First Parish Commemorates Enslaved Members

BREWSTER – On Thursday, the First Parish Brewster Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse unveiled a custom-made bronze plaque commemorating 20 enslaved people who are known to have attended services at the church or were baptized there. 

 Efforts by the racial and indigenous justice allies task force had been underway for a while to research the history of the church’s connection to enslaved people. The mission of the task force, made up of members of the congregation, was to raise awareness of the history and culture of the Wampanoag people and people of color in Eastern Massachusetts and help reverse the health and wealth disparities present for these groups. 

 “It was hard to decipher people who were enslaved,” said Susan Smith, a member of the task force. “Their history was not well recorded, they were marginalized, they were erased, and so it was putting together some puzzle pieces to get to this point.” 

 Smith also acknowledged the difficulty in researching during COVID, as many libraries were shut down and records were unavailable. Many of the documents the task force used were journals or diary entries, sale records of enslaved people, probate records, tax inventories, church records and published books on the topic. 

 A list of references can be found in a document published on the church’s website. The document also contains a brief history of the initiative, noting that many records vary and frequently only provide first names. 

 An excerpt from the document reads, “The Western archival tradition has prioritized the preservation of history from the perspective of white, rich and powerful men. It is highly likely that other enslaved people are connected to First Parish Brewster but were unmentioned within the written history.” 

 The stone, mounted with a bronze plaque containing 14 names and acknowledgment of six unknown names, sits at the front steps of the church, close enough to the sidewalk for people passing by to read. 

 “My hope is that each time we walk into this church, we can look at that and remember the horrors and evils that human beings are capable of,” said Kaaren Anderson, minister at the church. “And we ourselves can be motivated and inspired to create a world that's filled with love and justice and dignity for all.” 

 While the names were found from historical records, the task force acknowledged that they may not have been the names chosen by the individuals or their families. Many of the names might have been assigned by white enslavers. 

 They also recognized the contributions enslaved people made to the local community, including the church. 

 Another excerpt from the document reads, “These people lived and endured under the institution of chattel slavery. Their stolen lives and labor contributed to the wealth that created First Parish Brewster and the founding of the United States of America.”

 The church also has a reparations team that is working to give back to the local indigenous community. At the unveiling, Smith said the congregation voted to give $10,000 this year and the next two years to Weetumuw School, a Wampanoag language school located on tribal grounds in Mashpee. 

 “I’ve looked at these names quite a few times over the past couple of years,” said Dave Sutherland, a member of the task force. “I try to focus on the resilience and the endurance that they and their successors had and how they were able to carry on.”