Heritage Trail markers would enrich our history

Walking around Acton is how I make sense of this town — its landmarks and its layered history. That’s why the proposed Black Heritage Trail Markers Project fills me with excitement. It promises to transform our understanding of Acton’s history, particularly the latter half of the 19th century, a period defined by institutionalized racism, war, and hard-won hope.

The markers would bring remarkable stories to the surface. The site of the Holy Family/St. Bernard’s Church would carry additional meaning once we know that Frederick Douglass addressed an Anti-Slavery Society meeting there in 1841 — when the building was the Universalist Meeting House. John Jack’s grave, belonging to Acton’s first Black landowner, would no longer be easy to miss, tucked on the back slope of the Old Hill Burying Ground. A new understanding of the historical edges of town where Black Concordians were largely pushed to live would perhaps prompt visitors to ask what systemic issues inhibited Black Concordians from passing property to their children.

Shadrach Minkins would step out of the pages of the famous fiery abolitionist newspaper The Liberator. In 1851, he spent one sheltered night on Sudbury Road before Lewis Hayden whisked him off north to freedom in Canada. His story resonates painfully today, as many immigrants live under the constant threat of deportation. And Harriet Tubman — who visited Acton three times, staying on Main Street in 1859 — would receive the recognition she deserves here, reminding us of the courage ordinary townspeople summoned in our very midst.

The Historic Districts Commission does essential work preserving Acton’s physical landscape. Preservation could also mean correcting the record — lifting up the histories that have been minimized or left out entirely. We trust the commission to rise to that challenge.

Ece Turnator

Cambridge Turnpike