Rediscovering New Hampshire’s Black History: Valerie Cunningham and JerriAnne Boggis
When JerriAnne Boggis first moved to Milford from Jamaica, she didn’t know about New Hampshire’s rich Black history. Twenty-five years later, she learned that one of the first Black authors in North America to publish a novel, Harriet E. Wilson, had lived in the very town that JerriAnne now called home.
Boggis became enthralled with Harriet’s story and established a nonprofit, the Harriet Wilson Project, which led the charge to erect a statue of Harriet in Milford’s Bicentennial Park. This was the start of Boggis’ work to bring to light New Hampshire’s Black history.
Valerie Cunningham grew up in Portsmouth. Her parents, Clarence and Augusta Cunningham, were leaders of the local civil rights movement. She went on to follow in her parents’ footsteps, marching alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in support of school integration in 1965.
Her parents also encouraged Cunningham to learn about New Hampshire’s Black history. She spent years documenting Black history across New Hampshire and, in 1995, she established the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire to bring public awareness to Portsmouth’s Black history.
Today, Cunningham is retired. But her friend, JeriAnne Boggis, runs the organization that Cunningham helped establish. They expanded the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail across the state, and renamed it the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire. The organization works to engage Granite Staters and visitors with the state’s full history by fostering community dialogues, offering walking tours, and hosting cultural events.
With the help of historians and genealogy experts, the two women have highlighted the profound contributions of many Black Granite Staters. Thanks in part to both JerriAnne Boggis and Valerie Cunningham, these achievements will be remembered and retold.
I am honored to recognize them both as February’s Granite Staters of the Month for their work to create a more informed, inclusive, and just New Hampshire.
Know an extraordinary Granite Stater you’d like to nominate? Visit my website here and tell me about them.
