Summer Conversations Series: Ellen Garrison

The Old Manse • 269 Monument St., Concord • Saturday, July 28 • 3 to 4 p.m.x

The Robbins House and The Old Manse present a reading and discussion of civil rights activist and teacher Ellen Garrison’s letters. Ellen Garrison was born in Concord, and in 1835, at age 12, she desegregated Concord’s Bicentennial Parade, walking hand-in-hand with a white neighbor, Abba Prescott. As an adult, she became a teacher in Boston, actively supporting abolitionist and equal rights causes. After the Civil War she moved to Maryland to teach newly freed people. In 1866, she and another teacher successfully overcame resistance to the nation’s first Civil Rights Act, which conferred citizenship and equal rights on African Americans. Free and open to the public. No registration necessary. Parking available on site. In case of inclement weather, contact the Old Manse at 978-369-3909.