Black History Project Begins

More than 100 people turned out for a ceremony inaugurating an Afro-American history project at City Hall yesterday.

Cambridge Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, the ceremony's host, said that the inception of the African American Heritage Trail Project is "the realization of a dream."

In addition to arranging field trips for area students, the project's organizers said they plan to place makers commemorating 20 Black historical sites in Cambridge by next year.

Two of the markers will be situated on Harvard buildings, the officials said. One will mark the home of former Harvard rowing coach Aaron M. Hewlett.

Another marker will note the former residence of Charles Lenox, a Harvard baker who had amassed a $14,000 fortune by the time of his death in the late 1800s.

Organizers said the project may also honor two former Harvard undergraduates: Beverly Williams, who in 1851 became the first Black student accepted by Radcliffe, though she died before she was able to attend, and Richard T. Greener, who in 1870 became the first Black graduate of the College.

Still Raising Money

Reeves said that money is still being raised to fund research and to pay for the markers. The mayor solicited donations at the conclusion of the program, raising $5000 in audience pledges in 15 minutes.

Though Afro-American Studies Chair Henry Lewis Gates Jr. was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the event, he did not appear although the crowd waited nearly half an hour for him.