Our most recent blog post attempts, despite difficulties in early record-keeping,  to list all the residents of black and mixed-race ancestry in Acton between its founding in 1735 and the end of the Civil War. 

Some of the earlier blog posts explored:

• The first six Acton women voters
  
• Thomas Darby, an Acton Minute Man who survived the Concord fight but was killed at the Battle of White Plains
  
• Charles L. Heywood, whose incredibly active life included a railroad career, wide-ranging charitable work, inventions, and business ventures
  
• West Acton's roller skating rink and roller polo team
• Acton's "Old Chestnut Tree" that was apparently a favorite of Henry David Thoreau
  
• Aaron Woods, an Acton hermit and supposed miser who became the subject of national news interest twice in the 1870s.
• West Acton's barrel shop before and after the fire of 1913
• John Fletcher, his boot and shoe business, his advocacy for temperance and against slavery, and the large impact he had on Acton, particularly the town center.
• Henry Barker and his cider mill, a topic inspired by trying to identify a large portrait found in a South Acton barn. 
• Yacht Racing in Acton
• Francis Skinner (1797-1865) who grew up in Acton and went off to create a very different life in Boston for his descendants
• Sarah (Faulkner) Skinner who went blind in her later years.
• Dances in Acton
• The New England Sawmill Unit in WW1
• Acton baseball
• Schoolhouse construction and maintenance in the town's earlier days
• The house that sits where Isaac Davis's home once stood
• Ice harvesting
• Clara (Hapgood) Nash, early attorney, teacher, and poet
• Daniel Scarlett, astronomer, historian, and more
• John Oliver, Soldier of the Revolution
• Rev. James T. Woodbury and Abolition
• Acton Women's 1895 Vote
• Mystery Pictures from Hall Brothers & the Beach Family
• Acton Industries - Vises & Morocco & Gun Powder
• and much more, see lists of  topics and people

There's plenty to discover on the blog; check it out!