NEWBURYPORT BLACK HISTORY INITIATIVE
Newburyport MA. The City of Newburyport and the Newburyport Black History Initiative (NBHI–Geordie Vining, Dr. Kabria Baumgartner, and Cynthia Raschke) will host a ceremony Wednesday February 1st 2023 at 4:00pm to celebrate the installation of the first NBHI interpretive sign in Newburyport. The event will be held outdoors on the Clipper Rail Trail just south of Low Street on a former railroad bridge that today is part of the rail trail.
The February 1 event will introduce “A Black Neighborhood in Historic Newburyport.” This panel is installed near a once-thriving but now long-gone African-American neighborhood nicknamed “Guinea Village.” Local people called the adjacent railroad bridge “Guinea Bridge,” a name that lingered into the 1980s even though its history had been forgotten. Funded by the city’s Community Preservation Committee and City Council, the ten upcoming signs will focus on the stories of Black Americans who lived and worked in Newburyport from the pre-Revolutionary War era to the early 20th century.
The Graf Skating Rink on Low Street is offering parking on their lot next to the Rail Trail. If necessary, the storm date is the following Wednesday, February 8th at 4:00pm.
For immediate release
January 5, 2023
Contact: Geordie Vining [gvining@cityofnewburyport.com]
