This year I started homeschooling my ten year old son. I won’t go into the whycomes…in this post at least. The other day I took him on the first stage of what I call our Boston Underground Railroad tour. Looking at the list of houses on the site, I determined the William Ingersoll Bowditch house was the best (read closest) option on a wintery day. So off we went.
My son in front of the William Ingersoll Bowditch house.
There was no plaque or anything to reference the house’s history, as you can see. Even given the fact that black history is marginalized, I still felt disappointed by the lack of recognition but as usual, I turned it into a teaching moment.
Questions I asked my son:
1. Why do you think there is no plaque or recognition?
His response? “I don’t know.”
Me: I’m not asking you what you know. I’m asking you what you think.
*crickets*
Since there was nothing to see that tied to the history, we left. The next stop will be the Mount Auburn Cemetery
Tichaona Chinyelu 