242nd Anniversary of Massachusetts Emancipation Day
Celebrate the 242nd Anniversary of Massachusetts Emancipation Day and hear how the Revolutionary War and the Black Patriots of Lexington and Massachusetts set the stage for Quock Walker’s judicial victories. His 1781 civil lawsuit for battery led to the 1783 criminal case that ended slavery in Massachusetts.
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM – 5th Annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom
Start the day with the 5th Annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom at Bowman Elementary School, 9 Philip Rd, Lexington, MA 02421. This family-friendly hike on the ACROSS Lexington Route M Loop commemorates Quock Walker’s journey from enslavement to employment in April 1781. Registration and storytelling at 8 am; walk starts at 8:30 am. Click here to preregister.
Bowman Elementary School
9 Philip Rd, Lexington, MA 02421
ACROSS Lexington Route M Loop
A Family Friendly Trail Walk of 3.3 Miles
8:00 AM – Registration & Storytelling
8:30 AM – Walk starts
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM – 5th Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration
Visitors Center Lawn
1875 Massachusetts Ave
Lexington MA 02420
After the hike, join us for the 5th Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration at the Lexington Visitors Center Lawn, 1875 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02420 – FREE. The festivities start at 11 am with music and recitation of the Governor’s Quock Walker Day proclamation.
FIND YOUR JOY at any age with storytellers, Farm to Plate Caribbean American Food Truck, a dance workshop, Black heritage scavenger hunts, hands-on flax processing demonstration, military reenactors, and musical performance by Rhythms of Ghana. Festivities close with a poetry recital at 2 pm.
Honor the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington which kickstarted the Revolutionary War and paved the way for Massachusetts to adopt a state constitution in 1780. In 1783, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed that the idea of slavery is inconsistent with the 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Rain Location for the 5th Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration is First Parish of Lexington, 7 Harrington Rd, Lexington, MA 02421
Thank you to our partners and vendors: Church of Our Redeemer, Clarke’s Cakes & Cookies, Fresh Food Generation, First Parish of Lexington, Follen Church, Hancock UCC, LexFarm, Lexington Visitors Center, Rhythms of Ghana, 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment Company A, and the William Diamond Junior Fife and Drum Corps.
Rain Location:
First Parish in Lexington
7 Harrington Road
11 am to 2 pm