A plaque near a statue outside King’s Chapel, a staple of the Freedom Trail in the heart of downtown, tells a story as old as Boston itself.
The statue depicts an enslaved woman holding a birdcage. The cage is open, suggesting birds set free.
The plaque deepens that narrative.
“Memorial to Enslaved Persons” it reads. It notes that members and ministers of the church enslaved at least 219 people. It was installed a few months ago, in advance of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country this year. It’s the work of Everyone250, a coalition of local groups deeply involved in planning a commemoration that is diverse and representative.
As it happens, this year also marks the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. The milestone arrives at a strange time, coming as President Trump remains intent on destroying the legacy of Black history, by such acts as removing exhibits on slavery from federal installations and attempting to erase Black people from military history, including the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery.
But, the fact is, Black history is foundational American history.
“We’re in a full erasure war,” said Imari Paris Jeffries, chief executive of Embrace Boston and a driving force behind Everyone250. “We’re throwing up plaques as fast as we can. We want to tell the story of Black people in our country and the contributions we’ve made to this nation.”
Lots of people involved in the preservation of Black history are feeling a bit under siege this February, and no wonder. Fending off Trump’s attacks on Black history has almost become a second job for many of them.
Black History Month was largely the creation of one man — the historian Carter G. Woodson, the second Black person to earn a doctorate from Harvard and the first whose parents had been enslaved.
It began in 1926 as a week-long observation, not a month. The point then wasn’t duration, but preservation, because even a century ago erasure was an urgent concern. Fun fact: It’s in February in honor of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln — the president who freed the slaves — and the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass. (Douglass, who was born in bondage, didn’t know his real birthday, but chose to celebrate it on Feb. 14.)
It began as a grass-roots event, mostly celebrated by Black people. It became recognized as an official holiday in 1976, during the bicentennial, when it was also expanded to a month.
“He had a vision where there would be a time when it wasn’t necessary — that the stories of Black people would be so integrated into American society and how we teach history that you just wouldn’t have a need for it,” said Dr. Noelle Trent, president of the Museum of African American History. “Unfortunately, we’re not there yet.”
Trent would know. Just under a year ago, her Beacon Hill-based museum was fending off funding cuts from the new administration. The attacks on her historic institution led to a groundswell of community support, which was reassuring.
Trent noted that Black History Month should have great meaning in this city, which is home to so much of it.
It’s a bit jarring that so much of the original criticism of Woodson’s creation still circulates with some frequency. Like the crazy notion that celebrating one group’s heritage is somehow “divisive” or “Un-American.” (If you don’t believe some people still feel that way, let me tell you about Bad Bunny and a certain halftime show.)
The early students of Black history saw all this coming.
“You can be an American and also celebrate your ethnicity or your racial identity, and those don’t mean that you’re any less American,” Trent said. “I think whites are welcome into the celebration, and we do want you to understand why it’s important, but I think at the essence it came out of a community recognition of who we are.”
Black History Month is a monument to American history. We all know that it isn’t all heroic. A lot of it is messy, or worse. But it’s a story of perseverance, and triumph.
No matter what Trump’s minions try to erase, it’s a story of people who are still here.
Clarification: This column has been updated to reflect the number of people enslaved by those affiliated with King’s Chapel.
Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at adrian.walker@globe.com. Follow him @Adrian_Walker.