Nov. 19, 2015 | CONCORD

By Jim Callahan

The Robbins House is a Concord, Mass.-based nonprofit organization focused on revealing the little known African American history of Concord and its regional and national importance. Articles about the Robbins House, its history and the personalities associated with that history, along with events currently taking place at the Robbins House, will appear from time to time in the Concord Journal.

Let’s imagine for a moment it’s 1840. You’re a young black woman living on a patch of farmland a short distance from the center of town in Concord. Other black families are scattered throughout the area, many engaged in farming or other trade activities, and you enjoy certain rights your brothers and sisters below the Mason-Dixon line do not.

But enjoy is a relative term. It’s still not a great life if you are African-American and living in “the land of the free.” You might own land, but usually it was of marginal economic value. You’re allowed to go to church, but you can’t choose the pew you would like to sit in. It’s the 19th century’s version of being relegated to the back of the bus.

But things are starting to change, especially in Concord, thanks in large part to a relatively small group of men and mostly women dedicated to abolishing slavery throughout the United States and bringing equal rights to all within its boundaries.

One of those women, Ellen Garrison, figured prominently in those efforts. Born in 1823, Ellen grew up in the Robbins House, a one-and-half story, two-family farmhouse originally occupied by the first generation of free blacks descended from Revolutionary War patriot Caesar Robbins. Located at the edge of the Great Field in the 1800s, the house has been moved twice: to Bedford Road in 1871 and to a parcel of land across from the Old Manse and the North Bridge on Monument Street in 2011.

To those around her, black and white, it was evident Ellen Garrison was not average. Mary Merrick Brooks, an ardent abolitionist of the time living in Concord, advocated strongly on her behalf noting in a letter to friends that, “she is a very intelligent girl for one of so few advantages, having born away the prize most frequently in our common schools for superiority of learning…” Others recognized the young woman’s talents, enabling her to establish important connections in Boston, where she even served on a committee to honor William Lloyd Garrison, a leading abolitionist of the day.

But Ellen advocated most strongly for herself and the cause she so devoutly believed in, letting her actions speak just as loudly as her words. She signed desegregation petitions, moved south to teach freedmen and women after the Civil War and had the stationmaster of the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad arrested after he threw her out of the segregated waiting room, boldly testing the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

Ellen’s efforts to right the wrongs of the day extended beyond the eastern corridor. She signed a petition on behalf of the Cherokee Indians and later moved to Kansas where she settled and assisted black families moving into the area following the Civil War. It was there she died in the 1880s.

Her story is one of many that underscore the perseverance, strength and courage of those who advocated strongly for change and then acted on their beliefs.

To learn more about the Robbins House and Ellen Garrison, you can visit the Robbins House on line at robbinshouse.org or stop by the Robbins House at 320 Monument St.

A reenactor impersonating Ellen will be on hand at select times throughout the year to answer questions about the efforts of Ellen and others to fight slavery and discrimination.

Posted via The Concord Journal