Good Deeds: Black History Month

By William P. O’Donnell, Norfolk Register of Deeds

Every February the United States celebrates Black History Month. It is a way to honor the contributions that African Americans have made throughout history while also recognizing that the fight for equality and justice continues. A founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), Carter G. Woodson, is believed to have had the idea for what would become a month-long celebration. Born in 1875 to newly freed Virginia slaves, Woodson would go on to earn a PhD in history from Harvard University. Believing that African American children were not being taught about their ancestors’ achievements, he launched “Negro History Week” in 1926. Woodson chose the second week of February for the celebration because it contained the birthdays of two influential men in history: President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on February 12, and noted abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who did not know the precise date of his birth but celebrated the occasion on February 14.

Some 50 years after the first celebrations of black history, then U.S. President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month during the celebration of America’s bicentennial in 1976. President Ford called on Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

The Norfolk Registry of Deeds and the land records housed there date back to the founding of the county in 1793. A modernization initiative recently completed at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds that transcribed handwritten land records dating from 1793 to 1900 has made history come alive.

As Black History Month is celebrated, let us be aware of connections to Norfolk County. Booker T. Washington was born into slavery in 1856. He was an educator, author and orator who during his lifetime was one of the prominent voices for African Americans in the United States. Washington established the Tuskegee Institute, a school of higher learning for African Americans located in Alabama. He called for progress through education and entrepreneurship. Washington’s connection to Norfolk County was that he vacationed for several summers at the South Weymouth home of William H. Baldwin, Jr., located at the intersection of Main and Columbian streets.

As part of the 225th anniversary commemoration of Norfolk County in 2018, the Registry of Deeds chose another notable African American, Audie Cornish, to be featured in its Notable Land Records book. Born in the Norfolk County community of Randolph in 1979, Cornish graduated from Randolph High School and attended UMass Amherst. She went on to become a journalist for the Associated Press and later a reporter for Boston public radio station WBUR. In 2005 she shared first prize in the National Awards for Education Writing for a report entitled “Reading, Writing and Race.” She later became the co-host of National Public Radio’s flagship program, All Things Considered, and has since moved on to a new role as an anchor and correspondent for CNN and CNN+.

William Maurice “Mo” Cowan lived in the Norfolk County town of Stoughton. On February 1, 2013, Cowan was appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created when John Kerry became secretary of state. He served along with U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), marking the first time in history where two African Americans served in the U.S. Senate at the same time. Prior to his appointment, Cowan earned a law degree at Northeastern University and joined the prestigious law firm of Mintz Levin, where he later became partner. Mr. Cowan left the law firm to become counsel to Governor Deval Patrick.

Speaking of Deval Patrick, an African American and former two-term Massachusetts governor, did you know that he lived in the Norfolk County town of Milton?

Florida Ruffin Ridley was an African American civil rights activist, suffragist, teacher, writer and editor born in 1861. She was one of the first black public schoolteachers in Boston and edited the Women’s Era, the country’s first newspaper established by and for African American women. Ridley lived in the Norfolk County town of Brookline, where in 1896 she was one of the town’s first African American homeowners. In September 2020 the Florida Ruffin Ridley School in Brookline was renamed in her honor.

The Norfolk Registry of Deeds building is located in Dedham. This Norfolk County community recently honored the life of William B. Gould (1837-1923) by renaming the East Dedham Passive Park in his honor. Born into slavery in North Carolina, Gould escaped slavery in 1862 and went on to serve in the Union navy for the rest of the Civil War chasing Confederate vessels. After the war, Gould settled in Dedham and became a pillar of the community, remaining in the town until his death in 1923.

Henry W. Diggs is another community pillar who was a lifelong resident of my hometown of Norwood from 1906 to 2003. He and his relatives were the first African Americans to settle in Norwood. After graduating from Norwood High School in 1924, Diggs worked for the Norwood Press and he would later serve as a radio repairman for the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. Diggs was active in town government, having served on the Norwood School Committee, Town Meeting, and the Blue Hills Regional District School Committee. Mr. Diggs, in a high school graduation address, urged graduates to “build a bridge” to one another so that “walls of suspicion, fear, prejudice and hate will disappear.”

Sam Jones was a clutch basketball scorer who won 10 championships with the Boston Celtics during their dynasty in the late 1950s and 1960s. Jones, who died recently at the age of 88, played all 12 of his NBA seasons with the Celtics and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. Jones and his wife, Gladys, owned a home in the Norfolk County community of Sharon while he was playing for the Celtics.

Black History Month commemorates contributions made by African Americans to the fabric of our culture and national story. Let us be proud and take notice of these important contributions and know that individuals from our communities here in Norfolk County have been a part of that history.

To learn more about the Norfolk Registry of Deeds, visit www.norfolkdeeds.org.

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