About

The Robbins House is a Concord-based nonprofit organization focused on raising awareness of Concord’s African, African American, and antislavery history from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Our mission is to reveal the little known African American history of Concord and its regional and national importance. Our vision is to inspire conversation, expand understanding and contribute to a better society.

Our goals are:

  1. To unearth and share the stories of Concord’s earliest African Americans (particularly residents of African descent in the 19th century Robbins House);
  2. To create educational resources based upon the experience of Concord’s early African Americans; and
  3. Connect their early fights for freedom and equality with modern social justice movements.

Board of Directors
Nikki Turpin, President
Rebecca Pearson Lo, Vice President
Anne Forbes, Clerk
Heather Martino, Treasurer

Bob Bellinger
Maura Clarke
Kim Frederick
Rob Morrison
Brian Padilla
Joe Palumbo
Michelle Purrington
Elaine Rabb
James St. Vincent
Sarina Tcherepnin
Isabelle Williams
Kara Angeloni Williams

In Memoriam [2015]
Nancy Ehrlich, Material Culture Anthropology
Kelly Goode, Media Specialist

Staff & Scholars
Jen Turner, Executive Director
Rebecca Sommers, Bookkeeper

Advisors
Current Advisory Board members and consultants have been extremely generous with their time and support in championing The Robbins House:

  • Tom Beardsley, Bentley University
  • Johanna & John Boynton, Boynton/Brennan Builders, LCC
  • Dinah Buechner-Visher, President, Lookout Foundation
  • Professor Lois Brown, Wesleyan University
  • Margaret Carroll-Bergman, Thoreau Farm Executive Director
  • Denise Dennis, Dennis Farm Trust, Colonial African American Descendant
  • BJ Dunn, Minute Man National Historical Park
  • Professor Robert Gross, University of Connecticut Emeritus, author, Minutemen and their World
  • Julian Feshback-Meriney, Educator, Nashoba Brooks School, Social Media Advisor
  • David Fisher, Landscape Architect
  • Lorell Gifford, Webmaster, Rivervisions
  • Johanna Glazer, Educator, Concord Carlisle High School
  • John Hannigan, Scholar-in-Residence
  • Elon Cook Lee, Living History Consultant, Social Media Contributor
  • Professor Elise Lemire, SUNY Purchase, author, Black Walden: Slavery and Its Aftermath in Concord, Massachusetts
  • Professor Joanne Pope Melish, University of Kentucky, author, Disowning Slavery: Gradual Emancipation and ‘Race’ in New England, 1789-1860
  • Professor Sandra Herbert Petrulionis, Penn State Altoona, author, To Set Things Right: The Antislavery Movement in Thoreau’s Concord 
  • Larry Sorli, Preservation Architect
  • Joe Zellner, Concord Public Schools Emeritus, Civil War 54th Re-enactor
  • Linda Ziemba, Exhibits Designer, Trace Design Group

 

Partners 

  • The Robbins House works closely with the Town of Concord and in partnership with the Minuteman National Park Service, as the site by the North Bridge where the Robbins House is located is owned by the Town of Concord and leased by the NPS. Decisions affecting The Robbins House are made in conjunction with the Minuteman National Park Service.
  • The Robbins House is a member of the Concord Historical Collaborative.

Partners & Friends

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