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News

  • Legislative alert: New Hampshire Legislature approves bill to improve solid waste landfill siting rules

    Matt Leahy
    May 18, 2022

    Contact the Governor and ask him to support HB 1454!

  • NH Delegation Dedicates Granite State Tree on Capitol Grounds

    Matt Leahy
    April 28, 2022

    Honoring New Hampshire with a tree on the Capitol grounds.

  • Forest Notes: The Future of Ash Trees in New England

    Stacie Hernandez
    April 28, 2022

    What happens when a non-native herbivore sets up shop in New Hampshire?

Welch-Kulish Stewardship Fund

A bench under a tree at Welch Forest.
The Welch Forest was acquired by the Forest Society in 2000. The town of Hancock holds the conservation easement on the property and the Harris Center holds an executory interest.
A plaque unveiled on September 18, 2021 in Hancock — at the Forest Society's John Kulish Forest/Welch Family Farm and Forest — is the newest addition to the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire’s statewide historical marker program. Building on the success of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail that began more than two decades ago, the Black Heritage Trail of NH is now a statewide organization that connects the stories of New Hampshire’s African heritage by documenting and marking the many historic sites that testify to this rich history. The Hancock marker is its first outside of Portsmouth.

The marker describes the Due family and Jack, a once-enslaved African who gained his freedom and lived in Hancock in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The Due family, identified in early censuses as free people of color, endured many issues with the Church of Christ in Hancock around the same time.

“We are pleased to be able to join forces with JerriAnne Boggis and the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire to not only bring the Due story to light, but to also use the marker as a catalyst for ongoing conversations about race and history,” said Jack Savage, president of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.  “This land came to us as the Welch Family Farm and Forest in recognition of a century of one family’s stewardship, and now we welcome the opportunity to also recognize and share the story of the Due family and their imprint on this land.”

“What little we know about the Jack and the Due family we’ve learned from bits and pieces of history and from those diligent enough to keep digging and interpreting their stories,” said Eric Aldrich, a writer from Hancock. “Communities like Hancock, Milford, Warner, and others throughout the state are learning more about Black history, thanks to the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire and its encouragement of people willing to dig deep into these stories and to share them.”

  • Learn about the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire marker that was added to the property in September 2021.
  • Read more about black history at the Welch Family Farm and Forest in this Forest Notes article.

 

To support the Forest Society's stewardship efforts for the Welch and Due family marker and interpretation, please make a donation below.

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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