Lucy terry prince: african american experiences in early rural new england [this project will produce an engaging website that will increase understanding of new england slavery and african…

This $300,000 federal Project Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (CFDA 45.164 Promotion of the Humanities Public Programs) will fund the development of an engaging website that increases understanding of New England slavery and the experiences of African Americans in early rural New England. The project will focus on the life of Lucy Terry Prince, the first documented African American poet, from her birth and captivity in Africa around 1726 to her enslavement in Deerfield, Massachusetts and eventual death as a free woman in Vermont in 1821. The website will illuminate key aspects of the Revolutionary era, including how the slave trade and enslaved labor fueled the colonial maritime economy, how the desire for independence gave rise to principles seized upon by enslaved people, how African Americans struggled to enact those principles after the Revolution, and how African Americans cultivated and expressed their humanity and self-determination in this context. The project is being led by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, a non-profit history museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Lucy terry prince: african american experiences in early rural new england [this project will produce an engaging website that will increase understanding of new england slavery and african americans in early rural new england. Its focus will be on lucy terry prince, the first documented african american poet. Her life, from birth and captivity in africa C.1726 to enslavement in deerfield, MA, to her death as a free woman in vermont in 1821, encompasses key experiences in the lives of african americans. Lucy?S life illuminates important aspects of the revolutionary ERA: a) how the slave trade and enslaved african american labor were instrumental in creating a thriving maritime economy in colonial new england; B) how desire for independence fueled by that economy gave rise to revolutionary political principles that enslaved people seized upon to obtain their freedom; C) how african americans struggled to enact those principles after the revolution; and D) how, in this context, african americans cultivated and expressed their humanity and self-determination.]