We Were Here Too by Roberto Mighty, in partnership with the Freedom Trail® Foundation and Old North Illuminated, revives the memory of Boston’s colonial African-Americans, many of whom lived and worked in what is today’s North End. The project can be experienced worldwide via an online multimedia website, and locally via augmented reality in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.
Please join us for an artist talk on Wednesday May 28, 2025 at 5:30pm at the historic Old North Church, hosted by Old North Illuminated. Events are free, but accommodations are limited. Following the artist talk will be a reception with light refreshments in the garden. This project is funded by the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture’s Un-Monument Initiative and The Mellon Foundation.
This project honors historical figures, including Phillis Wheatley Peters, in 1773 the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry; Prince Hall, an abolitionist who fought in the Revolutionary War and founded Prince Hall Masonry; and Onesimus, an African who was instrumental in bringing knowledge of smallpox inoculation to America.
Blending history with technology, We Were Here Too invites the public to engage with a layered storytelling experience. The project features augmented reality, video interviews with historians and community voices, digital illustrations, archival images, voice performances, and historical content drawn from museum collections and archives around the world.
Roberto says, “I hope folks will experience this exhibit and learn that African Americans – free and enslaved – were living and working in Boston at the same time as Paul Revere, Abigail Adams and John Hancock. We were here, too.”
Funded by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture through a grant from the Mellon Foundation, “We Were Here Too” is presented in partnership with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, The Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, the Freedom Trail® Foundation and Old North Illuminated.
Roberto Mighty is America’s first Artist-in-Residence at a National Historic Landmark Cemetery; a member of the Museum of Fine Arts Table of Voices panel; writer, producer and director of thirty-nine TV episodes on PBS stations nationwide; and is Director of the film for Concord Museum’s new exhibit on an Indigenous Nipmuc artist. View here
Funders and Fellowships include The Mellon Foundation, National Science Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, Black Public Media, National Association for Latino Independent Producers and Kopkind/Center for Independent Documentary. Artist residencies include Harvard Forest, Mount Auburn Cemetery, Truro Center for The Arts and The City of Boston.
Roberto does public speaking across the USA. His MFA (Visual arts) is from Lesley University, and he has taught at Emerson College and Boston University.
Parking: Due to limited parking in the area around the Copps Hill Burial Grounds, we highly recommend to car pool and suggest utilizing nearby parking garages, such as the Public Market Garage, ($3 for 3 hour parking) North End Garage (Pilgrim Parking), North End Garage Sudbury Rd / Blackstone Street.
By T: Take any of the following Green Line Trains: B, C, D, and E to the North Station and walk 7 minutes. Or take the Orange Line to North Station and walk 7 minutes.
Led by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture the Un-monument | Re-monument | De-monument: Transforming Boston is a multi-year program that will bring temporary monuments and free public programming to neighborhoods across Boston in partnership with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative, the Freedom Trail® Foundation, Old North Illuminated, and Hoverlay. This programming is made possible by a grant from the Mellon Foundation's Monuments Project.
The entrance to the church is accessible for wheelchair users. Currently, our box pews are not wheelchair accessible. If you require wheelchair seating, we can offer two options. Those who use a wheelchair full-time can sit in the center aisle of the sanctuary. Those with some mobility can get as close as possible to a pew, leave their wheelchair, and sit in a pew.
An ADA-compliant public restroom is located at the rear of the gift shop through an external door. A limited number of assistive listening devices are available. Please ask a staff member to provide you with a headset. We welcome service dogs. Emotional support dogs, comfort dogs, and other animals are not permitted.
Interpretation, translation, and disability accommodation services are available to you at no cost. If you need them, please contact us at arts@boston.gov, LCA@boston.gov, or 617-635-4445. Additionally, there will be accommodations available for those who do not wish to appear in event photos.