From the docks of Portsmouth, where merchants engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade unloaded their cargo, to the northern border with Canada, where many escaping captives found their first moment of freedom, the Granite State holds a multitude of stories that mark the milestones of its complex history.For more than 300 years, the lives of African people and their descendants have been a part of New Hampshire's history. African-American history has long been hidden in the shadows even though Black lives have been intermixing with White lives in highly personal ways.The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire works to open hearts and minds to a deeper understanding of who we are as a collective and to recognize that we share a uniquely American heritage.Building on our success with the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail that started more than two decades ago, the new Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire will connect the stories of New Hampshire's African heritage by documenting and making visible historic sites that testify to this rich history.Guided tours and public programs, along with educational materials and teacher workshops, will continue to be developed by the Black Heritage Trail to promote awareness of African-American culture and to honor all the people of African descent whose names may not have been included in previous town histories.As we celebrate a people's history of resilience, versatility and courage, we invite everyone to explore for themselves what our shared history means and bring that understanding into the present.

Taking you through the year day by day, The Portsmouth Book of Days contains a quirky, eccentric, amusing or important event or fact from different periods of history, many of which had a major impact on, or reflect, the social and political history of England as a whole. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Portsmouth's archives, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

Few people think of a rich Black heritage when they think of New England. In the pioneering book Black Portsmouth, Mark J. Sammons and Valerie Cunningham celebrate it, guiding the reader through more than three centuries of New England and Portsmouth social, political, economic, and cultural history as well as scores of personal and site-specific stories. Here, we meet such Africans as the "likely negro boys and girls from Gambia," who debarked at Portsmouth from a slave ship in 1758, and Prince Whipple, who fought in the American Revolution. We learn about their descendants, including the performer Richard Potter and John Tate of the People’s Baptist Church, who overcame the tragedies and challenges of their ancestors’ enslavement and subsequent marginalization to build communities and families, found institutions, and contribute to their city, region, state, and nation in many capacities. Individual entries speak to broader issues—the anti-slavery movement, American religion, and foodways, for example. We also learn about the extant historical sites important to Black Portsmouth—including the surprise revelation of an African burial ground in October 2003—as well as the extraordinary efforts being made to preserve remnants of the city’s early Black heritage.

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This dramatic story of New Hampshire's oldest neighborhood and only seaport spans 400 years in 400 pages with over 350 photographs and illustrations

PORTSMOUTH ISLAND, THE GHOST VILLAGE OF THE OUTER BANKS, attracts curiosity seekers and history lovers, both. A small, now uninhabited island southwest of Ocracoke Island, Portsmouth was once a thriving seaport serving the North Carolina coast.Ellen Fulcher Cloud's Portsmouth: The Way It Was shares the island's early history, based on information never before documented: records of storms, wars, and Federal occupation during the Civil War (and claims to the government for losses), along with numerous personal letters and photographs. War activities from the Spanish Invasion through the Civil War are documented, as is the story of America's first marine hospital, established on Portsmouth in 1820, and of Dr. Samuel Dudley, the wealthy second physician in charge. We meet John Wallace, the businessman "Governor of Shell Castle," and the brave members of the Life-Saving Service. We learn of the integral role of the island's one black family, listen in on a daylong interview with Mrs. Mattie Gilgo (1885-1976) about Portsmouth life a century ago, and get an inside look at the village school and postal service. And we learn of Portsmouth's eventual transition to an oddity -- a village of empty homes, church and post office, maintained today by the National Park Service.The book depicts a way of life on the Outer Banks that is all but forgotten.Long almost impossible to find, Portsmouth: The Way It Was is back in an enhanced second edition, with more pages and photographs, computer-enhanced photo resolution and, for the first time, a keepsake, hardcover binding.It is a book that should find its way onto the shelf of every Outer Banks lover.