(by Zoe Dawson)
February is Black History Month, a dedicated time for honoring African and Black heritage, contributions, and both joy and adversity experienced over hundreds of years in the United States. The month is coming to a close, but NH Audubon is looking forward to additional celebrations we will host later in the year during Black Birders Week. Our annual walk with the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is an important partnership where we invite people of all backgrounds, and birding abilities, to spend time in nature and immersive history.
NH Audubon’s Community Outreach Coordinator, Anita Fernandez, shared a highlight from a previous walk: “One of our last stops was at the site of the home of Pomp and Candace Springs. Here we learned the story of Ona Judge, a slave of the first president’s family, who escaped while in Philadelphia and made her way to Portsmouth via the ship Nancy. Ona Judge was aided by Pomp and Candace, a free black couple, along with many others, and was never captured, although several attempts were made. We also saw 18 species of birds during our two-hour tour, a collaboration between a NH Audubon Educator and a BHTNH Lead Tour Guide.” Learn more of these little-known stories by joining us in May for Black Birders Week. If you’re looking for more resources in the meantime, Anita recommends the book Fearless, Sleepless, Deathless, which focuses on fungi and merges environmentalism and lived history, by naturalist and New England-based author Maria Pinto.
Cover photo by Dyanna Smith.