Boston Middle Passage Remembrance Ceremony

The national Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project seeks to commemorate the captive Africans who perished in the Middle Passage of the transatlantic slave trade, as well as to honor the survivors of that perilous journey and acknowledge the role they and their descendants have played in building this nation. The project's goal is to sponsor remembrance ceremonies at each of more than 175 middle passage ports in 50 nations of North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

Boston's Middle Passage remembrance ceremony on Sunday, August 23rd at Faneuil Hall will acknowledge the Bay Colony's role as the first place where slavery was legal in the North American British colonies.

This event is part of a larger effort by the Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP), an international, grassroots organization dedicated to commemorating the more than 2 million people who perished in the Middle Passage of the transatlantic human trade and the 10 million who survived. Partnering with historical and cultural societies, academic institutions, churches, visitor and tourist bureaus, and community organizations, the MPCPMP’s aim is to research, identify, and facilitate remembrance ceremonies at all ports of captive Africans’ entry during the 350 years of the transatlantic human trade in North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe.

We are honored to be among several national and local groups collaborating to bring this project to Boston, including The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project, the National Park Service, the Boston African American National Historic Site, and the Congregational Library & Archives. Learn more at the Boston Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project