Press Release  DCR Announces Series of Events and Programming to Celebrate Black History Month 

Boston — To celebrate Black History Month, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is hosting free interactive events at Roxbury Heritage State Park and Fall River Heritage State Park. The series will provide opportunities for visitors to explore the history of Massachusetts’ Black community this February. Programming will include artistic exhibitions, conversations with local leaders and historians and a variety of activities for participants of all ages.

“Throughout February, we are inviting visitors to join us at two heritage DCR properties to learn about the Black community’s role in Massachusetts’ history. Black History Month is a time to celebrate and reflect,” said DCR Commissioner Nicole LaChapelle. “Our goal is to provide a space where visitors can have a meaningful experience covering not just the triumphs and hardships of the past, but the realities of the present and the possibilities of the future.”

Among DCR’s upcoming Black History Month offerings is Community Conversations, a new series of lectures and discussions examining various chapters of Boston’s history, starting Feb. 1 with a screening of the documentary Redline Narratives: The Lost Cultural Hubs of Boston. Following the screening, DCR will hold a community discussion with the film’s producer and the founder of Boston’s Afrimerican Culture Initiative, Marlon Solomon. This event and the other series offerings are being held at Roxbury Heritage State Park’s Dillaway-Thomas House, one of the oldest buildings in Roxbury and the headquarters of the Continental Army in 1775 during the Siege of Boston.

The Community Conversations also includes the following programming:

• Feb. 8: Conversation on the history of local Black-owned businesses with Marie Firmin, creator of the Roxbury Black Wall Street Historical Project.
• Feb. 15: Historical discussion on the roles Roxbury and the Black community played in the American Revolution.
• Feb. 22: Celebration of the Juneteenth Flag’s origins in Massachusetts.
• Feb. 28: Unity in the Community. An event bringing together community leaders, and featuring music, activities and resource booths. 

Coinciding with Community Conversations, staff at Fall River Heritage State Park are hosting the following programming:

• Feb. 13: Lunch and Learn, where visitors can bring their own lunch and hear from park staff about the role Fall River and New Bedford residents played in the Underground Railroad
• Feb. 18: Kwanzaa-themed sewing workshop, where visitors can learn sewing and embroidery techniques while creating a specially designed table runner
• Feb. 21: Presentation on the American Revolution’s 1^st Rhode Island Regiment and its primarily Black and Indigenous soldiers
• Daily: Exhibit on South Coast abolitionist Lewis Hayden

For a full list of programming happening throughout the month of February, visit the DCR programming and events webpage.

Additionally, DCR is inviting families and residents to visit the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Center in Roxbury, where they can view historical interpretive paneling that tells the story of the Center’s namesake and famed Boston civil rights activist, Melnea A. Cass, who was known as the “First Lady of Roxbury.” 

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