JerriAnne Boggis invites us to look at our state’s history through fresh eyes. As Executive Director of New Hampshire’s Black Heritage Trail, Boggis is committed to sharing the stories of our Black communities and residents, including Harriet E. Wilson, America’s first Black female novelist, and Wentworth Cheswell, the first Black person voted into public office. Such heroes, along with the 2003 discovery of the African Burial Ground in Portsmouth, led to the creation of this Trail and a fuller understanding of our true history.
Boggis, who came to the U.S. from Jamaica and eventually settled in New England, holds a master’s degree in creative writing from Southern New Hampshire University. Writer, educator, and community activist, she seeks to illuminate the complexity and richness of 350 years of Black history in New Hampshire. Boggis believes knowing that history can help us find empathy and common ground as we move forward.
