The National Park Service and Boston police are investigating an act of arson at the Museum of African American History Boston, where a staff member discovered package contents set on fire behind the building on Joy Street in Beacon Hill.
Dr. Noelle Trent, president and CEO of the museum’s Boston and Nantucket campuses, said she believes it could turn out to be a possible hate crime.
A Boston Police spokesperson confirmed to GBH News that the department is investigating the incident along with NPS, and is working with civil right groups to look for “bias indicators.”
Trent said the incident occurred late Tuesday or early Wednesday. Security video shows a suspect taking an Amazon package, sifting through the contents and scattering them across the property before lighting several on fire.
“It was very distressing for us and we called the National Park Service Law Enforcement as we are a partner of NPS and they came out and are conducting the investigation,” Trent said.
Trent said the items are related to the upcoming Juneteenth celebration. The museum plans a community day where it will open up the museum to visitors with a schedule of activities.
“So it really was Juneteenth-specific. It was the decor. It was some games and some other paper items, stickers, bingo cards, things like that. But everything is clearly identified as Juneteenth,” she added.
While law enforcement has yet to make a determination about the incident, Trent said, a hate crime is a very specific legal term that has very strong implications.
Trent said that “for us, this feels like a hate crime … the proximity of burning something near the oldest existing Black church building in the country is quite unnerving. And we also have to look at what history says,” she said.
The African Meeting House on Beacon Hill is the oldest existing Black church building in the country. It has been functioning since 1967, formerly incorporated in 1972 and founded by Sue Bailey Thurman. Next to it is the Abel Smith School, a public school built specifically for black students in 1835.
Open flames near or close proximity to the building could cause a devastating fire not just for the museum Trent said, but for the entire Beacon Hill community.
In 2018, the Nantucket campus of the Museum of African American History was spray-painted with racist words and graphic images.
GBH News reached out to the NPS Law enforcement which has yet to issue a comment on the incident. Trent museum staffers are currently looking through the video and contacting neighbors.
Trent said this incident comes as the federal government has cut grant money for the museum and made moves to restrict how Black history is taught and portrayed.
“It is fairly alarming for myself and my team. We take a lot of pride in the work that the team has done, especially in the last couple of years. We are dedicated to telling this story. And in the midst of the social climate where people are looking to invalidate and erase the story, we have come together to stand and continue to tell the story.”
