Date: Saturday, July 11, 2026
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/6th-annual-quock-walker-day-hike-for-freedom-tickets-1993200399049
Venue: Lexington Visitors Center Lawn, 1875 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA
What: Family-friendly hike on the ACROSS Lexington Route E(mancipation) Loop to commemorate Quock Walker’s journey from enslavement to employment in Barre, MA in April 1781.
Who: Quock (Kwaku) Walker was born on a Wednesday in 1753 to Mingo and Dinah. He self-emancipated and declared himself a yeoman in 1781. He bought property in Barre and got married in 1786.
Why: Quock Walker’s legal victories in 1781 led to the 1783 Supreme Judicial Court case that abolished slavery in Massachusetts over 70 years before Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
During your journey across Route E(mancipation) you will pass by the foot of Belfry Hill where Venuse Roe was enslaved in the home of Jonas Roe. At about three years old, she was gifted to Smitheren Reed of Woburn District. And you will pass by Lexington Green where Prince Estabrook was injured during the Battle of Lexington at dawn of April 19, 1775. Private Prince Estabrook enlisted for several three year terms as an enslaved soldier of the Continental Army.
Venus Roe and Prince Estabrook were emancipated in 1783 in the wake of the third Quock Walker case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Nathaniel Jennison.
8:00 AM: T-shirt pickup for online registrants and on site registration
8:15 AM: Reading of Lexington’s Quock Walker Day Proclamation
8:30 AM: Hike ACROSS Lexington Route E(mancipation) Loop – 4.3 miles
Post-Hike:
6th Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration, Saturday, July 11, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., Lexington Visitors Center Lawn, 1875 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington