For the first time in 200 years, on April 14, 2023, Concord will publicly honor and celebrate the birth of one of its most inspirational daughters, Ellen Garrison and showcase the 1841 visit of Frederick Douglass to Concord!

FRIDAY APRIL 14, 2023 6 PM TO 8 PM…An Evening of Celebration!

HOLY FAMILY CHURCH/FIRST UNIVERSALIST MEETING HOUSE

CONCORD TOWN HOUSE AND MONUMENT SQUARE

12 Monument Square, Concord, MA

MUSIC

LIVING HISTORY

ARTS AND PERFORMANCE

DEDICATION, CELEBRATION, AND CAKE

FREE, OPEN TO ALL, AND SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES!

This is the FIRST Official Event of the Concord 250 Celebration!

Thanks to the kind offer of collaboration and support of people all over Concord, this event will create an opportunity for a celebration of the legacy and importance of the African American story as central the story of the town. This event allows for public visibility and exposure to help more members of the community learn about and honor a history that may be new to them, but is essential for them and their understanding of Concord’s role in securing freedom for all people.

Supported By

The Robbins House

Town of Concord
Concord Visitors Center
Holy Family Parish
Concord250 Executive Committee
Concord Museum
The Umbrella Arts Center
Concord DEI Commission
Concord Free Public Library and The William Munroe Special Collections
COAR Communities Organizing Against Racism
Concord Art Association
Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard HouseThoreau Farm
Concord Public Schools & Concord-Carlisle Regional School District
Minuteman Media Network

Ellen Garrison: A Brief History

Ellen was born in Concord daughter of a self-emancipated man Jack Garrison and granddaughter of the formerly enslaved man and revolutionary soldier Caesar Robbins.
Ellen’s mother Susan was a founding member of the Concord Female Antislavery Society and actively involved in the struggle for securing rights for all people.
Ellen continued her mother’s legacy of antislavery activism. She worked as a teacher in the Freedman’s Schools and served as a powerful activist around local and national questions demanding civil rights for all people. Her work on the long struggle took her from Concord to Boston, Rhode Island, Maryland, Kansas and finally Pasadena, California where she rests.
Concord has a unique opportunity to bring this celebration to the very center of the town in a unique way on Friday evening April 14, 2023 the 200th anniversary of Ellen’s birth by holding the event in the following locations

Holy Family Parish/First Universalist Church
Little known to Concord residents but on October 12, 1841, the young Frederick Douglass spoke at the Universalist meeting house here in town. Although her mother Susan had died earlier that summer we can imagine that Ellen and any other black Concordians would have attended this lecture.

Town House
Ellen’s brother John Garrison worked at the Town House for fourteen years, several years as Superintendent of the Town House. He owned the small cottage he built at 78 Monument St and Ellen would come back to visit and stay in John’s home. Ellen and the Garrison family are a fundamental part of town history that we are fortunate to be able to honor.