A GUIDE TO CAMBRIDGE'S AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE TRAIL

Fri Aug 19, 2022

The African American Heritage Trail blazes a path to the portals of our past. It leads to places where history was made and to the people who helped shape Cambridge into a multicultural mecca—the city’s African American pioneers. Their legacies are embodied in informational plaques at 20 stops around Cambridge. When visiting them, please keep in mind that residential buildings constitute many of the stops. We recommend having this guide handy to learn more about the African Americans being honored.

Stop 1: 196 Prospect Street, Maria Baldwin House

Maria Baldwin was the headmaster of the Agassiz Grammar School in Cambridge, the first African American to hold such a position in New England. Baldwin completed Cambridge’s teacher training program in 1881, but was denied a position in the city schools. In 1882 she received an appointment to teach at the Agassiz School. By 1889 the school offered her the position of headmaster. At her house, Baldwin held home study classes for African American students attending Harvard. 

Stop 2: 51 Essex Street, former home of Charlotte Hawkins Brown

Charlotte Hawkins Brown founded the Palmer Memorial Institute, a North Carolina private school for African American children. Before that, Brown graduated from Cambridge English High School, and she started a Cambridge Sunday school kindergarten at the Union Baptist Church. When Brown moved to North Carolina, she returned to Cambridge each summer to raise money for her school and study at Harvard.

Stop 3: 15 Webster Avenue, former home of William Wells Brown

William Wells Brown escaped slavery to become the first African American novelist. He gave many speeches on behalf of black education and human rights. In all, he wrote more than a dozen books, pamphlets and plays, including the first travel narrative and the first drama published by an African American. He was buried in Cambridge Cemetery during 1884.

Stop 4: 4 Florence Place, former home of Milton S. Clarke

Milton S. Clarke and Lewis Clarke were among the many contributors to the antislavery cause in Cambridge. Their pastor, Reverend Joseph C. Lovejoy, published their book, “Narrative of the Sufferings of Lewis and Milton Clarke,” in 1846. In 1870, Milton served on the Common Council as the first African American elected to public office in Cambridge. He won reelection in 1872, but resigned to become a messenger at the U.S. Subtreasury in Boston.

Stop 5: 20 Flagg Street, former home of W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois, the most influential African American thinker of the first half of the twentieth century, co-organized the Niagara Movement in 1905 and co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. He was the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard, which he earned in 1985.

Stop 6: 32 Magnolia Avenue, former home of Reverend J. Henry Duckrey

Reverend J. Henry Duckrey, the first African American to run for a seat on the Cambridge School Committee, came here in 1895 to lead the Mount Olive (now Massachusetts Avenue) Baptist Church. In 1898 he laid the cornerstone for a new church at Massachusetts Avenue and Front Street. After narrowly losing in the School Committee election in 1902, Cambridge Public Library appointed him to their board of trustees.

Stop 7: 49 Lincoln Street, former home of John J. Fatal

John J. Fatal was a school desegregation advocate and elected official. In 1852, Fatal lived in this house on Lincoln Street. After the Civil War, he opened his own home furnishings store at the corner of Cambridge and Prospect Streets. In 1870, Fatal became the first African American nominated for political office in Cambridge. He declined the nomination, however, allowing his friend, J. Milton Clarke, to serve on the Cambridge Common Council.

Stop 8: 1430 Mass. Avenue, plaque site of Richard T. Greener

Richard T. Greener, the first African American to graduate from Harvard College, had a distinguished career in public service. The Greeners lived on Washington Street, and Richard attended Harvard in 1865. The highlight of his career came in 1898 when President William McKinley appointed him the first U.S. consul at Vladivostok, Russia. 

Stop 9: 53 Clifton Street, former home of Pauline Hopkins

Pauline Hopkins led a career as a novelist and editor. Educated in the public schools, Pauline won a competition sponsored by the Cambridge African American author, William Wells Brown, with her essay, “The Evils of Intemperance and Their Remedies.” Her first novel explored the struggles of a Black middle-class family after the Civil War. This kickstarted her journey as editor of The Colored American Magazine.

Stop 10: 17 Story Street, former home of Harriet A. Jacobs

Born into slavery, Harriet A. Jacobs escaped in 1835. She spent the next seven years hiding in a crawl space above her grandmother’s storeroom, watching over her children, and reading and writing to pass the time. Jacobs was freed in 1852. In 1861 she published her autobiography, “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself” under the pseudonym Linda Brent. Jacobs moved to Cambridge after the Civil War and was buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Stop 11: 44 Webster Avenue, former home of Lunsford Lane

A successful businessman, Lunsford Lane purchased his freedom and then still had to flee the South for his safety. By lecturing for the American Anti-Slavery Society in Boston, Lane could purchase the freedom of his wife and children. In 1842 he wrote a book about his experiences, “The Narrative Life of Lunsford Lane.” Lane lived at several locations in Cambridge where he worked as a storekeeper and carpenter. 

Stop 12: 226 Upland Road, former home of William H. Lewis

William H. Lewis, a graduate of Harvard Law School, served as the first African American assistant attorney general of the United States. While at Harvard, Lewis was considered the best center in the football team’s history. Lewis sat on the Cambridge Common Council from 1899 to 1901 and then in the legislature for one term. In 1902 he was appointed as assistant U.S. attorney in Boston.

Stop 13: 239 Harvard Street, St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church

George Alexander McGuire, an Episcopal priest, ministered at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge. McGuire founded the African Orthodox denomination, which was the religious arm of Marcus Garvey’s Back to Africa movement. He organized the African Orthodox Church in 1921. Thirteen years later, there were approximately 30,000 members across the U.S., West Indies, South America and Africa.

Stop 14: 265 Prospect Street, former home of Clement Garnett Morgan

Clement Garnett Morgan, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, was the first African American elected to the Board of Aldermen in Cambridge. Morgan attended Harvard with W.E.B. Du Bois. He served on the Cambridge Common Council in 1895 and 1896. His grave can be found in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Stop 15: 30 Parker Street, former home of Emery T. Morris

Emery T. Morris is known for being a prominent member of the Niagara Movement. Morris grew up near Kendall Square, receiving his education in Cambridge schools. He co-founded the NAACP and the National Negro Political League. In 1907 Morris ran for a seat on the Cambridge Common Council. Morris withdrew from the race because the mayor appointed him deputy sealer of weights and measures. He has rested in Cambridge Cemetery since 1924.

Stop 16: 10 Pleasant Street, former home of Patrick H. Raymond 

The first African American fire chief, Patrick H. Raymond, called Cambridge home. Around 1847 he moved to Washington Street near Kendall Square. In 1864 Raymond was named editor of the Cambridge Press before working as fire chief in 1871. During his seven years as chief, Raymond created two fire companies, built four firehouses and tripled the annual budget.

Stop 17: 28 Union Street, former home of Alberta Virginia Scott

Alberta Virginia Scott, a resident of Cambridgeport, was the first African American graduate of Radcliffe College. She graduated in 1898 as the fourth African American to graduate from a women’s college in Massachusetts. Scott died in 1902; Charlotte Hawkins Brown (Stop 2) sang at Scott’s funeral.

Stop 18: 79 Norfolk Street, former home of Joshua Bowen Smith

Joshua Bowen Smith was a confidant of U.S. Senator Charles Sumner and one of the best-known public figures of his day. Smith opened up his own catering business in Boston during 1849. He provided commencement dinners for Harvard College, catered municipal functions and oversaw some of the most celebrated banquets in Boston history. His success enabled him to employ fugitive slaves.

Stop 19: 117-119 Dudley Street, former site of Union Industrial Church and Stranger’s Home

Reverend P. Thomas Stanford is best known as an author and as the protegé of Reverend Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe. He founded the Union Industrial Church and Stranger’s Home, an orphanage and school for homeless women and children (first at 103 Dudley Street and then at number 117). Stanford also wrote two books and contributed to The Colored American Magazine, which was edited by his neighbor, Pauline Hopkins. Cambridge Cemetery houses his grave.

Stop 20: 40 Magee Street, former home of Franklin Hamilton Wright

Franklin Hamilton Wright, a life-long resident of Cambridge’s Riverside neighborhood, was an early member of the City Council. He sought election in 1921. He was the only African American councilor elected before 1940 when Cambridge adopted the Plan E form of government, a system with nine councilors and six school committee members elected by proportional representation. Wright went on to serve two more terms and helped found the Cambridge Community Center where he was one of the first board members. 

Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge Discovery and the African American History Committee established The African American Heritage Trail.