Vandal wrecks Black history plaque on Elm Street

MANCHESTER, NH – Stan Garrity is one of those who quietly does his part to make our city shine. His interest in Manchester’s history has uncovered stories that illuminate the past, and remind us of who we are.  So when he received a text message with a photo attached from a friend last month, his heart sunk. A vandal had scratched over the face of Samantha Plantin, whose portrait adorns the plaque at 1037 Elm St. There are dozens of deep scratches that render the plaque unrepairable, says Garrity.

It’s not the first time he’s had to deal with vandalism of the Black history plaques. Last June someone used a Sharpie to scrawl the “N” word across the Plantin plaque, which Garrity was able to remove with some spray cleaner and elbow grease.

And just yesterday he found that someone had scrawled graffiti on the most recent plaque placed seven months ago at City Hall Plaza. Garrity is optimistic that a little more spray cleaner and elbow grease will do the trick for that one.

But the bigger issue for Garrity is that it’s happening at all, a reminder that despite all the good things in our city, racism lives here, too.

“It’s sad that people come to this point where they can’t respect property and our history,” Garrity said on Wednesday. He reported the vandalism to police last week. They told him the crime rises to a felony because it involves an historic marker. He says it’s also likely considered a hate crime. But police were honest with him about the prospects of finding the culprit.

“When I reported it last week to police, the city had already reported it to them. They told me chances are slim to none that they’ll be able to find out who did it,” Garrity says. “It makes me angry, that this kind of thing still happens in our city. It’s sad, is what it is.”

Although there is a camera outside Margarita’s – and likely some other street cameras that may have captured the crime, without knowing when exactly it happened, and the fact that it likely happened at night, means there are no leads to follow.

The Samantha Plantin plaque would cost about $1,000 to replicate, but grant money Garrity raised for the Black history project has been expended. And so, the defaced plaque, for now, stands as it is – a sad statement for our city, says Garrity.

Plantin’s story was uncovered thanks to Garrity’s research – previously unacknowledged in the annals of Manchester’s history, she broke the city’s color, gender and economic barriers when she became the first Black female landowner in Manchester in the 1800s.

The plaque was unveiled in June of 2023 – the second in a series of three Black history plaques Garrity researched, commissioned and funded through grant money.

The first plaque was placed outside The Bookery acknowledging the city’s connection to the Underground Railroad. It sits within range of where Irish immigrant Ann Bamford gave refuge in her home on Manchester Street and safe passage to 42 people who had been enslaved in the South as they made their way to Canada between 1844 and 1858. The third plaque, “Caesar, Caesar,” commemorates Caesar Griffin and Caesar Harvey – two Black residents of Derryfield during the 1700s, who Garrity has identified as Manchester first Black landowners.

Garrity’s vision included many more plaques in the city, eventually creating a walking tour residents and visitors alike could use to learn the more accurate account of Manchester’s history, which includes its previously unheralded Black history. He has collected so many stories that he has decided to compose a book of short stories to preserve them all.

In the meantime, if there’s anyone who might have information about the vandalism, Garrity is hoping they will come forward and contact police, or report it via the police CrimeLine (603-634-4040), which allows a person to leave information anonymously.