Join us for a brief overview of the history of this holiday and why we celebrate it with Hingham High School history teacher Ben Loucheim. We’ll also include ways to celebrate and honor this day. This holiday recognizes the ending of slavery in the United States 155 years ago.

A peaceful vigil to stand in support of Black lives sponsored by the Hingham Unity Council. -An 8 minute and 46 second silence will be observed starting at 6:51 pm in memory of George Floyd and all Black lives lost to systemic racial injustice in our country. Church bells will be rung to mark the start and finish of this silence, after which the vigil will be concluded and we ask that you disperse. -Volunteers will be enforcing social distancing. Please wear a mask AND stay six feet apart from non-household members. We ask that you be respectful of our volunteers who are there to help keep everyone safe. You may not feel vulnerable to this disease but others in our community do and we want to respect that and keep everyone safe. -Parking will be available on Main St, Water St. or behind Old Ship Parish House and in the Station Street parking lot but not at St John’s so that we may maximize use of that property for social distancing. -We have invited the Hingham Police to this event. The Police Chief supports the need for change and the rights of people to peacefully gather and voice that need. He will be in attendance showing his support. The Hingham police support the statements made by the International Police Chiefs and the Mass Chief of Police and believe the death of George Floyd should not have happened and officers need to be held accountable when laws are broken. -Please bring your mask, a light or candle and feel free to bring paper or poster board signs as well (no wood please).

Shortly after the first Europeans arrived in 17th-century New England, they began to enslave the area’s indigenous peoples and import kidnapped Africans. By the eve of the American Revolution, enslaved people comprised only about 4% of the population, but slavery had become instrumental to the region’s economy and had shaped its cultural traditions. Slavery existed in Hingham and its neighboring towns. In this concise yet comprehensive history, historian Jared Ross Hardesty focuses on the individual stories of enslaved people in New England, bringing their experiences to life. He also explores the importance of slavery to the colonization of the region and to agriculture and industry, New England’s deep connections to Caribbean plantation societies, and the significance of emancipation movements in the era of the American Revolution.