea is revered for its
resistance and resilience during the eras of
slavery and Jim Crow. The black cemetery, a
stone’s throw from the MAAH, is where many of
the community’s shakers and movers and
colorful characters now rest in peace. The
MAAH is where their photos, official records,
and recordings of their time on the island are
preserved in perpetuity - uncensored,
unredacted, and unerased.
