U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Land/Mark: Enslavement, Resistance and Revolution (Main)

Location

Main Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138

Get directions

Description

Join the Cambridge Public Library for a symposium exploring themes of the Revolution and the history of Mark, Phillis and Phoebe. Mark and Phillis were two enslaved people who were publicly executed in Cambridge in 1755 after being found guilty of fatally poisoning John Codman, the man who enslaved them. After the execution, Mark's body was gibbeted, displayed publicly in chains on Charlestown Common, for many years.

Symposium participants will include Kyera Singleton, Executive Director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters and Postdoctoral Fellow at Tufts University's Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies at Tufts Initiative, as well as Brandeis University legal historian Dan Breen and others.The keynote speaker for the event will be Kellie Carter Jackson, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and the Chair of the Africana Studies Department Wellesley College. Registration is required.

Register for this event

Last Updated: 4/27/2026
Contact Us

How can we help?

Please provide as much detail below as possible so City staff can respond to your inquiry:

As a governmental entity, the Massachusetts Public Records Law applies to records made or received by the City. Any information received through use of this site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper.

Read our complete privacy statement


Service Requests

Enter a service request via SeeClickFix for things like missed trash pickups, potholes, etc.