Panels detailing abolitionist's life installed in Garrison Gardens

Sep. 24—NEWBURYPORT — A dedication ceremony is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. to officially recognize the addition of two interpretive panels recently placed in Garrison Gardens, located at Atwood Park in the city's South End.

The panels provide additional context and information regarding the garden's namesake, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, who was born across the street at 3-5 School St. in 1805.

One panel details the history of the two-family home there, built in 1760, and how it changed hands at least 16 times between 1829 and 2020. The second plaque details the important role Garrison played in the abolitionist movement as editor and publisher of The Liberator newspaper.

The panels were paid for with $1,800 from Newburyport Community Preservation Act funds, a slightly larger donation from Newburyport Bank, as well as $500 from the Morrill Foundation. In all, the project cost $4,177.

City Parks Manager Michael Hennessey said the panels were placed in the park Sept. 2 by a contractor hired by Andrea Eigerman.

Eigerman, wife of former City Council President Jared Eigerman, said she has invited city councilors, Mayor Sean Reardon, local historians, members of the Morrill Foundation, bank officials and the current owner of 3-5 School St. to the rain-or-shine ceremony.

The project took more than two years, Eigerman said. After successfully applying for grant money, Eigerman secured the services of historian and author Kate Larson, who wrote the first drafts for the panels. The texts were revised before a contractor was hired.

"With a lot of help from the Newburyport Renovation Trust," she added.

Asked what inspired her to push the project forward, Eigerman said she hoped to increase the house's visibility, fearing that it has become an overlooked part of Newburyport's history. While there is a plaque on Garrison's house, she contends it is hard to see.

"I don't think people should be able to walk by his place and not know his importance," Eigerman said, adding that she hopes someday the house can be turned into the city's newest museum.

The panels are in the corner of the garden closest to the house along the sidewalk. People walking on the sidewalk past the signs most likely would not be able to see them without entering the park.

Garrison Gardens was developed in 2015 with funding from sources that include a bequest from the Gayden W. Morrill Charitable Fund, money from the Community Preservation Act and financial support from the DePiero family.

Councilor at large Connie Preston, who lives close by and was a member of the Parks Commission in 2015, said she was "super excited to have a new historical element to the gardens."

Garrison, one of the country's most important anti-slavery and civil rights activists, was born Dec. 10, 1805. Hounded from Newburyport because of his views, he moved to Boston in 1826, and, in 1831, co-founded The Liberator, one of the most influential anti-slavery publications in America.

Imbued with his mother's vision of morality and virtue, and a talent for scorching rhetoric, Garrison transformed himself into a radical warrior ready to fight.

He endured assaults and death threats because he demanded the immediate and universal liberation of enslaved people. He established the New England Anti-Slavery Society, and with his wife, Helen Benson, also fought for women's rights. A pacifist, he reluctantly supported the Civil War.

When the decades-long battle for the emancipation of enslaved Americans was secured in 1865, Garrison ceased publishing The Liberator.

Garrison, a devoted husband and father of five, recognized that slavery's "cruel spirit" lived on in racist obstructions to justice and equality for African Americans, and he remained a devoted advocate for civil rights until he died on May 24, 1879, according to local historians.

There is a large statute of Garrison, surrounded by informational markers, across from City Hall, and Garrison Gardens is another example of the community's efforts to make his legacy permanent.

Correspondent Dyke Hendrickson contributed to this report.

Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.

Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.