In 1738 a prosperous Stoneham farmer named Jonathan Green bought his first “Negro.” A hundred years later a descendant of the Green family, Henry Green, held the first abolitionist meeting in Stoneham. These two events are bookmarks in the story of slavery and abolition in Stoneham, Massachusetts.
On Thursday evening at the Stoneham Public Library, local author Ben Jacques will tell these stories in a PowerPoint presentation. The 7 p.m. event is free and open to the public.
During the presentation, Jacques will explore the 1641 “constitution” of the Puritan colony, called the Body of Liberties. Within this document are two remarkable articles, one that sanctioned slavery, and another that enabled any person, free or enslaved, to petition the government.
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While the first legalized slavery, the second provided a pathway that would eventually open the way for enslaved people in Massachusetts to gain their freedom.
Jacques will also explore early town documents that shed light on slavery in Stoneham and the abolitionists, men and women, who braved insults and violence in the 19th century to call for the end of slavery in the United States.
