John J. Smith House was the home of

John J. Smith John James Smith (1820 – 1906) was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Mas ...

from 1878 to 1893. Smith was an African American abolitionist, Underground Railroad contributor and politician, including three terms as a member of the

Massachusetts House of Representatives The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from 14 counties each divided into single-member ...

. He also played a key role in rescuing Shadrach Minkins (a then slave) from federal custody, along with Lewis Hayden and others.

John J. Smith

Born free in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, John J. Smith (1820–1906) moved to Boston in the late 1840s. Smith was an African American abolitionist leader who helped people escape slavery on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. He was also a recruiting officer for the all-black 5th Cavalry during the Civil War and then a three-term member of the

. In the early 1870s, his daughter Elizabeth Smith started teaching at the

Phillips School The Phillips School was a 19th-century school located in Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts. It is now a private residence. It is on the Black Heritage Trail and its history is included in walking tours by the Boston African American National ...

and was probably the first African American to teach in an integrated Boston public school.

Black Heritage Trail

The house is a Boston African American historical site located on the Black Heritage Trail in Beacon Hill. The National Park Service wrote:

The historic buildings along today's Black Heritage Trail were the homes, businesses, schools and churches of a thriving black community that organized, from the nation's earliest years, to sustain those who faced local discrimination and national slavery, struggling toward the equality and freedom promised in America's documents of national liberty.

References

Shadrach Minkins From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia wrote: He was hidden in an attic in Beacon Hill. Minkins escaped Massachusetts with the help of John J. Smith, Lewis Hayden and others.

External links

Boston African American National Historic Site (NPS)
{{Boston African American community pre-Civil War, state=expanded African-American history in Boston History of Boston Houses in Boston Beacon Hill, Boston Houses on the Underground Railroad