February 8, 2025 • 6 mins
February is Black History Month, and the Freedom Trail Foundation is offering special tours highlighting the rich and often overlooked history of African-Americans who've made an impact on the city's history. The tours promise a great walk around Boston, some enlightening and enriching conversations, and education from 18th century costumed guides playing the roles of iconic Black Bostonians. This week, a guide from the Foundation playing Phillis Wheatley joins Nichole to talk about the Foundation's work and these special tours.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
From THEFTYBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week we come together right
here talk about all the topics important to you and
the place where you live. It is great to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. This
month is Black History Month, and in a city like Boston,
where history is paramount, we have so many stories to
tell about Black Bostonians who shaped our nation as we
(00:29):
know it. The Freedom Trail Foundation is celebrating by offering
special tours highlighting the rich and honestly often overlooked history
of African Americans in Boston. The Foundation's African American Patriots
tours feature eighteenth century costumed guides. They're out there on
the streets of the Freedom Trail playing the roles of
iconic black Bostonians. We actually have one of those icons
(00:50):
with us now here on the show. Phillis sweetly thank
you for traveling through time to be here on New
England Weekend. Before we find out about you and your contributions,
I want to find out a bit more about the
Foundation's work overall.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well. We do historical walking tours of Boston's Freedom Trail
and beyond. I mean, that's kind of the base of
what we do. We also get into more esoteric Boston history.
We talk do obviously the African American Patriots Tour. We
also do the Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour in Pride months. We
have a Woman's History tour in March, so we have
an also Holiday Stroll tour in the holiday season. So
(01:26):
we have other different specialty tours that focus on interesting
history of Boston.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, you are certainly busy people, And obviously it's Black
History Month, and to honor Black History Month, the Freedom
Trail Foundation is highlighting Black history and Black stories. So
tell me a little bit about this program specifically and
what you all are working on.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yes, fantastic. We have a lot of wonderful unsung heroes
here in Massachusetts, from Salem Port to myself Phyllis Wheatley,
and interesting stories about fighting against slavery here in Massachusetts
with people like Quoke Walker and Elizabeth mum Bett Freeman.
And these are stories that usually aren't necessarily highlighted as
often in certain tours, but it is, you know, really
(02:10):
the focus of this tour and all the wonderful, rich
history that African Americans have here in Boston and have
had four hundreds of years.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, Boston is known as a really you know, the
pinnacle of American history. A lot of America started here.
But it is important to highlight the fact that black
history is American history as well.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Absolutely, and I mean there's also parts because I mean
Massachusetts very proudly. We were fiery abolitionists. We fought on
the side of the Union. But it's also important to
remember that during the settler and colonial period there was
slavery here in Massachusetts. And it's surprising often to a
lot of tours to find out that Massachusetts is one
of the first date to legalize slavery. Now we would
(02:52):
also be one of the first to abolish it. But
it's also Charleston to Boston who stinks most. To quote
the musical seventeen seventy six.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So you, Phyllis, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh fabulous. Well, I am the first African American and
third American woman to ever publish a book of poetry,
and Phyllis did so while still enslaved here in Boston.
She would come to Boston on a slave ship called
the Phyllis. That is where she would get her name,
and she was taught to read and write by the
teenage daughter of her enslavers. And there was a woman
(03:25):
named She was a teenager at the time, but would
grow into woman named Mary Wheatley. And Mary would also
become Mary an abolitionist preacher and become fairly anti slavery herself,
and would shelter Phyllis during the war.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Wow. Okay, so you've mentioned Christus Attics. Of course we
know him from the Boston massacre. You've got Peter Salem,
Prince Hall, all these other revolutionaries in their own right.
How long is the tour and how many of these
iconic figures really are we going to get to learn
about throughout this tour.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, that's the wonderful thing about the tour is that
it's a ninety minute tour. And one of the great
things about it is that I love taking questions from people.
So I can't necessarily say we will always talk about
the same thing, because sometimes people want to know more
about like say Polke Walker or you know, Salem Poor
or whomever. But I'm happy to get into that. But
(04:17):
it's a pretty standard tour, and I think we get
into a lot of fun history with things like John
Hancock and his links to slavery and being a slave
owner himself, to people like Sam Adams whose wife inherited
a slave and he was like, yeah, no you didn't,
because I'm not going to have a slave in my home.
So there's very these these interesting kind of dynamics at
(04:40):
the time of who would accept what and why, And
I think that's really important to highlight and explain to
people that they weren't a monolis even back then. There's
a lot of nuance to history that is truly fascinating
and shows you the richness of all the people involved.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah, now, obviously it is February. It is Black History Month,
which is great, and we're doing miss Arbet. It's February
and it's cold outside. You are not expected as a
visitor to dress up in period garb, I'm assuming, but
the tour guides will be, you know, doing their thing
in period guard.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
We will be wearing our long gens underneath, I assure.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
You, I sure hope. So, because you got to stay warm.
So how can people find out more about the tour
get involved? Obviously you've got to get a ticket because
you can't just show up. So how can people do
that great.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, you can actually just show up and it's a
public tour, so you can buy tickets at the Visitors
Information Center right on Boston Common, right near the Embrace Monument.
That's where tickets are sold, and it's every Saturday and
Sunday in Black History months at ten forty five. But
tickets are also available on Thefreedomtrail dot org and we
have a little tickets It is very user friendly and
(05:46):
you can purchase tickets there, so we try to make
it easy.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I love that and the Freedom Trail Foundation. If people
want to find out about your other tours, about everything
else you're offering, where can they find you? You know,
Thefreedomtrail dot org. But what about social media?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Social media? We are all over the social media. If
you are on Instagram, the Freedom Trail X I believe
we have a blue Sky account now and all the
Facebook and various sundry Internet places to congregate and talk
about history. Many Internet for right.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Right right, there's so many of them. All right, Well, Phyllis,
I really appreciate your time, and again, stay warm, get
a nice warm drink as you're walking around out there.
But thank you for highlighting Black history and enjoy your tours.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Thank you so much, it's lovely speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Have a safe and healthy weekend, stay warm and dry,
and join us again next week for another edition of
the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on
iHeartRadio
From THEFTYBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England
Weekend where each and every week we come together right
here talk about all the topics important to you and
the place where you live. It is great to be
back with you again this week. I'm Nicole Davis. This
month is Black History Month, and in a city like Boston,
where history is paramount, we have so many stories to
tell about Black Bostonians who shaped our nation as we
(00:29):
know it. The Freedom Trail Foundation is celebrating by offering
special tours highlighting the rich and honestly often overlooked history
of African Americans in Boston. The Foundation's African American Patriots
tours feature eighteenth century costumed guides. They're out there on
the streets of the Freedom Trail playing the roles of
iconic black Bostonians. We actually have one of those icons
(00:50):
with us now here on the show. Phillis sweetly thank
you for traveling through time to be here on New
England Weekend. Before we find out about you and your contributions,
I want to find out a bit more about the
Foundation's work overall.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Well. We do historical walking tours of Boston's Freedom Trail
and beyond. I mean, that's kind of the base of
what we do. We also get into more esoteric Boston history.
We talk do obviously the African American Patriots Tour. We
also do the Rainbow Revolutionaries Tour in Pride months. We
have a Woman's History tour in March, so we have
an also Holiday Stroll tour in the holiday season. So
(01:26):
we have other different specialty tours that focus on interesting
history of Boston.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, you are certainly busy people, And obviously it's Black
History Month, and to honor Black History Month, the Freedom
Trail Foundation is highlighting Black history and Black stories. So
tell me a little bit about this program specifically and
what you all are working on.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yes, fantastic. We have a lot of wonderful unsung heroes
here in Massachusetts, from Salem Port to myself Phyllis Wheatley,
and interesting stories about fighting against slavery here in Massachusetts
with people like Quoke Walker and Elizabeth mum Bett Freeman.
And these are stories that usually aren't necessarily highlighted as
often in certain tours, but it is, you know, really
(02:10):
the focus of this tour and all the wonderful, rich
history that African Americans have here in Boston and have
had four hundreds of years.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, Boston is known as a really you know, the
pinnacle of American history. A lot of America started here.
But it is important to highlight the fact that black
history is American history as well.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Absolutely, and I mean there's also parts because I mean
Massachusetts very proudly. We were fiery abolitionists. We fought on
the side of the Union. But it's also important to
remember that during the settler and colonial period there was
slavery here in Massachusetts. And it's surprising often to a
lot of tours to find out that Massachusetts is one
of the first date to legalize slavery. Now we would
(02:52):
also be one of the first to abolish it. But
it's also Charleston to Boston who stinks most. To quote
the musical seventeen seventy six.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
So you, Phyllis, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Oh fabulous. Well, I am the first African American and
third American woman to ever publish a book of poetry,
and Phyllis did so while still enslaved here in Boston.
She would come to Boston on a slave ship called
the Phyllis. That is where she would get her name,
and she was taught to read and write by the
teenage daughter of her enslavers. And there was a woman
(03:25):
named She was a teenager at the time, but would
grow into woman named Mary Wheatley. And Mary would also
become Mary an abolitionist preacher and become fairly anti slavery herself,
and would shelter Phyllis during the war.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
Wow. Okay, so you've mentioned Christus Attics. Of course we
know him from the Boston massacre. You've got Peter Salem,
Prince Hall, all these other revolutionaries in their own right.
How long is the tour and how many of these
iconic figures really are we going to get to learn
about throughout this tour.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, that's the wonderful thing about the tour is that
it's a ninety minute tour. And one of the great
things about it is that I love taking questions from people.
So I can't necessarily say we will always talk about
the same thing, because sometimes people want to know more
about like say Polke Walker or you know, Salem Poor
or whomever. But I'm happy to get into that. But
(04:17):
it's a pretty standard tour, and I think we get
into a lot of fun history with things like John
Hancock and his links to slavery and being a slave
owner himself, to people like Sam Adams whose wife inherited
a slave and he was like, yeah, no you didn't,
because I'm not going to have a slave in my home.
So there's very these these interesting kind of dynamics at
(04:40):
the time of who would accept what and why, And
I think that's really important to highlight and explain to
people that they weren't a monolis even back then. There's
a lot of nuance to history that is truly fascinating
and shows you the richness of all the people involved.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Yeah, now, obviously it is February. It is Black History Month,
which is great, and we're doing miss Arbet. It's February
and it's cold outside. You are not expected as a
visitor to dress up in period garb, I'm assuming, but
the tour guides will be, you know, doing their thing
in period guard.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
We will be wearing our long gens underneath, I assure.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
You, I sure hope. So, because you got to stay warm.
So how can people find out more about the tour
get involved? Obviously you've got to get a ticket because
you can't just show up. So how can people do
that great.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Well, you can actually just show up and it's a
public tour, so you can buy tickets at the Visitors
Information Center right on Boston Common, right near the Embrace Monument.
That's where tickets are sold, and it's every Saturday and
Sunday in Black History months at ten forty five. But
tickets are also available on Thefreedomtrail dot org and we
have a little tickets It is very user friendly and
(05:46):
you can purchase tickets there, so we try to make
it easy.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I love that and the Freedom Trail Foundation. If people
want to find out about your other tours, about everything
else you're offering, where can they find you? You know,
Thefreedomtrail dot org. But what about social media?
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Social media? We are all over the social media. If
you are on Instagram, the Freedom Trail X I believe
we have a blue Sky account now and all the
Facebook and various sundry Internet places to congregate and talk
about history. Many Internet for right.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Right right, there's so many of them. All right, Well, Phyllis,
I really appreciate your time, and again, stay warm, get
a nice warm drink as you're walking around out there.
But thank you for highlighting Black history and enjoy your tours.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Thank you so much, it's lovely speaking with you.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Have a safe and healthy weekend, stay warm and dry,
and join us again next week for another edition of
the show. I'm Nicole Davis from WBZ News Radio on
iHeartRadio
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