African Meeting House, 46 Joy Street, Boston, MA 2114
Phone: 617-723-8863
Fax: 617-739-1285
Open All Year
Overview. After Massachusetts outlawed slavery in 1783, many freed blacks moved to Boston and chose to live on the north slope of Beacon Hill. Building the community center around Smith Court and Joy Street, they developed a thriving middle class and were politically active in the volatile years preceding the Civil War. Both geographically and historically central to Boston, this site is comprised of 15 historic structures dating to the antebellum period.What to see and do. Wear walking shoes for your tour along the 1.6-mile Black Heritage Trail,® which links the 15 separate structures. Pick up information and a map at the African Meeting House at 8 Smith Court. You may take a guided tour instead of walking the trail on your own. The Museum of Afro American History occupies the African Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School, the building that once housed Boston's first school for black children. Named after Abiel Smith, the white merchant whose bequest funded the school, the Smith School was desegregated in 1855. The African Meeting House is the oldest black church building in the U.S. Built in 1806 by blacks, it was called the Black Faneuil Hall because the abolitionist meetings and speeches given there by blacks and whites parallel Revolutionary activities in political importance. Fourteen sites are privately owned and not open for viewing, though you can see their exteriors from the street. Among them are the home of William C. Nell, an attorney and abolitionist who was the first black man appointed to a federal position (with the U.S. Postal Service in 1860). Don't miss the Augustus Saint-Gaudens memorial to Civil War Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the African-American 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Educational groups must make reservations. Call ahead for year-round programs and events, especially during Black History Month. The Museum is open from 10 AM to 4 PM everyday from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and from 10 AM to 4 PM weekdays during the rest of the year.
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