A new site on the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard will be dedicated on July 27 at 3 p.m.
African American Heritage Trail
July 28, 2021
Louisa Hufstader
The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard dedicated a new site at Memorial Wharf commemorating the still-mysterious escape of a fugitive from slavery 277 years ago.
2014
January 15, 2014
Ninth grade history classes at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School produced more than 100 projects as part of the annual African American Heritage Trail history project. The students traveled the trail, interviewed members of the community and created a wide array of work.
2013
December 26, 2013
The freshman history classes recently traveled the Island’s African American Heritage Trail from Chappaquiddick to Aquinnah as part of their study of the history of Martha’s Vineyard. They visited the home of the Island’s only whaling captain, walked to his grave, paid their respects at the site dedicated to the life of Rebecca, the Woman from Africa and stood at West Basin visualizing the escape of Randall Burton, the man who had decided he would rather die than return to enslavement.
July 18, 2013
The African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard began as part of a promise to a little boy, and in 1998 the Shearer Cottage was dedicated as the first site on the Trail. The ambition was to reach a total of eight sites. That there were many stories was obvious, but the depth and range of the experiences that make up the tapestry of the African American experience on Martha’s Vineyard was amazing. From fugitive preachers to nationally known politicians, all the struggles and triumphs of people of color were part of the story of this Island.
May 2, 2013
Elaine Weintraub says “history” a lot. The word rolls off her tongue briskly in three sharp syllables: hih-store-ee.
“Welcome to the 16th annual tour of the African American Heritage Trail,” she said last Thursday at the start of this year’s sophomore class field trip. “Here’s your chance of learning some real hih-store-ee.”
2008
August 18, 2008
Longtime friends and followers of the late Dorothy West gathered on Saturday afternoon in the shade on a hot August day to pay tribute to the writer, who was the last surviving member of the Harlem renaissance, and to share memories.
August 14, 2008
Heritage Trail Dedication
On Saturday, August 16, the African American Heritage Trail, in collaboration with the W.E. Du Bois Institute at Harvard, will dedicate the former home of Dorothy West, Harlem Renaissance writer, as a site on the trail. All are invited.
The dedication is scheduled for 2 p.m., and at 5 p.m. a celebration of life and the creative achievements of the Highlands community will be celebrated at the Shearer Cottage on Rose Avenue in Oak Bluffs. The keynote speaker will be Professor Charles J. Ogletree of Harvard.
