“It gives us renewed appreciation for King Pompey and the celebration electing Black kings and governors in New England,” says Kabria Baumgartner, a dean’s associate professor of history and Africana studies at Northeastern.
SAUGUS, Mass. — At first glance, it may not look like much more than a hole.
But the 4-foot deep excavation of a rock foundation behind a chain-link-fenced backyard transports Northeastern University historian Kabria Baumgartner back 275 years — to a unique colonial New England tradition in which a formerly enslaved Black man named Pompey was elected “king.”
On the shores of the Saugus River about 10 miles north of Boston, she is surrounded by small, smooth stones — unearthed by a team of archeologists — believed to be the remains of Pompey’s former home.
“It really comes to life,” says Baumgartner, a dean’s associate professor of history and Africana studies at Northeastern. “I spend a lot of time in archives looking at written materials. It feels different to come to a site.”