The Royall House and Slave Quarters
Medford, Massachusetts

The Royall House and Slave Quarters

The Royall House and Slave Quarters were built in 1732-1739. The House is one of the finest 18th century buildings in New England; the Slave Quarters is the only such structure in the Northern United States. Both the buildings and grounds are a National Historic Landmark. Together, these unique structures tell the intertwined stories of liberty and bondage, independence and slavery, as they have been played out not only in Colonial times, but throughout American history.

Among these stories is that of Belinda, one of the enslaved Africans owned by the Royalls; after their departure, she successfully petitioned the Massachusetts Legislature in 1783 for a pension. Of course, these stories played out in the context of the American Revolution. After the departure of the Royalls to England, General John Stark made the Royall House his headquarters in the first days of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington helped plan the siege of Boston from here.

For more information, see the Royall House and Slave Quarters.

A Big Step Forward:
Major Grant Awarded for Reinterpretation

As part of its African American historic sites initiative, the 1772 Foundation, a national foundation focused on the preservation and interpretation of historic sites, has awarded a $45,000 grant to the Royall House and Slave Quarters in Medford, Massachusetts. The grant was made as part of a cooperative initiative with the Northeast African American Historic Sites of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The funds will be used to restore and refurnish the Royall mansion's first-floor Kitchen, the Kitchen Chamber located directly above it, and the connecting stairway to their eighteenth century appearance and use as the locus of enslaved Africans' life and work in the house. This dramatic reinstallation will form the basis for reinterpreting our resources – buildings, landscape, archaeological artifacts, and primary source materials – to contribute to a deeper understanding of northern colonial slavery and the African presence in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts.

"The generous support of the 1772 Foundation will help us do more to present the complex stories of independence and interdependence at our site," said Penny Outlaw, co-president of the Royall House Association. "We know the names of more than sixty Africans who were enslaved by the Royall family. Now we will be able to present the realities of their lives in an even more vivid fashion."

The Royall House and Slave Quarters tell important stories about Northern slavery in the context of a household of wealthy Loyalists and the enslaved Africans who lived and worked there in the eighteenth century. The grant funds will greatly enhance our ability to educate visitors about the realities of slavery in colonial Massachusetts and the integral role of Africans in our nation's earliest economic and social history.

Historic documentation and physical evidence affirms that the Kitchen and Kitchen Chamber were both living quarters and work sites where enslaved Africans did much of the work to feed and sustain the household. The 1772 Foundation grant will support the physical restoration and furnishing of the rooms and stairs, as well as tour refinements and related work in support of the visitor experience.

We have already received a detailed paint analysis for the Kitchen Chamber and expect a furnishings analysis for that room and the Kitchen soon. Planning is underway for the restoration and interpretive work.

Stay tuned for more progress!

Site design: Al Stevens

Copyright 2004-2010, The Royall House Association

Funding for this web site provided by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.