Posted on April 9, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
Written by Betty Slade, 2021 This is the story about John Stevens, an African man who came to America in the mid-19th century not as a slave but as a free man, married a Native woman and raised a family in Westport Point. He arrived just before the Civil War in Westport Point, Massachusetts. He […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 9, 2021 by Jenny ONeill
The Importance of the “The Country” Blueberries The Animals Driving Mom, the Great Organizer Baseball The Gardens Springtime The Elders Up on the Hill GaGa’s Medicine The Radio Monday’s The Flag The Wainer Stories The Farmhouses The Graves The Stone The Well The Ancestors About the Author The Farm was known as the Wainer Farm […]
Continue ReadingPosted on June 22, 2020 by Jenny ONeill
Please visit www.PaulCuffe.org to learn more Paul Cuffe was born on Cuttyhunk Island, at the west end of the Elizabeth Islands chain in Massachusetts, on January 17, 1759. He was the seventh child and fourth son of Cuff Slocum, an emancipated slave from West Africa, and Ruth Moses, a Native American woman from Cape […]
Continue ReadingPosted on December 28, 2017 by Jenny ONeill
The best-known citizen of Westport is Paul Cuffe, a master mariner with African and Indian roots who rose to prominence as a captain, ship-builder, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and advocate for civil rights and school integration. Less well known is Pardon Cook, also an accomplished master mariner from Westport, who commanded more whaling voyages than any other […]
Continue ReadingPosted on February 3, 2015 by Jenny ONeill
Our collection includes a bound set of The Non-Slaveholder, a 19th century publication with a special approach to the anti-slavery movement. “Whoso gives the motive, makes his brother’s sin his own.” This caption appears under the title of “The Non-Slaveholder”, a mid-19th century publication dedicated to the anti-slavery movement. The publication focused not only on […]
Continue ReadingPosted on June 28, 2014 by Jenny ONeill
African-American residents of Westport played a vital role in the history of the town. The keeping of slaves and indentured servants may have been practiced in the early town, though in general the Society of Friends did not support the slave trade. The prominence of Quaker leaders in Old Dartmouth led to a 1716 debate […]
Continue ReadingPosted on April 8, 2010 by Jenny ONeill
This letter appeared in the March 2 1863 edition of New Bedford Evening Standard.
Continue ReadingPosted on December 16, 2009 by Jenny ONeill
A Self-Made Man, Capt. Paul Cuffee. This small pamphlet was written by the great grandson of Paul Cuffe to mark the dediciation of a monument to Paul Cuffe on June 15th 1913 at the Quaker meeting house in Westport. Available as PDF here. Download file
Continue ReadingPosted on November 5, 2009 by Jenny ONeill
Exploring Paul Cuffe: The Man and his Legacy A Public Symposium Saturday October 3, 2009 Opening keynote by Lamont Thomas Lamont Thomas is the author of “Rise to be a People: A Biography of Paul Cuffe” Local Relationships and Cuffe Paul Cuffe’s Social Networks and Entrepreneurial Success by Marion Kilson Marion Kilson, scholar, Museum of […]
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