Tufts Blogs

A week ago, I had the opportunity to visit a very special place in the Boston area. A very historical place to be exact. Last week I went to Roxbury, the historic African American neighborhood in Boston which is about 20-25 minutes by car and is also very accessible by train. When I was in Roxbury, I visited the Malcolm X Ella L. Little-Collins House. This house is historic because it was the house of Ella Little Collins, a civil rights activists and educator as well as the sister of the great civil rights leader Malcolm X. She would encourage Malcolm to study law as well as Theology during his time in prison. Malcolm X stayed with his sister in Boston in his younger years before moving to the famous neighborhood of Harlem in New York City. The House is regarded as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S government. The City of Boston is helping to preserve this historic landmark as well as the National Park Service, the U.S Department of the Interior and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Historical Commission.

The reason this landmark means so much to me is because I am deeply passionate about African American history. In fact, here at Tufts I plan to major in History or Africana Studies. I would like to become a professor and teach African American History.

The Boston Area is filled with living history. For example, there is the Tea Party Museum which tells the story of what happened when American colonists threw British tea into the Boston harbor. Or, if you are more interested in African American history, there is the African Meeting House on 46 Joy Street. This house was built in 1806 and was a historic meeting place for free black people in Boston. It is also very close to the African American History Museum. Both the Museum and historic meeting house are on Boston’s Black Heritage trail. The trail is a mile long trail that goes through historic sites and markers in Boston’s historic black neighborhood of Beacon Hill, which was inhabited by Black Americans before and after the Civil War. If you want something to visit closer to Tufts, you can visit the Royal House and Slave Quarters in Medford which belonged to the largest slave holding family in Massachusetts in the 18th century. Slaves worked and toiled here in order to make the Royal’s lavish lifestyle possible.

Black history holds a special place in my heart especially as a person who comes from an African American family who endured Slavery as well as Jim Crow in America. I would not be who I am today if it were not for the sacrifices of those who came before me. I probably wouldn’t be at Tufts. That is why I am so passionate about history especially Black history. The Boston area has no shortage of historic sites one can visit especially if you love history like me! That is one of the biggest reasons I love being here at Tufts!