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The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Smith Court

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.61.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, there was once a revolutionary community for African Americans willing to do whatever it took to maintain their own freedom – and help others achieve theirs.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:20.5

All right. I am in Beacon Hill. Very booshy. It's a dog. A lot of people walking their dog. A lot of people walking their dog, actually.

0:23.0

Beacon Hill is a very quaint neighborhood in Boston,

0:27.0

gas lamps, cobblestone roads,

0:29.4

and a lot of old red brick buildings.

0:31.7

The neighborhood is split into two sides,

0:34.0

the north slope and the south slope.

0:36.2

The south slope has pretty much always been upscale like this,

0:40.0

but the north slope, that's another store.

0:46.8

Back in the 1800s, the North Slope of Beacon Hill

0:49.4

was home to a community of a couple thousand free black people. This community was surrounding a small

0:54.7

dead-end street called Smith Court. Smith Court isn't huge, it's made up of one block, and there's only

1:00.1

a few buildings. There's a boarding house, a school, and the African meeting house, which used

1:04.7

to be a Baptist church. This small street and this neighborhood have a lot of revolutionary

1:10.5

history. But don't just take it from me. Here's a little story.

1:14.0

Are you familiar with the story of William and Ellen Craft? This is Sean Quigley. He is a

1:19.2

National Park Ranger and a storyteller. William and Ellen Kraft were a married couple

1:24.0

who were both formerly enslaved in the state of Georgia,

1:26.4

until one day they decided to escape.

1:29.0

And their method of escape was risky, to say the least.

1:33.0

Ellen Kraft is. was risky to say the least. Alancraft is very light-skinned and could pass us white.

1:38.0

It's likely that her enslaver was her father.

1:41.0

He uses this though because when they decide it's time to escape in December of 1848,

...

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