Background
Cunningham, Valerie S. was born on May 31, 1941 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. Daughter of Clarence Woodrow and Augusta Serena Ragland Cunningham.
(Few people think of a rich Black heritage when they think...)
Few people think of a rich Black heritage when they think of New England. In the pioneering book Black Portsmouth, Mark J. Sammons and Valerie Cunningham celebrate it, guiding the reader through more than three centuries of New England and Portsmouth social, political, economic, and cultural history as well as scores of personal and site-specific stories. Here, we meet such Africans as the "likely negro boys and girls from Gambia," who debarked at Portsmouth from a slave ship in 1758, and Prince Whipple, who fought in the American Revolution. We learn about their descendants, including the performer Richard Potter and John Tate of the People’s Baptist Church, who overcame the tragedies and challenges of their ancestors’ enslavement and subsequent marginalization to build communities and families, found institutions, and contribute to their city, region, state, and nation in many capacities. Individual entries speak to broader issues—the anti-slavery movement, American religion, and foodways, for example. We also learn about the extant historical sites important to Black Portsmouth—including the surprise revelation of an African burial ground in October 2003—as well as the extraordinary efforts being made to preserve remnants of the city’s early Black heritage.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584652896/?tag=2022091-20
historic preservationist researcher
Cunningham, Valerie S. was born on May 31, 1941 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. Daughter of Clarence Woodrow and Augusta Serena Ragland Cunningham.
Bachelor of General Studies, University Systems New Hampshire, 1988.
Researcher, writer, lecturer and consultant African American Resource Center, Portsmouth, since 1988. Member, former trustee Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, 1996—2002. Member, past secretary New England chapter Afro-American History & Genealogical Society, Bedford, Massachusetts, 1998—2000.
Executive board Seacoast African American Cultural Center, Portsmouth, 2000—2005. Founder, president Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail, Inc., 1995—2005. Co-founder, past president, executive board Blues Bank Collective, Inc., 1985—2005.
Co-founder Chichester Connections/N.H. Circuit Friends.
(Few people think of a rich Black heritage when they think...)
Appointed New Hampshire Commission Status of Women, 2005. Member of Schomburg Center Research African-American Life and Culture, New Hampshire History Society, National Trust History Preservation, Museum African-American History, New England History Association, American Association State and Local History, New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, Association Black Women Historians, Afro-American History and Genealogical Society (New England chapter), Portsmouth Athenaeum, National Center Black Philanthropy.
Children: Bradley D. Randolph, Kirby A. Randolph.