Captain Absalom Boston came from a family of Nantucket Whalers that demanded justice. Absalom’s uncle, Prince Boston, enslaved, successfully sued for his freedom in 1773. He won back wages for his work on a whale ship. Prince Boston went on to captain Black owned whaling ships.
Absalom followed his footsteps and went to sea at age 15 and did well. In his 20s he purchased land. By the 1820s he was the Captain of Industry that had an Black Whaling crew. Absalom Boston became one of the leading members of the Black community.
The Black whalers had money and an interest in providing good education for their children. In 1845 Massachusetts passed a bill that required the state to provide public education to all regardless of race. Despite local opposition, Absalom Boston used the law to get his daughter access to the only high school on Nantucket.
Black Whaling Communities became an unlikely place of racial justice. Whaling was one of the few industries where Black employees were evaluated on their work and not skin color and could be promoted. It was one of the few places where Black families could become wealthy.
Absalom died wealthy with three homes, a store and considerable land.
To learn more about African American History in Nantucket, visit the Museum of African American. The museum offers cultural and interpretive programs on the history of African Americans on Nantucket. The museum’s campus is composed of the African Meeting House and the Seneca Boston-Florence Higginbotham House. The historical sites are a part of Nantucket Black Heritage Trail.
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