Visit The Robbins House

June, July & August: 11-4
(Closed Tuesdays)
September, October: 11-4
(Open Fri-Sun + Columbus Day)

320 Monument Street
Concord MA
(Located opposite the Old North Bridge)

info@robbinshouse.org

(978) 254-1745

A Celebration of Brister Freeman at the Robbins House

Join this marking of the 200th anniversary of Brister Freeman’s Death

Maria Madison Welcoming Remarks
Keynote Address by Kenneth Reeves
Poetry by Danielle Georges, poet and author of The Dear Remote Nearness of You
Kora Music by John Hughes
Homecoming Ceremony by the Reverend Bertram Johnson

This month, we thought we would spend some time ta

This month, we thought we would spend some time talking about the women of The Robbins House and their interesting history.

Fatima Robbins had a complicated history with her husband, Peter. Peter bought The Robbins House farmhouse for $260 in 1823. He worked as a farmer and seasonal laborer in the Concord area. Fatima married Peter in 1824, and they lived together in the house until 1831. Peter began a very visible affair with one of Fatima's cousin Almira, and they eventually moved to Acton and had 13 children together.

Fatima filed for divorce from her estranged husband in 1837 when a law passed in Massachusetts that made adultery no longer an offense punished by imprisonment. That magnanimous gesture by Fatima's prevented her soon to be ex-husband for being jailed due to his long-standing affair with Almira. She retained the rights to her half of the farmhouse and one-third of the Robbins Farm in the divorce settlement, but eventually sold her rights to the property and left the home she had shared with Peter Robbins. She lived out the rest of her life in Concord, working as a domestic servant while occasionally receiving poverty assistance from the town.

We wanted to start off Women's History Month at Th

We wanted to start off Women's History Month at The Robbins House by announcing our April event for Ellen Garrison's 200th birthday! Join us for a community, family friendly event on Friday, April 14th from 6-8 pm at the Holy Family Church and Concord Townhouse.

In keeping with the Robbins House's goal to connec

In keeping with the Robbins House's goal to connect the early fights for freedom and equality with modern social justice movements we are proud to sponsor:

“Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America” Film Viewing & Discussion
March 12 @ 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
FREE

Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America. Former ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jeffery Robinson’s groundbreaking talk on the history of U.S. anti-Black racism is interwoven with archival footage, interviews, and Robinson’s story, exploring the enduring legacy of white supremacy and our collective responsibility to overcome it.

This screening is part of a series of community viewing organized by Communities Organizing Against Racism (COAR) in collaboration with other local organizations.

Thanks to Joe Palumbo, a Robbins House Board member and interpreter, for spearheading this collaborative effort!

When the Robbins House was built in the 1820’s,

When the Robbins House was built in the 1820’s, Peter Robbins and his wife Fatima lived on one side of the house, and Peter’s sister, Susan Garrison lived with her husband Jack and their family on the other side of their shared home. The 544 square foot house served as a generational home for this family of color in the middle of the bustle of life in Concord, Massachusetts in the early to mid-19th century. Like many families of the time, the Robbins and Garrison families lost a total of three children at a young age in the house. Child loss was tragically a normative part of life for many families in the 19th-century.
I was thinking about that child loss while watching the funeral of Tyre Nichols. The Robbins and Garrison families endured their share of racism and discrimination even in the supposedly progressive oasis of Concord, Massachusetts; a community which served as a spot on the Underground Railroad and was home to some of the leading white abolitionists of their day. Yet, these families living in Concord did not expect to lose their children to systemic racial or police violence. Unfortunately, that cannot be said in the United States today.
We at The Robbins House are committed to telling the stories of lived African-American experience in the 19th-century, but we are also deeply committed to the legacy that history provides to social justice moments today. Enough is enough. We can and must do better as a nation to stop the killing of young black people by police action. It is ultimately a shame on our nation that we have too many hashtag choices for the outrage of mothers losing their children to untimely and violent deaths. #BHM

This Monday! Join us!!

This Monday! Join us!!

The Robbins House Presents: A School. Sugar. A Sla

The Robbins House Presents: A School. Sugar. A Slave Bell.
Friday, October 28, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Goodwin Forum, Main Library
The Robbins House in collaboration with the Concord Free Public Library present "A School. Sugar. A Slave Bell", featuring members of The Robbins House Board of Directors, Maria Madison, Rob Munro and Nikki Turpin. The Robbins House jars visitors' experience by presenting the Black history of America's founding. Their success in spreading these messages has resulted in a local previously all-white elite private boys’ school "bequeathing" a 500 pound sugar plantation 'slave bell' to our historic site. Through sharing their recent brochure publications, they seek to elicit the emotions, intentions and history of this "gift" by connecting with sights, sounds and touch to explore how the bell can help explain America's racial wealth gap in New England https://www.concordfestivalofauthors.org/the-robbins-house-a-school-sugar-a-slave-bell

One of our many readers from this weekends event.

One of our many readers from this weekends event. #RFDT @masshumanities

RH extends a huge thank you to everyone who came

RH extends a huge thank you to everyone who came to our Reading of Frederick Douglass yesterday. @masshumanities 📷: RP

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