Before the Arnold Arboretum became one of Jamaica Plain’s most recognizable green spaces, part of that land belonged to Peter Bridgham, a formerly enslaved man who purchased property there in the 1770s.
Now, more than 250 years later, local volunteers are working to bring his story and Jamaica Plain’s overlooked history of slavery and freedom into public view.
Hidden Jamaica Plain, a volunteer-led research group, presented the history of Bridgham and his descendants at First Church in Jamaica Plain on Oct. 18. The event, hosted in collaboration with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, highlighted generations of Black residents whose lives have largely been absent from the neighborhood’s historical narrative.
Since beginning its work nearly four years ago, Hidden Jamaica Plain has identified 28 people who were enslaved in the neighborhood and published 14 articles challenging the misconception that slavery and a Black community were absent from the area during the colonial era. As the research continues, volunteers are exploring ways to preserve their findings through permanent historical markers and expanded walking tours.
Mimi Pichey, convener and founder of Hidden Jamaica Plain, said the project was inspired by a walking tour she attended about slavery and freedom in Brookline. Curious about whether Jamaica Plain had a similar history, she began researching local records.
“It turned out you didn’t have to scratch the surface very far to find enslaved people here,’’ she said. “I just Googled and all of a sudden the stuff started popping up.”
What began as an afternoon exploring a neighboring town has since grown into a collaboration among neighborhood institutions, including the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, Loring Greenough House, the Eliot School and local churches.
Pichey said her initial goal was to establish a historical walking tour. Now, the project is part of a broader effort to uncover the neighborhood’s past and pursue what she described as “action around restorative justice.”
“We still haven’t done the walking tour,” Pichey said. “Every time we dig into something, we found something else.”
One of the group’s most significant discoveries emerged from historical death records at First Church in Jamaica Plain, where researchers found the names of several Black residents who lived in the neighborhood during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Volunteer researchers Nancy Ahmadifar and Thalia McMillion began investigating two of those residents, Peter Bridgham and Simeon Giles, before discovering the men were grandfather and grandson.
Bridgham, who was enslaved by Col. William Dudley in the 18th century, eventually gained his freedom and purchased a quarter-acre parcel along what is now Centre Street in 1772. The property, located near present-day Allandale Road, became home to four generations of his family.
Through monthly meetings and collaboration with local organizations and academics, the roughly 10 volunteers have pieced together the family’s history using wills, property deeds, church records and other historical documents.
McMillion said her research gained momentum after she found Giles’ will while sifting through documents at the Boston Public Library.
“I was so excited I almost yelled out in the room [where] you’re not supposed to,” she said.
The discovery helped the researchers trace generations of a family whose history had been scattered across historical records, revealing how much of Jamaica Plain’s past remains unfamiliar to residents.
Adam Gibbons, treasurer of First Church in Jamaica Plain, hopes to turn the new discoveries into permanent historical markers throughout the neighborhood to preserve the group’s findings.
“It would bring a lot of meaning to my life to work on that,” he said.
Gibbons acknowledges the process could take years and said he hopes to involve more residents to help move the project forward.
Catharine Crozier, president of Jamaica Plain Historical Society, said the organization has already begun incorporating Hidden Jamaica Plain’s findings into its walking tours but establishing permanent historical markers may be a longer-term goal.
Although the society has received a city grant to identify potential plaque sites, additional funding and coordination are needed for installation.
“We have to find a more targeted grant that’s more about us highlighting hidden history,” Crozier said.
In the meantime, Crozier said the organization will continue to support Hidden Jamaica Plain research, provide a platform for their work and expand the reach of their presentations.
Loren Disney, 74, a longtime member of First Church in Jamaica Plain, said he values the research as a way to connect with the community and prompt conversations on the history of institutions that remain central to the neighborhood today.
Disney said church members have acknowledged that some early congregants enslaved people or profited from slavery, but questions remain about how the church should address that history.
“This is part of the legacy of not just the church but entire society, the whole country really,” he said.
Beyond encouraging conversations about the neighborhood’s past, Hidden Jamaica Plain volunteers hope to preserve their findings as a resource for future generations.
Pichey said the organization intends to finish its remaining research, develop a historical walking tour and integrate its findings into the public record before eventually disbanding. Afterward, the historical society will continue preserving and sharing the group’s work.
“Our hope is that by bringing this to light, it will encourage others like the academics to dig into it further and to find the things that we missed,” Pichey said. “We just do the best we can as amateurs.”
