By the year 2050 ethnic minorities are projected to represent the majority in the United States. Corporate front-runners have analyzed the demographic data to prepare for building more inclusive systems for this dynamic national and global marketplace. Some companies are embracing the opportunity to add diversity to their employee base. In NH, where people of color have historically been fewer than 4 percent of the population, corporate diversity remains lacking, and many racial stereotypes persist about the imagined deficient abilities of the non-white population. Many companies declare the reason to be an unqualified local workforce, or a perception that qualified applicants are deterred by the state’s chilly climate. A reputation of not welcoming Blacks appears to be confirmed in the state’s dearth of people of color.
Although for most of its history, this has been described as “one of the whitest states in the union,” NH has always had a diverse population. Indigenous Americans inhabited the territory for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived. Drawn by opportunities in the land of stated democratic ideals—equality, liberty and justice for all—European and Canadian immigrants made a home in the Granite State. This relatively homogenous group has historically had an indisputable influence on the state’s culture and economy. But so too has a smaller population of captured and free Africans whose social narrative did not include a decision to leave hardship in their distant home for a new land of hope. Nevertheless, they all have been present and active throughout the state’s inimitable development.
Knowledge of their stories gives a more informed understanding of people of color and helps dispel racialized notions of African Americans. The life stories of men like Amos Fortune of Jaffrey and Pomp Spring of Portsmouth speak to a dynamic history of resilience, creativity and innovation where, in spite of obstacles including colonial-era enslavement, warning-out in the 19th century (towns pressuring outsiders to settle elsewhere) and de facto segregation in more recent history, these people not only survived but prospered. Unable to find employment beyond the most menial types of labor, no matter how hard-working or well-educated, these were among the Black Yankees who engaged their entrepreneurial spirit to enrich themselves and their communities.
A tanner by profession, the enslaved Amos Fortune was able to buy his freedom at age 60. In 1781, he left Massachusetts and moved to Jaffrey where he established his own tannery. His prosperity as a businessman led to such philanthropic interests as the financial support of a school and the town library, a bequest that has today evolved into a fund bearing his name that encourages diversity in programming events and publications.
On the Seacoast, after gaining freedom, Pomp Spring and Candace Wentworth married, acquired property and established a successful business as bakers of fine bread and cakes. Their highly respected roles in the community can be followed through town records, newspaper accounts and the details of Pomp’s will followed by subsequent settlements of their estate. Probate inventories of the contents of the family’s home suggest they may have rented out rooms or perhaps their home served as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Their story describes an early New England seaport that had more diversity than commonly believed possible.
Other successful Black NH residents were rewarded for their accomplishments beyond the United States. Richard Potter of Andover, Harriet Wilson of Milford and Nellie Brown Mitchell of Dover found fame internationally. Potter was a professional American-born magician and the country’s first ventriloquist to succeed as an entertainer. His fame and wealth was such that in 1814 he purchased 175 acres in Andover where he built his mansion. This historic location, Potter Place, still carries his name. Nellie Brown Mitchell was a prominent opera singer during the mid-19th century. Trained at the New England Conservatory of Music, her singing career took her all over North America. She used her professional skills to establish the Nellie Brown Mitchell Concert Company. She is also credited with inventing the phoneterion, an instrument used to reduce muscular tension in the voice.
In 1859, Harriet Wilson became the first Black woman in America to publish a novel. Her work, Our Nig; or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, is studied all over the world for its unique literary style and the author’s critique of her life of servitude in antebellum New England. Wilson was also a resourceful entrepreneur who created a line of hair-care products sold along the East Coast.
These skilled craftsmen, musicians, entertainers, innovators and entrepreneurs persisted against a dominant social backdrop of ethnic hostility complicated by formidable race and gender barriers. Community partnerships with minority business ownership have been and continue to be a key to financial security for racial minorities in this region, especially in the three major cities of Manchester, Nashua and Portsmouth, where there has been a concentration of people of color.
From its colonial history of ship building and involvement in the slave trade to being home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Pease International Tradeport, the Seacoast has had the largest population of Africans and African Americans in the state. With each rise and decline of these industries, some workers have stayed in the area with the hope of succeeding with their own businesses, while others departed without a reason to stay.
The arrival of Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1970s ushered in a new era of diversity in Nashua and helped launch the region’s high-tech reputation that persists today. DEC’s commitment to diversity was voiced, written and practiced. Because their leadership valued differences, they attracted the best available talent. This skilled workforce spawned a golden era of entrepreneurial startups in southern NH when the company closed its doors in the state.
Nowhere is there more tangible evidence of the economic value of the ethnic minority population than in downtown Manchester today. Thirty years ago, the main street with closed and decaying store fronts served only as a pathway to the mall. Today, that same area is a vibrant destination that boasts an impressive array of shops and fine dining with cuisine as varied as Bosnian, Caribbean, Indian, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Nepali, Thai, Vietnamese and more.
Understating the historical legacy of employees and consumers can only aid in community outreach. And understanding the barriers within the organization that prevents a complete fulfillment of the diversity mission statement is a first step. The healing nature of truth telling can transform the way we see each other, free of historical stereotypes and better prepare us for an increasingly diverse and ever-changing world.
JerriAnne Boggis is the director of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, as well as a writer, educator, and community activist. She is chair of the U.S. Commission Civil Rights NH Advisory Committee and is on the advisory board for NH Listens. For more information, visit blackheritagetrailnh.org.