Documentary Premiere Spotlights Nantucket’s Historic Colored Cemetery and Community Effort to Preserve It

A documentary on the history and preservation of Nantucket’s historic Colored Cemetery premiered at the Dreamland Theatre, drawing narrators, descendants and island residents for a question-and-answer session about the site’s past and future. The screening included first‑person narrations, historian commentary and a community discussion about ongoing stewardship.

The film brings together accounts of prominent Black islanders interred or associated with the cemetery — including Captain Absalom Boston, Arthur Cooper, the Reverend James Crawford and Eunice Ross — and traces episodes from the early 1800s through renewal efforts in the 21st century. The screening also acknowledged a 2007 placement of a Nantucket boulder and bronze marker in the cemetery and described the site’s administration by the Nantucket Cemetery Commission.

Barbara, a presenter, said she first approached the project while studying African American studies at Boston University and saw local research potential: "I went to grad school in African American studies at Boston University, and I was looking for a topic that would be local ... I was always interested in getting the cemetery restored." She and co-presenter Fran led acknowledgments naming the film’s script producers, local partners and the…