Schedule of Events

Sunday February 9, 2025

3:00 PM to 4:30 PM

Back by popular demand!

Concert: Oh, Glory II !  by James Dargan 

Place: North Parish Unitarian Universalist  - Sanctuary,

190 Academy Road

The Sanctuary is handicapped accessible through the "Garden" door that is accessed from the circle in front of the church - take the elevator up one level. 

This event is free and open to the public

James Dargan performs Passion Programs that combine music and spoken word to take audiences on a journey. Each program speaks to a specific social theme with music of different genres, interwoven with commentary on how they connect to our own lives.

The first Oh, Glory!  (presented in North Andover in 2024) grew out of a desire to celebrate Black American musical history; "OG2" is all about exploring different Black composers, and the Black poets they set to music. The complexity and variety of these songs shows that again, boxes are silly, in music and in life. Our lives are all different, and our experiences are all valid.  This program focusses on the glory and depth of Blackness, and on Mr. Dargan’s lived experience as a Black musician. 

James Dargan is a musician and writer from North Carolina; he is based in New York City, where he sings while composing, playing the violin, writing, and teaching. James has been a musician since he was a child, and has shared his voice and carefully curated programs all over the US and Europe. James also teaches on spirituals and other Black music, and is honored to walk in his family tradition of telling truthful stories. James relishes writing for Black singers, and he is currently writing two operas. Career highlights include solo work with The Boston Pops, and operatic work with esperanza spalding and Wayne Shorter. James is a founding member of the consortium Ring Shout.

For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com  

Parking is available on Academy Road or in the North Andover Municipal lot on Johnson Street adjacent to the Youth Center.

Sunday February 23, 2025

3:00 pm 

The Black Matty: William Clarence Matthews, "Harvard’s Famous Colored Shortstop" and the Color Line

By Karl Lindholm

Place: Stevens Center on the Common (North Andover Historical Society), 

800 Massachusetts Ave. 

This event is free and open to the public

William Clarence Matthews, was a terrific baseball player for both Phillips Andover and Harvard at the turn of the 20th century. As Harvard's shortstop, he was the best player on arguably the best college team in the country when baseball fever swept the land. In the summer of 1905, the Boston Traveler announced that he would soon be joining Fred Tenney’s Boston Nationals, breaching the color barrier in Major League Baseball, forty years before Jackie Robinson. He did not make history: the rumor of his breakthrough proved to be false. Matthews, however, deserves to be more than this baseball footnote. His remarkable life reflected the special tensions and tentative opportunities of Black Americans during the 50 years of his lifetime, 1877-1928. An expert on Matthews and his life,  historian Karl Lindstrom provides not only an overview of his extraordinary baseball career, but also considers his life outside the ballfield, which brought him into significant contact with the major figures of African American thought and culture of the time.

About the speaker:  As Assistant Professor of American Studies at Middlebury College, Vermont, Karl Lindholm’s interests include the literature of baseball, the Negro leagues in particular, Vietnam War literature, the regional culture of northern New England, and cross-cultural literature. He earned his B.A.(English) from Middlebury (1967) and holds a Ph.D. in American Studies (American Literature) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Parking is available on Academy Rd; please reserve spots in front of the building for the elderly and disabled.  For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com.

Sunday March 2, 2025

3:00 PM

Performance:  Stories of Hope – Acts of Faith: Four Local Heroes 

Featuring Higher Praise Gospel Choir from Boston

Place: North Parish Unitarian Universalist  - Sanctuary,

190 Academy Road

The Sanctuary is handicapped accessible through the "Garden" door that is accessed from the circle in front of the church - take the elevator up one level. 

This event is free and open to the public

Four people from eastern Massachusetts in the late 19th and early 20th century: Charlotte Forten, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, William Clarence Matthews, and William Munroe Trotter come to life to share their stories. All played important national leadership roles, navigating the challenges of building institutions, organizations, and movements in an environment hostile to full inclusion of African Americans in civic life. 

For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com.  

Parking is available on Academy Road or in the North Andover Municipal lot on Johnson Street adjacent to the Youth Center.

Sunday March 16, 2025

3:00 pm

Lecture: Crusades For Justice: Black Women’s Visions and Connections 

By Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes

Place: Stevens Center on the Common (North Andover Historical Society), 

800 Massachusetts Ave. 

This event is free and open to the public

A presentation illuminating the intersection of advocacy for women’s civil rights and advocacy for civil rights for African Americans in the period following the Civil War and into the early 20th century, paying special attention to the formation of associations and organizations. 

About the speaker:  Dr. Cheryl Townsend Gilkes is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor Emerita of African-American Studies and Sociology at Colby College (Waterville, Maine). An ordained Baptist minister, she is an assistant pastor for special projects at the Union Baptist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has served as visiting faculty at several seminaries and schools of divinity, most recently Chicago Theological Seminary. She holds degrees Northeastern University (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.), has pursued graduate theological studies at Boston University's School of Theology, and has received an honorary Doctor of Divinity (D. D.) from Ursinus College.

Parking is available on Academy Rd; please reserve spots in front of the building for the elderly and disabled.  For more information send an email to NA.BHM.Events@gmail.com  

June 19, 2025

4pm to 6pm

Cormier Youth Center, 40 Whittier Court, Andover

A tribute to The Hinton Family, local Andover ice cream entrepreneurs at the Andover Juneteenth 2025 celebration.

Come learn about their story and enjoy a free scoop of ice cream while supplies last!