Portland, Maine: Black History Guided Walking Tour

Trace the steps of the Black Portlanders who moved our city, state, and country closer to the ideals of freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality. Maine’s earliest settlements couldn’t have existed without Black labor, skill, and insight. You'll meet the Black Yankees who founded Maine communities, overturned slavery statewide, drove our maritime industries, gained political influence, crossed color boundaries, and expanded Mainers’ rights in the modern era. Stepping on granite cobblestones crooked with age — that once saw footfalls from national heroes like Frederick Douglass — you’ll pass storefronts once home to Black-owned barbershops where abolitionists whispered intelligence to Underground Railroad conductors. Enjoy 2 hours of entertaining and enlightening historical narration over a 1.5-mile route. Owner and guide, Dugan Murphy, dug through the archives to present an amazing constellation of stories left out of most tours. TripAdvisor named him Portland's #1 guide!

Itinerary

1. Your guide Dugan will lead you to the locations relevant to Black Mainers and their achievements. We'll trace the steps of the folks who resisted indignity and realized power to move our city, state, and country closer to the ideals of freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equality. (50 min)
2. Discover the hidden Black history that predates slavery in Maine.
3. Be surprised by the story of a largely unknown but well-connected international activist from the 19th century hiding in plain sight.
4. Hear the complicated history of racial passing at the highest levels in 19th-century Catholic Maine.
5. Dugan will guide you to where Black leaders and laborers shaped Portland's waterfront and earned a seat at the table when the odds were against them. We'll honor the Black journalist who decided to leave the US behind and seek self-determination in a newly-founded African nation. (20 min)
6. Portland's maritime history may not be what you think it is. Discover the Black skill and labor too often overlooked.
7. Marvel at the architecture and hear how antebellum Black Portland built and wielded political power at a time when the vast majority of Black Americans were denied basic human rights.
8. Visit the Black social scene of WWII Portland and meet the important people who came out of that period to impact our lives today.
9. Follow Dugan through the Old Port to a historically-Black section on the eastern end of the waterfront, uncovering Black history hidden all around us. You'll hear about the people who founded Maine communities, overturned slavery statewide, drove our maritime industries, swung elections, founded houses of worship, crossed color boundaries, and expanded Mainers’ rights in the modern era. (50 min)
10. Learn the story of an enterprising young Black man who forged his own destiny in the legal field despite those who tried to hold him back.
11. Find the brave folks who risked federal prosecution by aiding and abetting freedom seekers from the South via the Underground Railroad.
12. Marvel at the achievements of a small, tight-knit community, who worked together to improve their lives and the lives of others.
13. Learn how important Black Portlanders were to the maritime economy in the age of sail.
14. Visit the beating heart of the civil rights movement and hear the stories of the leaders whose impacts are still being felt today.
15. Learn the surprising story of the Black minister who convened a community of expatriate Black Americans to rewrite the US Constitution.

Meeting & end point