3. Dancing with the Enemy

Every town has its own troubled past. If history has revealed anything, it is that humans can be pretty horrible to one another, both on a personal and on an institutional level. And when we evolve past it, most would pretty much like to forget that the transgressions ever happened in the first place.

Such is the case with enslavement in the Northern United States. We are, rightly, proud of the abolitionist history and the role we played in ending its practice in this country, but often conveniently choose to forget that there a time before, when the practice was considered acceptable... even in Massachusetts. In this episode, we look at the footprints that were left in state and town records, and the effort to bring a buried past back to light.

We also talk with Rev. Catie Scudera of the First Parish in Needham Unitarian Universalist Church. The First Parish has partnered with the Needham History Center and Museum to learn the truth about enslavement in Needham, and how best to remember those whom history has tried to forget.