Nantucket Island’s Juneteenth celebration has become an annual tradition on our island. The festivities transform York Street into a block party with music, food, local vendors, arts and crafts, family-friendly activities — drawing attendees of all races, ages, and backgrounds. The celebration will be held this Saturday, June 20, with a special ceremony the day before, Friday, June 19.
African slaves were brought to Nantucket during the mid-1600s. In 1783, Massachusetts abolished slavery, though the practice had faded on Nantucket years prior to the statewide mandate. In 1773, a landmark local court decision, Swain v. Folger, forced a whaling master to pay wages directly to Prince Boston, effectively ending forced labor on-island. The whaling industry, which defined Nantucket’s economy for much of the 18th and 19th centuries, offered one of the few arenas where African American men could find employment and even advancement, sailing alongside men of all backgrounds with earnings based on skill. In 1775, the last known Nantucket slaveholder, Benjamin Coffin, filed the final local deed of manumission to free his slaves.
By 1820, Nantucket’s Black population had grown to 274 people, and a vibrant, self-sustaining community had taken root on Nantucket
The 2026 Juneteenth celebrations on Nantucket will begin this Friday, June 19, when a new monument at the Historic Coloured Cemetery will be dedicated honoring two of Nantucket’s significant historical figures: Captain Absalom Boston and Hannah Cook Boston. The ceremony will be held at 9 am, with a rain date of Saturday, June 27, at the same time and location.
Captain Absalom F. Boston was a third-generation islander born on Nantucket in 1785. His mother was Wampanoag and his father: Prince Boston, Absalom’s uncle, won the landmark jury trial on Nantucket concerning payment of wages.
Like many young Nantucket men, Absalom went to sea at age 15. By 1822, he was captain of The Industry, commanding Nantucket’s very first all-Black whaling crew. After retiring from whaling, he established a store and an inn. He was a founding trustee of the Nantucket African Baptist Society and the African Meeting House, which served as a church, community center, and school.
Visitors to Nantucket’s Historic Coloured Cemetery often seek the gravesite of Absalom Boston, Nantucket’s pioneer mariner, entrepreneur, and civil rights leader, only to find that neither he nor his wife and partner in abolitionist endeavors, Hannah Cook Boston, have headstones.
To address this and to properly recognize their contributions, the Cemetery Commission has installed a new monument as a lasting tribute to their lives, legacy, and impact on Nantucket’s history.
“The absence of a marker for two such important figures has long been noted by visitors and historians,” said Cemetery Commission Vice Chair Frances Karttunen. “This monument ensures that future generations will have a place to reflect on and celebrate the remarkable contributions of Absalom and Hannah Boston.”
A full-day Juneteenth celebration will follow on Saturday, June 20, from 10 am to 3 pm at the African Meeting House on York Street, featuring educational programs and celebrations of African American history and culture.
The African Meeting House is situated in the Five Corners neighborhood, part of the historic district once known as New Guinea where African Americans lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Built during the late 1820s, the small post-and-beam building, now a National Historic Landmark, served simultaneously as a church, a school for African American children, and a community gathering place. The African Meeting House closed in 1911, but was restored and reopened as a museum approximately eight decades later. It is the only public building constructed and occupied by African Americans in the 19th century still standing on Nantucket. Today it is owned and operated by the Museum of African American History (MAAH) and anchors the Black Heritage Trail on Nantucket, a tenstop walking trail divided into Downtown and New Guinea segments that traces the vibrant African American community life of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration and block party begins at 10 am. The day’s events, after the welcome remarks, includes: Absalom Boston: A One- Man Portrayal by Neville Richen; a performance by SheSheFogo at 11:15 am, followed by E-Cliff Jazz Band. At 12:30 pm, a Community Lunch will be held. At 1 pm, Cory Morgan will leads Kids Music and Movement, followed by a performance by La Tulipe at 2 pm.