Meet Ellen Garrison Jackson: 19th Century Civil Rights Activist

Co-hosted by the Old Manse on Columbus Day – October 12th

Using information from over 100 documents and letters only recently uncovered, Ellen will be portrayed by Maria Madison, Robbins House President. Ellen Garrison was the daughter of a Concord farm laborer who escaped from slavery in New Jersey and a freeborn mother who was a founding member of the Concord Female Antislavery Society.  Ellen was also the granddaughter of previously enslaved Revolutionary War veteran Caesar Robbins, and a prolific Civil Rights activist.

This new program was made possible through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and is an important addition to the interpretation of Concord’s past.  The grant funds interpretive and educational programming – and we’re excited to pilot our new costumes and never-before-told life story of Ellen Garrison, “Concord’s Rosa Parks”.

We’ll also have children’s games and copies of the 1864 Concord children’s petition to President Lincoln to sign, with Lincoln’s response attached.