Dear Friends,

As a prominent African American historic site, The Robbins House is singularly positioned to foster broader education and discussion related to diversity and equity in Concord and beyond.

This past year your support of The Robbins House allowed us to:

• Welcome our first full-time Executive Director, historian Jennifer Turner. An IMLS grant covers half of these costs; we urgently and gratefully seek your support to help us with the other half.
• Host several Concord town-wide celebrations, including our new annual event in April celebrating Civil Rights activist and Freedmen’s schoolteacher Ellen Garrison, a Juneteenth celebration, our communal Reading Frederick Douglass event, and a Concord Festival of Authors presentation, this year featuring Ray Shepard’s new book A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama.
• Work in collaboration with Tufts’ Half the History project
• Join the Concord Museum in supporting Thomas Dugan summer intern Jas Wheeler to further research Concord’s African American history.

Please sign the petition to name Concord’s new middle school after Ellen Garrison. A dedicated Freedmen’s school teacher, Ellen was praised by the leader of the Concord Female Antislavery Society as “having born[e] away the prize most frequently in our common schools for superiority of learning.” Decades before Rosa Parks, Ellen Garrison was acutely aware of the real and symbolic importance of her civil action: “I feel as though I ought to strive to maintain my rights,” she wrote in a letter supporting her actions to test the 1866 Civil Rights Act, “It will be a stand for others.”

We wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and are very grateful for your continued support.

Nikki Turpin
President, The Robbins House, Inc.

P.S. No donation is too small or too big – we’re so thankful for all donations. The Robbins House is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and your donations are fully tax deductible. You will receive a tax receipt in the mail.

P.P.S. In addition to your donation we welcome your involvement with The Robbins House – as a Board member, interpreter, committee member or volunteer, you can help preserve the unique history of The Robbins House and join an engaged group dedicated to social justice and our local community.