Each section of the exhibit explores original sources in the King’s Chapel archives that shed light on the lives of individuals linked to King’s Chapel. This includes their connections with broader Black history in Boston, from the height of the colonial slave trade in Boston through the approach of the American Civil War.
Navigation
There are three sections for each Black individual in the exhibit: a guided exploration of a primary document, a biographical sketch of the person who appears in the source, and a reflection and opportunity for further exploration. Click on the three tabs at the top of the content to navigate between sections. To move to the next person and set of documents, click the "Next" button on the bottom right.
Navigation
There are three sections for each Black individual in the exhibit: a guided exploration of a primary document, a biographical sketch of the person who appears in the source, and a reflection and opportunity for further exploration. Click on the three tabs at the top of the content to navigate between sections. To move to the next person and set of documents, click the "Next" button on the bottom right.
How to Read a Historic Record
The main sources featured in this exhibit come from King’s Chapel’s Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials. Sections and titles of each page may help you identify what you are looking at and help guide your observations.
The main sources featured in this exhibit come from King’s Chapel’s Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials. Sections and titles of each page may help you identify what you are looking at and help guide your observations.
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1. The top of each page is typically titled, indicating the larger source that the page has been selected from.
2. The layout of each register is different, and they sometimes evolve based on who the recordkeeper was at the time each page was recorded. That said, each page across King's Chapel's vital registers is a series of columns. Be sure to read the columns as you explore each document. In this case, the titles of each column are "Time," "Names," "Condition," and "Age." “Time” lists the date of the burial, “Name” tells who was buried, “Condition” generally provides some sort of context or background information on the deceased, and “Age” shares how old they believed the individual was when they died. 3. Keep an eye out for entries that may stand out from others. On this page, for instance, you may notice that while most of the deceased have relatives listed under their "Condition," Flora Maranday and Diana Cleves have "Black" written in the "Condition" column. |
As you navigate through the exhibit, consider the following questions:
- Who created this primary source?
- When was it created?
- Where does your eye go first?
- What do you see that you didn’t expect?
- What feelings and thoughts does the primary source trigger in you?
- What questions does it raise?
- What was happening during this time period?
- What was the creator’s purpose in making this primary source?
- What was this primary source’s audience?
- What biases or stereotypes do you see?
