The Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Mass., with the large Franklin cenotaph in the center of the cemetery. This obelisk marks the grave of Benjamin Franklin’s parents. Although Franklin was born in Boston in 1706, he left for Philadelphia when he was 17. He died there in 1790 and is buried there. Aug. 14, 2017

A close up of the the black soldiers of the Robert Gould Shaw and the 54the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment memorial in Boston, Mass. The story of the unit was depicted in the 1989 Academy Award-winning film Glory, starring Matthew Broderick as Shaw, Denzel Washington as Private Tripp, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, Jihmi Kennedy and Andre Braugher. Aug. 14, 2017

The Massachusetts State House with its gold dome was completed in 1798 and built on John Hancock’s former cow pasture. The dome, which was once made of wood, was later overlaid with copper by Paul Revere. Aug. 14, 2017

Stairway leading from the Boston Commons (more about Boston Commons tomorrow) into the historic Boston, Mass., neighborhood of Beacon Hill. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gaslit streets and brick sidewalks. Aug. 14, 2017

The cobble-stoned Acorn Street on Beacon Hill is considered to be one of the most photographed streets in the city and is reminiscent of colonial Boston with its row houses and true cobble-stoned street where 19th century artisans and trades people once lived. Aug. 14, 2017

This gray house on Pinckney Street on Boston’s Beacon Hill was the home of George Middleton (1735 -1815) an African-American Revolutionary War veteran, a Prince Hall Freemason, a horse trainer by trade and a community civil rights activist in Massachusetts. Aug. 14, 2017

The Phillips School, built in 1834 for white children, is on the Black Heritage Trail because of Sarah Roberts, a 5-year-old black child who had to walk past several white schools to get to the all-black school of Ariel Smith. With the help of Robert Morris, a black attorney and Charles Sumner, a white abolitionist attorney, Sarah’s father, Benjamin Franklin Roberts filed a lawsuit challenging school segregation. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled, in 1850, that “separate but equal” schools were constitutional. But that was overturned in 1855 when a law was passed ordering all public schools in the state to be integrated. It is now a private residence. Aug. 14, 2017

This is the former Beacon Hill home of African-American abolitionists Lewis and Harriet Hayden in Boston, Mass., who escaped from slavery in Kentucky and Meagan, the insightful park ranger with the National Park Service relating this couple’s history. The Haydens maintained the home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Lewis Hayden was an important leader in the African-American community of Boston;in addition, he lectured as an abolitionist and was a member of the Boston Vigilance Committee, which resisted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The Act provided for the return of slaves who escaped from one state into another state or territory. Supposedly the Haydens kept kegs of gunpowder under their front porch, and when visited by slave bounty hunters looking to retrieve runaway slaves, would come to the door with lit candles and a rifle, threatening to blow up their own home rather than surrender ex-slaves in their trust. Lewis is said to have helped at least 100 slaves find freedom including the Crafts, William and Ellen who as a fair skinned woman was able to disguise herself as a man with her husband as her slave. Aug. 14, 2017

A plaque on this building is dedicated to the birthplace of white abolitionist Charles Sumner (1811-1874) in Boston, Mass. Although this is not the original home, it honors Sumner who became a powerful anti-slavery voice in Congress. Sumner was born on Irving Street in Boston on January 6, 1811. He was the son of Charles Pinckney Sumner, a liberal Harvard-educated lawyer, abolitionist, and early proponent of racially integrated schools. Aug. 14, 2017

The North slope section of Boston’s Beacon Hill was a seedy waterfront area where the water and noxious smell of the Charles River along with the narrow alleys and passageways made this area a breeding ground for vice. But for the black residents the area was ideal for avoiding slave catchers. Aug. 14, 2017

Boston was long considered a desirable destination for southern black slaves escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad. This passageway, known by the residents of the North slope of Beacon Hill was probably used to hide and/or escape from the slave catchers. Between 1800 and 1900, most of the free African Americans in Boston lived in this hilly neighborhood with winding streets and narrow pedestrian alleyways. Aug. 14, 2017

The African Meeting House built in 1806 and located in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, Mass., was also known as the First African Baptist Church. It is considered to be the oldest black church edifice still standing in the United States. The African Meeting House is now owned and operated by the Museum of African American History. Aug. 14, 2017

The interior of the African Meeting House in Boston, Mass., where during the Civil War it became the major recruitment center for the volunteers of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, the first of the United States Colored Troops, who contributed so much to the Union effort. Aug. 14, 2017