The town of Warner will be the site of a new tour on Sunday as part of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.
The tour will highlight the lives of black families and individuals, including Anthony Clark, a musician and dance master; and James Haskell, a veteran of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Regiment.
JerriAnne Boggis is the director of the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. She says it’s important to bring individuals from town history to life.
"Men and women living ordinary lives and then are forgotten completely, you know, in such a way that African American or blackness never existed in New Hampshire," she said.
Two historians and residents reached out to the Black Heritage Trail when they found an African burial ground in Warner.
Boggis gave them general ideas, advice and who to contact about what they had found.
“They were ready to share what they discovered, and so we started working together again,” she said.
Warner is an example of the Black Heritage Trail’s plans to partner with towns to expand its programming statewide.
“We’re looking at 14 towns in New Hampshire that already have these documented histories to start,” Boggis said.
The tour starts at 10 a.m. Sunday at the Simonds Elementary School on Church Street in Warner.
