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 Community Foundation of Nantucket, which provided funding from its Offshore Wind Fund.

The film recounts specific historical episodes discussed during the screening. It describes how Nantucket proprietors voted in 1805 to allow “black people” to fence an acre as a burying place; it profiles Absalom Boston — a whaling captain and local entrepreneur who owned three houses and other property but who has no memorial stone in the cemetery — and summarizes probate records showing a sharp decline in his family’s estate over two years in the 1850s. The documentary notes that Phoebe Ann, Boston’s daughter, became part of the island’s 1840s fight over school integration; after a period of boycott and legal action, the town’s newly elected 1846 school board moved to permanently integrate Nantucket public schools, and Boston dropped his suit on his daughter’s behalf.

Speakers at the event framed the cemetery as a focal point for many island stories: Cape Verdean seafarers who arrived aboard whaling ships, the attempted re-enslavement and successful escape of Arthur Cooper and his family in 1822, and long-running local abolitionist activity involving figures such as Edward J. Pompey and the Reverend James Crawford. The film and presenters stressed that many graves are unmarked, that some older markers have fallen or been lost, and that the cemetery fell into long neglect until a student documentation project in 2002 helped prompt restoration work.

Community members who appeared in or narrated the film described personal and family ties and why the history matters. Narrator Nick Duarte said he took part because "nobody knows this place," and Carter Stewart, who identified himself as connected to multiple generations of island residents, said the project was about passing history to future generations and added, "if you don't know your history, you're doomed to repeat it." A 10‑year‑old narrator, Noah Leonardo Finger, and other younger participants were presented as part of the effort to involve students and future viewers.

Presenters credited several local partners and contributors: script producers Molly Glaser and Isaiah Williams, filmmaker Paul Sanderson of Our Town Films, the Nantucket Historical Association (Mike Harrison and Niles Parker) for providing photographs, NANTEC Community Television for filming support, the town clerk’s office for records assistance, and the Dreamland Theatre for hosting the screening. The film’s credits also named people who helped care for the cemetery, and dedicated the screening to the memory of Helen Pace and Seeger, Augie Ramos and Catherine Flanagan Stover.

Panelists described recent preservation steps: a 2007 placement of a commemorative boulder and bronze marker — a gift from Augusto C. Reinis (known as Auggie) and organized by a group identified as Friends of the Cemetery with support from the Nantucket Historical Association — and the cemetery’s current administration by the Nantucket Cemetery Commission and membership in the Black Cemetery Network. One participant said the Wanakumet Water Company assisted with ground‑penetrating radar surveys to identify subsurface features.

Organizers said they intend the film to be used as an educational tool. Presenters and narrators repeatedly framed the screening as a way to ensure the cemetery’s stories reach younger island residents and to encourage continued care. The event included a brief Q&A and introductions of narrators and descendants onstage.

The screening noted a recent symbolic recognition for Eunice Ross: "At Nantucket High School's graduation in 2024, Eunice Ross was given an honorary high school diploma," the presenters said, a posthumous acknowledgment of earlier denial of access to town schools. Attendees closed the event by thanking participants and emphasizing ongoing community stewardship of the cemetery.