Book a Tour of the Heritage Trail
Christmas in Edgartown Tour
Celebrate the season with the African American Heritage Trail by exploring our amazing Edgartown sites. Join us for a walk honoring Edgartown’s legacy as a historic community.
December 12, 13, 14 and 15
We’ll meet at the Whaling Church at 3 p.m. and walk to the Courthouse where we honor Judge Herbert E. Tucker, from there we visit the Federated Church where Frederick Douglass made his impassioned appeals for justice, walk on through the Historic District and down to Memorial Wharf and see our sculpture honoring Nancy Michael, the wise woman who blessed or cursed the sailors as they embarked on their four year whaling voyages, and climb to the Upper Wharf to learn the story of Esther who escaped from enslavement in this harbor.
Driving Tours:
Note: the meeting place for all driving tours is outside the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority office (the Oak Bluffs Ferry Terminal)
One and One-Half Hour Tour of Oak Bluffs ($50)
A fully narrated tour of Oak Bluffs beginning at 10am every day throughout the summer. Children 12 and under are 1/2 price!
Note: the meeting place for this driving tour is outside the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority office (the Oak Bluffs Ferry Terminal)
Two and One-Half Hour of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown ($70)
Fully narrated tours of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown begin at 1:30 pm Mondays through Saturdays throughout the summer. Children 12 and under are 1/2 price!
Note: the meeting place for this driving tour is outside the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority office (the Oak Bluffs Ferry Terminal)
Full 4 1/2 Hour All-Island Tour ($90)
A fully narrated, complete tour of Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, Chilmark, and Aquinnah, including a 30-minute break at the Aquinnah Cliffs every Sunday at 1:30 pm. Children under 12 are 1/2 price!
Note: the meeting place for this driving tour is outside the Oak Bluffs Steamship Authority office (the Oak Bluffs Ferry Terminal)
Walking Tours:
Our walking tours are fully narrated and provide a “hands-on” experience of the African American Heritage Trail’s work and mission. Bookings will be available very soon online.
Walking Tour of Sites in the Highlands Area of Oak Bluffs ($40)
A fully narrated walking tour of the Highlands Area of Oak Bluffs (six African-American Heritage Trail Sites) from 11am to 12:15pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays through the summer. Children 12 and under are 1/2 price!
Note: the meeting place for walking tours is outside the Ocean View Restaurant (26 Chapman Avenue, Oak Bluffs)
Other Tour Options
Black-Owned Businesses of Vineyard Haven ($30)
- Martha’s Vineyard clothing and gifts (black-owned business)
- Sideline of Martha’s Vineyard (black-owned business) an iconic motivational sportswear and streetwear business where “ambition fuels the journey.” Proprietor India Rose is the creator of this unique store and produces the Black Owned Business Directory.
- Lennox & Harvey Home Goods (black-owned business)
- C. B. Stark, custom jewelers and longtime supporter of African American enterprise. C. B. Stark has a custom charm symbolizing the African American Heritage Trail that is part of their collaboration with the Trail.
- Allow thirty minutes to visit those shops and then the tour leader will guide the group to the Grace Episcopal Church on Woodlawn Avenue (a short distance). The church is dedicated to Bishop Burgess who was the first African American Episcopal bishop in the United States and to the Reverend Absalom Jones, the first African American Episcopal priest. The lives of these remarkable men are celebrated in impressive stained glass windows within the church.
Available on request for $30 per person. Email lightingthetrail@gmail.com or call 508 693 4361 to make an appointment.
Other Walking Tours of Vineyard Haven or Edgartown ($30)
Walking tours of Vineyard Haven or Edgartown are available on request for $30 per person. Email lightingthetrail@gmail.com or call 508 693 4361 to make an appointment.
Customized tours reflecting particular interests are also available. Large group bookings available. Email lightingthetrail@gmail.com or call 508 693-4361 with requests.
Book Sales
Lighting the Trail: African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard
Orders may also be sent to Elaine Cawley Weintraub or Carrie Camillo Tankard, or by mail to:
African American Heritage Trail
P.O. Box 596
West Tisbury, MA 02575
Workshops
Workshops for Teachers and community historians are available from Dr. Elaine Cawley Weintraub, the research historian and co-founder of the Trail. These workshops focus on using the Trail as a model to demonstrate how every community has the resources and untapped history to create a community history project. Ways of using archival research, oral histories, and involving students as research assistants to a community history venture are explained and the work of students and community activists demonstrated. Dr. Cawley Weintraub provides workshops for many of the colleges and universities of the Boston area. Contact Elaine Cawley Weintraub via E-mail at lightingthetrail@gmail.com, by telephone at (508) 693 4361 or by postal mail at P.O. Box 596, West Tisbury, MA 02575.
Personal Presentations from members of the board of the African American Heritage Trail are available, and individual members can be contacted either through their email address or through the mailing address of the Heritage Trail.
All proceeds from these services directly benefit the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard organization.