First Church has been working on our own and collaboratively with several other organizations in JP to investigate and understand the history of land theft, slavery and slavery-enabled industry and wealth in Jamaica Plain, particularly as it involved First Church founders and members. Some of our historic records are critical in documenting this history. A team led by FCJP Historian George Wardle and supported by the Social Justice Action Committee, including Nancy Ahmadifar, Thalia Mcmillion, Natalie Eldridge, and Penny Wells has been meeting regularly since 2022 with a group of other local volunteers on a project now called “Hidden Jamaica Plain.”

An overview of the subject and our findings to date was recently published on the JP Historical Society website. First Church also hosted a well-attended presentation in conjunction with the JP Historical Society, Loring Greenough House, Eliot School and others at which George, Nancy and Thalia presented stories of people, Black and White, who lived and labored in Jamaica Plain in the Colonial era. The presentation was recorded and the link is posted on the JPHS website with the overview article. We encourage FCJP members (and all interested parties) to read the overview article and watch the video of the presentation. Our congregation is on a path to learn about our history and discuss actions we may take to redress harms done in our name through repair and reparation. This research is the beginning of that process.

Learn more at this link.