Committee hears presentations on Northampton's Black history
Northampton's Community Resources Committee heard presentations on slavery history and abolitionist legacy. Historic Northampton Museum Educator Elizabeth Sacktor discussed an exhibit opened nine months earlier, featuring 37 silhouettes representing enslaved people identified through a 2019
City Council Committee on Community Resources · Meeting of February 23, 2026
Northampton's Community Resources Committee heard presentations on slavery history and abolitionist legacy. Historic Northampton Museum Educator Elizabeth Sacktor discussed an exhibit opened nine months earlier, featuring 37 silhouettes representing enslaved people identified through a 2019 research project that found at least 50 enslaved individuals in Northampton between 1675 and 1783. The David Ruggles Center for History and Education, based in Florence, discussed abolitionist history from the 1830s onward, including freeborn activist David Ruggles' role aiding people escaping slavery.
The center received an ARPA grant from the city for exhibit upgrades.
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Source: the City Council Committee on Community Resources meeting of February 23, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.
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