The North Andover African American History Committee has been awarded a $10,783 grant by Mass Humanities, the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment of the Humanities, which will be matched by the committee through a combination of donations and in-kind and volunteer contributions. Originating as a project of the North Parish Racial Justice Team, the committee has grown to become a community-based group that includes members from across North Andover, Andover, and Georgetown. The committee is working with Humanities advisor Dr. Jamie Wilson, History professor at Salem State University, and in partnership with the Town of North Andover and The North Andover Historical Society, as well as North Parish. The grant proposal was enthusiastically endorsed by the entire state legislative delegation representing North Andover; the photo above pictures the committee with legislators.
Under the umbrella theme, Building the Road to Full Citizenship, programs will deepen the community’s knowledge of local African Americans who exercised leadership in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by building institutions, organizations and movements in an environment that did not allow for their full inclusion in civic life. Highlights of the program include:
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February 9th at North Parish (free and open to the public; child care provided)
- A Sunday morning service with music and spoken word artist James Dargan that will introduce local leaders from that period and their sources of strength and courage
- A 3pm music and spoken word program with James Dargan that explores the arc of history and the times in which they lived. This program (Oh, Glory II!) follows the very moving and successful program, Oh, Glory! that Dargan presented last February.
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February 23rd, 3pm at North Andover Historical Society (free and open to the public)
- “William Clarence Matthews: Baseball’s Loss,” a lecture by Dr. Karl Lindholm, professor at Middlebury College, who has a collection of Matthews memorabilia to share
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March 2nd, 3pm at North Parish (free and open to the public; child care provided)
- “Stories of Hope, Acts of Faith,” an original dramatic and musical program to bring to life the stories of Charlotte Forten, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, William Munroe Trotter, and William Clarence Matthews, and featuring members of The Higher Praise Gospel Choir
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March 16th, 3pm at North Andover Historical Society (free and open to the public)
- “Crusades for Justice: Black Women’s Vision and Connection,” a conversation with Rev. Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, Colby College.
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A tribute to The Hinton Family, local Andover ice cream entrepreneurs at the Andover Juneteenth 2025 celebration
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Development of materials for North Andover high school students
Please mark your calendars!
About the grant: The Mass Humanities Grant is an Open Track Grant for Expanding Massachusetts Stories. The Open Track grant program offers up to $20,000 for projects that collect, interpret and/or share narratives about the Commonwealth, with an emphasis on the voices and experiences that have gone unrecognized, or have been excluded from public conversation. North Andover Representative Adrianne Ramos originally recommended the grant to the committee in early 2024, and our local legislators have provided enthusiastic support. “Each year our legislative delegation looks forward to participating in the programming put together by this Committee. We could not think of a better grantee to be awarded an Expand Massachusetts Stories grant as the Committee exemplifies the goal of this program to share unrecognized or previously excluded voices and stories, as they do that each year and make our community better for it.”