Wright, Lori

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University of New HampshireUniversity of New Hampshire Scholars' RepositoryMedia Relations Administrative Offices5-29-2008Black History Scholar Receives National Award ForHistoric PreservationLori WrightUNH Media RelationsFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/newsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Administrative Offices at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It hasbeen accepted for inclusion in Media Relations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For moreinformation, please contact nicole.hentz@unh.edu.Recommended CitationWright, Lori, "Black History Scholar Receives National Award For Historic Preservation" (2008). UNH Today. 461.https://scholars.unh.edu/news/461Black History Scholar Receives National Award For Historic Preservationhttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/may/lw29scholar.cfm.html[9/9/2016 8:42:31 AM] Black History Scholar Receives National Award ForHistoric PreservationMedia Contact:  Lori Wright 603-862-0574UNH Media RelationsMay 29, 2008DURHAM, N.H. -- Social activist Valerie Cunningham, coordinator of Community BlackHeritage Partnerships at the University of New Hampshire, will be honored as a RestoreAmerica Hero by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and HGTV Restore America.Cunningham will receive the honor Tuesday, June 3, 2008, at the Restore America Gala at theLibrary of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Restore America Hero awards are conferred uponpublic officials, private citizens, and corporations whose energy, vision, and leadership havemade significant contributions to the preservation of our historic and cultural legacy – thebuildings, collections, documents, and works of art that tell America's story.“For the past five years, the National Trust has proudly joined with HGTV to salute the RestoreAmerica Heroes who are making significant contributions to the preservation of America’scommunities through their unyielding commitment, vision, and leadership,” said Richard Moe,president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “This year's award winners representthe diverse range of important preservation work being done across the country, and by theDepartment of State – worldwide, to key U.S. owned buildings. The National Trust is pleasedto honor them.”Past honorees include Sen. Hillary Clinton, musician Don Henley, actress Diane Keaton, theBoston Red Sox, Sen. Ted Kennedy, and First Lady Laura Bush.“ When I began researching the early black history of New Hampshire, I was as surprised asanyone to discover that a community of Africans and black Americans had been enslaved righthere in my home town, and I was fascinated to learn how free blacks across the statemanaged to survive the hostile environment. It was not a calculated decision so much as anirresistible sense of obligation to try to preserve the memory of those long forgotten souls,and to protect our recent history from slipping into obscurity,” Cunningham said.A native of Portsmouth, Cunningham is being honored for her preservation work, includingNew Hampshire’s first black church, now called The Pearl of Portsmouth, and Rock Rest, asummer guest house in Kittery, Maine, that was operated by the same African Americanfamily from the 1940s to the 1970s. One of few such establishments in New England, RockRest remains largely intact with an accumulation of furnishings, photographs, letters, businessrecords, and other documents. Catering to African American guests from the New York, NewJersey and Philadelphia areas, Rock Rest provided an opportunity for professional couples toenjoy a relaxing summer vacation in Maine during the era of segregation.Cunningham has been a social activist since the 1960s. She is a founder and president of thePortsmouth Black Heritage Trail, a self-guided walking and driving tour of landmarksBlack History Scholar Receives National Award For Historic Preservationhttp://www.unh.edu/delete/news/cj_nr/2008/may/lw29scholar.cfm.html[9/9/2016 8:42:31 AM]representing more than 360 years of African-American history in New Hampshire. She hasbeen a founding member of several civic organizations, including the Blues Bank Collective,the New Hampshire Circle of Friends, the Seacoast African American Cultural Center, and thePortsmouth-Greater Accra Sister City Connection. In 2005, she was appointed by Gov. Lynchto serve on the N.H. Commission on the Status of Women.Her publications include articles on African-American history and culture in New Hampshireand southern Maine. She is co-author, with historian Mark J. Sammons, of “Black Portsmouth:Three Centuries of African American Heritage” (University Press of New England, 2004).“Without memory, there is no history, so Valerie Cunningham has labored for four decades topreserve the remembrance of African American life stories and historic sites in the Seacoastregion. She explored archives to discover the untold stories of slavery in early Portsmouthwhen confronted with history books and teachers who were silent on the subject. She talkedwith her elders, conducting oral histories before the thread of memory was cut by death orneglect,” said David Watters, director of the UNH Center for New England Culture.As coordinator of UNH’s Community Black Heritage Partnerships, Cunningham has broughthistory into UNH classrooms and involved students in historic preservation work. Theestablishment of the African American Collection with UNH's Milne Special Collections,including the archives of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail and Rock Rest, donated byValerie Cunningham, means that more stories will make the perilous passage from memory tohistory.“At times of crisis in historic preservation, Valerie Cunningham has made heroic efforts, suchas during the unearthing of the colonial-era Negro Burying Ground on Chestnut Street inPortsmouth during a water main project, and the documentation of Rock Rest,” Watters said.“The completion of the program to mark more than a dozen sites on the Portsmouth BlackHeritage Trail has put Portsmouth on the map as one of the places people can go to see thesites associated with nearly 400 years of African American history in New England.”-30-

Black History Scholar Receives National Award For Historic Preservation

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Black History Scholar Receives National Award For Historic Preservation

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