Black Heritage Trail

The Black Heritage Trail is a path in Boston, Massachusetts, winding through the Beacon Hill neighborhood and sites important in American black history.

In 1783, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to declare slavery illegal — mostly out of gratitude for black participation in the American Revolutionary War. Subsequently, a sizable community of free blacks and escaped slaves developed in Boston, settling on the north face of Beacon Hill, and in the North End. Boston was long considered a desirable destination for southern black slaves escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad.

Read more about Black Heritage Trail:  Sites Along The Trail

Famous quotes containing the words black, heritage and/or trail:

    “Thou turn’st my eyes into my very soul,
    And there I see such black and grained spots
    As will not leave their tinct.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things and because it takes a man’s life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave.”
    —Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)

    “You will trail across the rocks
    and wash them with your salt,
    you will curl between sand-hills
    you will thunder along the cliff
    break retreat get fresh strength
    gather and pour weight upon the beach.”
    —Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)