Walking Tour: African Americans in 1850s Florence, Part 2
August 8, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am
A continuation of the well-attended Juneteenth tour led by local historian and DRC co-founder Steve Strimer. We’ll start where we left off, at the David Ruggles Center on historic Nonotuck Street. The tour passes by the homes of the Cooper and Willson families who left Florence on the Underground Railroad to settle in Canada by 1852; the home of George W. Benson where Sojourner Truth lived from about 1846 to 1848 then up the hill to her own home at 35 Park Street where she lived from 1850 to 1857. Finally, we’ll tour the Park Street Cemetery where Basil Dorsey, Laura Knowles Washington, Henry Anthony, Sarah Askin, George Hodestia and other Black citizens are buried. We will meet at the Ruggles Center- 225 Nonotuck. Please park across the street. Questions or RSVP info@davidrugglescenter.org. Free and Open to the public. Donations (suggested $5) are welcome and support work of the Center.