Boston's Black (African American) Heritage Trail

Here's another important part of the history and heritage of our country that can be discovered in Boston Mass area. The photo below is a memorial to the black troopers of the 54 Massachusetts and their leaders. This is somewhat off the beaten path for many tourist but the National Park Service also offers a wonderful interpretive walking tour of the African American Heritage tour (http://www.nps.gov/boaf). These tours depart from the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial on Beacon Street across from the state capitol. Shaw was the white colonel of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment in the Civil War. If you’ve seen the movie “Glory” with Morgan Freeman and Mathew Broderick this is where the story starts. This walk in the Beacon Hill neighborhood and is comprised of the largest area of pre-Civil War black owned structures in the U.S. It has roughly two dozen sites on the north face of Beacon Hill. These historic buildings were homes, businesses, schools, and churches of a thriving black community that, in the face of great opposition, fought the forces of slavery and inequality. Its well worth the time and effort, as some of the hills and older street present a little vertical challenge so wear your hiking shoes.