1943: David DeLuze becomes the first Black crane operator at the Hingham Shipyard

Born on Nantucket to Cape Verdean parents, David DeLuze moved to Hingham in 1942 to seek employment at the Hingham Shipyard, where he was placed on the waitlist. He found work in New Hampshire until he was finally offered a job at the Shipyard in 1943. Mr. DeLuze worked first as an oiler and then became the Shipyard’s first Black crane operator. Up until World War II, the racially segregated Navy limited Black sailors to the role of mess attendants, but the demands of the war forced the Navy to begin training them for other jobs, often involving dangerous tasks with ammunition. Read more

2021-02-26T10:07:28-05:00February 13th, 2021|

1944: African-American band and military units lead the July 4th parade

The Hingham Fourth of July parade was led by a Black band and two military units. Many musicians who would continue on to become famous Jazz musicians were stationed or stopped over in Hingham and were part of the Hingham Depot Ammunition Band during the war including John Coltrane (in 1945), Al Grey, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Tommy Ridgely.

2021-02-26T10:08:58-05:00January 30th, 2021|

1947: Mabel Diggs

Mabel Diggs was a Hingham resident active in a myriad of initiatives both in Hingham and beyond. She was a Board of Trustees member of the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs, the chair of the music and program committee of the Massachusetts State Union of Women's Clubs and the President of the Professional Dressmakers and Designers Guild. She was a significant fundraiser for the restoration of the Frederick Douglass home.

2023-02-02T12:56:16-05:00February 2nd, 2023|

1962: Formation of Fair Housing Committee

After Hingham resident and Black realtor Louis T. Bonitto (husband to Shirley (Tuttle) Bonitto), speaks to the South Shore Citizens Club about helping Black families find homes, a Fair Housing Committee is formed.

2021-02-26T10:10:18-05:00January 30th, 2021|

1962: Louis T. Bonitto: Hingham’s first Black police officer

Hingham hires its first Black police officer, Louis T. Bonitto, son of Shirley (Tuttle) Bonitto and Louis L. Bonitto. Prior to this, Mr. Bonitto was a US Army drill instructor and afterwards, he became one of the South Shore's first Black realtors as well as one of IBM's first Black account executives. Click here to watch Joe Collymore of Harbor Media's 2021 interview with Louis T. Bonitto.

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2021-04-08T11:35:59-04:00January 30th, 2021|

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