Massachusetts beachgoers and environmental experts alike can tell something has changed at Salisbury Beach.
Winter storms have eroded away coastal dunes, placing homes, highways and wetlands at risk.
Environmental scientist Tom Hughes describes …
Massachusetts
Massachusetts beaches closed amid brutal heat wave, Walden Pond beach ‘underwater’
Massachusetts beaches closed amid brutal heat wave, Walden Pond beach ‘underwater’
Boston celebrates anniversary of slavery’s end on Juneteenth
People across the country and in Massachusetts commemorated the end of slavery in the U.S. on Wednesday.
Juneteenth celebrations have existed since the end of the Civil War, but it only became a federal holiday three years ago.
From flag raisings to parades, folks across the commonwealth had a day off and took time to reflect on the country’s past and its future.
Freedom Day, Second Independence, or emancipation are the different ways Juneteenth is known.
“To be able to learn about it now, it’s not too late,” said Boston artist Leshonda Zene.
More on Juneteenth
Through her paintings is how Zene honors the historic day when thousands of remaining slaves in Texas were declared free in 1865.
“The history of Juneteenth isn’t a pretty one, but it’s also a beautiful start of something,” said Zene. “When people learn about it, they only think of one type of slavery, not understanding that there is slavery of all kinds.”
Hundreds of people spent the newest national holiday by taking advantage of the free entry at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, where visitors were able to learn about — and celebrate — Black culture.
“It makes us think about … ‘Is our community living up to the ideals that we wanted to have, and if not, how can we continue to make it better?’” said museum guest Larry Alberts.
“We have to remember that despite what goes on, we have to keep going, and we have to focus on what is right and what is beautiful and not just all the pain that is in our world today,” said another patron, Karlis Collins.
Symbols of that history can be seen across Massachusetts, including at the State House, where the Juneteenth flag was raised on Wednesday.
“Today is a day of commitment – recommitment to fight for fundamental freedoms equal treatment under the law,” said Gov. Maura Healey during the flag raising ceremony.
NH lawmakers push to remove toll booths after repeated crashes
Less than a week after a New Hampshire man died in a fiery crash at the Bedford toll booth, three more people are in the hospital after a head-on collision at the very same plaza.
The lawmakers who have been pushing to remove these toll booths for …
Fire rages at home in Dedham
Crews battled a fire Wednesday afternoon in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Footage from Elmview Place showed flames shooting from the roof of a house.
Authorities did not immediately share any information.
Stay with NBC10 Boston as this story develops.
Unearthed home remnants belonged to one of colonial New England’s first Black property owners
An incredible piece of history was recently discovered in the backyard of a Saugus, Massachusetts, resident, and the researchers who unearthed the finding are sharing its story just in time for the Juneteenth holiday.
Researchers from the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University teamed up and found the remnants of a home that once belonged to one of the first Black property owners in colonial New England.
The man who once owned the home was Pompey Mansfield, but he was better known as King Pompey — an honor bestowed upon him by the Black community of that age.
The remnants of his home’s foundation was found near the banks of the Saugus River.
“Everything lined up with the deeds, everything lined up with the description,” professor of anthropology at UNH Meghan Howey said. “And that foundation was there. And I thought, there’s more under that foundation.”
The foundation painted a vibrant picture of who King Pompey was for both Howey and Kabria Baumgartner, professor of history and Africana studies at Northeastern.
“This was built with pebbles up and down the Saugus from the banks of the river, up a pretty steep cliff, one by one, bringing these rocks up or basket loads up,” Howey said. “It really struck me as this was by somebody with such self-determination to have a home.”
Baumgartner believes that Pompey was originally from West Africa, and was enslaved by a mill owner in Lynn. She said that it seems he was able to somehow self-emancipate, and then buy property in present-day Saugus in 1762.
What’s left of his home is what this pair was able to dig up, after intense research to narrow in on a location.
“I don’t know how much help he may have had, but it tells me something about him that he was determined,” Baumgartner said. “And that’s not something I can necessarily see in written records, but I can see it through archeology.”
That home, and perhaps that determination, could have helped Pompey to become King Pompey, Baumgartner said.
She explained that in those days, the Black community would elect their own kings and queens on election days, which were special occasions marked with singing and dancing. Pompey was elected king annually in his area, and hosted the Black Election Day festivities at his home.
“It was this moment of collective joy, of collective happiness amid this sort of terrible oppression,” Baumgartner said. “And I think that’s also important to remember when we’re thinking about, early black history, that it is tragic, it is sad there was suffering. But there are also these moments, fleeting moments of joy.”
The research was funded by the New England Humanities Consortium and Northeastern. The goal is to work with the National Park Service to establish a historical marker, and do more outreach to spread knowledge about Black Election Day.
