Tour Shares History of African American Women of 19th Century Cambridge, MA

I'm always excited to learn more about Cambridge history, especially newly researched or amplified stories that haven't been told. So I was excited to learn, through the Cambridge Black History Project, which served as a community partner, of the creation by students of the Abolitionist Women and Their Worlds course at Harvard College, of the African American Women of 19th Century Cambridge, MA Tour.

The students put in hours of discussion, research, and writing to build this walking tour that "we hope will make the history of Cambridge’s Black community more accessible." Each stop on the tour includes information about the featured woman, a map, photos, references, and a text to speech option.

The tour, which can be accessed via the Clio app (available for Apple or Android devices) or on a computer, with a downloadable PDF map option, highlights the following influential Black women of 19th Century Cambridge:

- Maria L. Baldwin

- Charlotte Hawkins Brown

- Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins

- Harriet Jacobs

- Alberta V. Scott

- Mary Walker

The tour also includes Mount Auburn Cemetery, where Mary Walker and Harriet Jacobs are buried.The Mount Auburn Cemetery African America Heritage Trail includes Walker and Jacobs, along with many other notable African American women and men.

When exploring the Tour, the creators ask us to remember that "the history of women in Cambridge begins with Indigenous women of the Massachusett, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag nations; as you embark on our walking tour, remember that the Indigenous history of the land and its people is foundational to the stories of every individual who later lived here."

Citation: Napier, Alyssa. "African American Women of 19th Century Cambridge, MA." Clio: Your Guide to History. July 13, 2021. Accessed September 5, 2021. https://www.theclio.com/tour/1958/