February 23rd, 2022

A push for a Mass. emancipation holiday

Senate bill would commemorate day slavery outlawed in Mass.

Anna Lamb

Massachusetts is one step closer to creating a new state holiday that would honor an instrumental figure in the fight to end slavery. Last week, the State Senate passed legislation that would mark July 8 as Massachusetts Emancipation Day, or Quock Walker Day.

Quock Walker, a rarely acknowledged figure in school history curriculums, was a 28-year-old former slave who, after being promised freedom and not being granted it, in 1781 self-emancipated from his enslaver Nathaniel Jennison. He was subsequently brutally beaten by his former enslaver when found working on a neighboring farm.

Walker, using the credo that would become recognizable as part of the United States Constitution — that all men have certain inalienable rights — sued for assault and battery and was found to be a legally free man by a jury of the Worcester County Court of Common Pleas. The ruling was appealed and then upheld in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

His case served as the precedent that ended slavery in the Commonwealth on constitutional grounds and led to Massachusetts becoming the first state in the nation to abolish slavery 82 years before the 13th Amendment was ratified, ending slavery in the rest of the United States.

Walker and his story have subsequently been overshadowed by national recognitions of slavery and its history. His story, though, has been now resurrected by Sean Osborne, founder of the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington.

“The story of Quock Walker and his family is this story of Black self-empowerment. We’re fortunate that under Massachusetts law, Black men were able to testify. So we have the record of him speaking for himself,” Osborne said. “And we also have the idea of what does it mean to support the cause of Black people — you have white lawyers, white jurors and white folks giving testimony in support of Quock Walker.”

Osborne, a history buff in his spare time away from his job as an engineering consultant, first discovered Walker’s story in a book about Elizabeth Freeman, the first African American woman to successfully file a lawsuit for freedom in the state of Massachusetts. He then brought the idea for emancipation day to his local representatives Senator Cindy Friedman and Representative Michelle Ciccolo who filed identical bills in the Senate and House in January 2021.

“In light of Quock Walker’s significant place in our state’s history, it is important that we celebrate his achievements by officially and annually marking this monumental step toward abolishing slavery,” said Friedman. “Passing this bill is one of the many ways the Massachusetts Senate is celebrating Black History Month this year, as we work to acknowledge the injustices in our history as well as celebrate our state’s part in setting a nationwide precedent for human rights.”

In November 2021, Friedman and Ciccolo testified before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. The bills were then sent back to their individual bodies for final approval.

While passed by the Senate, Quock Walker Day still awaits passage in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where Ciccolo said she is confident her colleagues will be supportive.

“I’m hoping that since it’s already passed in the Senate, that it could go through an informal session in the House,” Ciccolo said in a conversation with the Banner.

She said she’s hopeful too that the legislation can pass in time for the holiday to be celebrated this year, as the message for her is important to be shared among Bay Staters.

“I was struck by the fact that so few people know this story, and how important the story is in understanding our past and when elevating people who made important contributions to freedom and civil liberties in this country,” Ciccolo said. “Quock Walker should be held up as a hero and his story should be told.”

Osborne also said he hopes that the legislation can pass quickly.

“The key thing for me is giving communities and opportunities to gin up for July 8 of 2022. We’re already starting to think about what we’re going to do here in Lexington,” he said. “But I know that having that official state approval will help some other organizations and communities join in.”