PORTSMOUTH — The Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire is planning to honor former slave Ona Marie Judge Staines with a mural on the side of their Court Street headquarters.
The mural – which will be 24 by 28 feet – will be attached to the brick wall of the building at 222 Court St. and pay tribute to Staines.
Staines was born enslaved to Martha Washington but eventually escaped and lived her remaining life free in New Hampshire, according to Black Heritage Trail officials.
“Her story is really one of immense courage, and it tells us of the strength of the free Black community (and) it tells us of the soul of the Portsmouth community, in the late 18th century,” Barbara Ward, the coordinator of special projects for the Black Heritage Trail, said this week.
Staines lived first with George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon in Virginia, where she worked as Martha Washington’s seamstress. She then went to Philadelphia with the family, where the presidential residence was at the time, according to Ward.
The Washington family would return its enslaved people to Virginia “just often enough to subvert Pennsylvania laws” that allowed any enslaved person who lived in the state for more than six months to obtain their freedom, Ward said.
How Staines escaped slavery
While in Philadelphia, Staines became acquainted with “many free Black residents,” who ultimately helped her make safe passage to Portsmouth, Ward said.
The Washingtons eventually learned Staines had been seen in New Hampshire, and “tried several ways to entice Ona to go back to enslavement,” Ward said, but she “steadfastly refused.”
“The residents of Portsmouth knew very well where she was when she went to Greenland, and protected her for the rest of her life,” Ward told members of the city’s Board of Adjustment during a meeting this week.
The board voted to grant a series of variances to the Black Heritage Trail that they needed to move forward with the mural project.
Mural is second in ‘History Through Art’ series
The mural is part of an ongoing “History Through Art” initiative that honors prominent Portsmouth women in history with murals on downtown buildings.
The first mural is also located on a Court Street building and pays tribute to Ruth Blay, the last woman hanged in New Hampshire.
Blay, a school teacher and seamstress from South Hampton, was hanged in South Cemetery in 1768 for “concealing the body of her stillborn child,” according to artist and landscape architect Terrence Parker, who was in charge of creating that mural, which is located on the side of a building at 165 Court St.
Black Heritage Trail officials became aware of the initiative – which was launched by Friends of Ruth Blay – in the summer of 2021 and immediately agreed to be the site of the mural honoring Staines, Ward said.
“This is a historical figure of tremendous importance for Portsmouth and to us at the Black Heritage Trail,” Ward said about Staines.
She called the mural “an exciting project” and said she hoped board members felt the same way about it.
Creating an arts corridor on Court Street
“I sort of look at it as Court Street becoming an arts corridor because of the other public art on the street,” she said. “ …Personally, I would love to see Portsmouth have some wonderful public art.”
Court Street is already home to a public sculpture at the first station and is located near the African Burying Ground Memorial, Ward said.
Creating the Staines’ mural “enhances the character of the city by promoting its rich history,” Ward said.
