ABOUT
As nonprofit educational organizations, New Hampshire’s Historical Society of Cheshire County and Monadnock Center for History and Culture use primary and secondary sources to communicate the history of the Monadnock region. The documents, photographs, publications, and artifacts preserved in our archives have led to hundreds of talks, workshops, walking tours, exhibits, school resources, and publications.
There are gaps in our collections. There are stories missing from our local history, memories not preserved. Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region is a collaborative initiative that seeks to fill those gaps. Community volunteers, "citizen archivists," are assisting staff in collecting primary sources related to Africans, African-Americans, and other persons of color who have resided in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire between 1730 and 1930.
Goals of the Project:
1. to enhance our understanding of the past, especially in southwestern New Hampshire.
2. to recognize that black history, and the history of marginalized groups, are integral parts of our state’s history.
3. to integrate more diverse primary sources into the school resources that are made available to educators for free.
4. to use our findings to create new educational programs for the public.
5. to build up our archives and fill gaps in our collections.
6. to share research findings with the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.
Special Thanks to our Citizen Archivists
Laura Barrett
Rebecca Barton
D. Bauer
Dr. Kabria Baumgartner
Emily Boyer
Carol Boyle
Kate Buckman
L. Bundy
Rose Carey
Jennifer Carroll
Evan Clements
Linda Daniel
Susan DeGidio
Bill Dow
Alix Dumont
Molly Ellis
T. Ellis
Julie Emineth
Nadine Ferrero
Gail Golec
Karin Gravina
S. Haldane
Traci M. Hays
N. Herman
Jackie Hooper
Marilyn Huston
Kenneth Jue
City of Keene, Heritage Commission
Rose Kundanis
Tim LaPierre
Susan Lawrence
Brian Lee
L. Loudon
Janis Manwaring
Christy Menard
Meg Muthra
Northeastern University College of Social Services and Humanities
Wendy O'Brien
Cauley Powell
Carolyn A (Stearns) Rayno
Jean E Robins
J. Roche
Grace Rooney
Amanda Rotigliano
Alan Rumrill
Laurel Schlegel
Will Schoefmann
Julia Slight
Michelle Stahl
Abbey Strauss
C. Vissen
Ellie Whitham
Olivia Whittier
J. Willis
Louise Zerba
Thank you to our Sponsors
Timeline of Activity:
2021:
Using the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire's blacknewengland.org database as a model, the Historical Society of Cheshire County and the Monadnock Center embarked on a crowdsourcing initiative. A group of 16 volunteers were assigned to one or more of the 34 towns in the Monadnock Region. Training meetings were held to train these “citizen archivists” to systematically examine primary and secondary source records in order to research individuals of color. Census records and town histories provided an initial list of individuals of color throughout the region from 1730-1930.
Funders: National Endowment for the Humanities SHARP grant and the Putnam Foundation.
2022:
Citizen archivists continued to recover the names of individuals and families of color, found in town histories, county histories, cemetery records, and vital records (birth, marriage, death). A template for reporting on individuals and family groups was created. Staff began developing a public website for the project.
Funders: The Putnam Foundation, C&S Wholesale Grocers
2023:
Staff and citizen archivists continued their research into the Monadnock region using primary sources. The Historical Society partnered with the Keene Heritage Commission. The Commission received a grant from the NH Division of Historical Resources to hire Dr. Kabria Baumgartner and her post-graduate students at Northeastern University. They researched people of color in Keene using newspapers and diaries. HSCC and MCHC also completed the construction of a BIPOC Monadonck website and began creating content based on research-to-date.
Funders: Putnam Foundation, C&S Wholesale Grocers
Goals for 2024:
Staff and citizen archivists will continue their research into the Monadnock region using primary sources including church records, deeds, and probate records. Individual and family reports will be edited and updated with new research findings. HSCC and MCHC will launch its BIPOC Monadnock website in June 2024.
Funders: Putnam Foundation
