Black and Indigenous patriots whose contributions to the American Revolution were long marginalized are now being highlighted through museum exhibitions and programs nationwide as the United States marks the war’s 250th anniversary. The National Park Service estimates that more than 5,500 patriots of color served on the colonial side, including enslaved men like Prince Estabrook, who fought at Lexington on April 19, 1775, yet their stories have been largely absent from traditional accounts that focused on white leaders.
The effort to reclaim these histories comes as some exhibits face pressure to be removed or altered. The Trump administration has ordered the removal or censorship of some exhibits highlighting slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and the mistreatment of Indigenous people, raising questions about how Americans understand their own history.
The Overlooked Patriot at Lexington
This year’s commemoration of the Battle of Lexington—which marked the start of the American Revolution 251 years ago—drew thousands to Lexington Green in Massachusetts on Saturday. Some wore colonial costumes; many cheered on the reenactors portraying the patriot forces. Among the soldiers represented was a figure whose actual service was largely forgotten until recent decades: Prince Estabrook, an enslaved man who joined his white neighbors on April 19, 1775, as British troops approached.
Charlie Price, a 95-year-old Black Korean War veteran, portrayed Estabrook in the reenactment for 50 years. “I wasn’t surprised that we didn’t know about it,” Price said. “I was surprised that there was one Black soldier out here.”
Hidden from History, Now Emerging
For generations, the traditional telling of the American Revolution focused on white leaders—George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere. The narrative was presented, according to Christopher Brown, a historian of the British Empire at Columbia University, as a simple celebration of American origins that omitted inconvenient complexity.
“There’s an idealized version of the past,” Brown said. A more accurate view has emerged in recent decades, showcasing the diverse collection of people who played critical roles in the fight for independence. “There were Black men in the ranks who were fighting in Concord and Lexington and fought on Bunker Hill,” Brown said. “They knew all of the work that women were doing to support the revolutionary effort. The fact that we didn’t know that is more of a sign of our lack of curiosity and the need for greater research.”
The National Park Service estimates that by the end of the Revolutionary War, more than 5,500 patriots of color—including Black and Indigenous people—served on the colonial side. Many enslaved people who escaped, by contrast, chose to fight for the British.
Jason Roomes, a descendant of three formerly enslaved men from Rhode Island named Cato, Pero and Caesar Rome, learned in his 40s that all three had fought for the colonial cause. “Finding this out, I was very proud,” he said. “Proud that my family has been here and fought for the creation of this United States.”
Stories of Black patriots, however, cannot be separated from slavery, which was legal in all 13 colonies at the time. Some Black soldiers who served were enslaved at the time of their service; others fought in hopes of gaining their freedom. Indigenous soldiers made similar calculations about their own survival and that of their tribes.
Reclaiming Stories in Modern Museums
The Trump administration has ordered the removal or censorship of some exhibits highlighting slavery, the Civil Rights Movement and the mistreatment of Indigenous people. Roger Davidson Jr., an associate professor of history at Bowie State University, explained the consequences of allowing these histories to fade. “If you’re not seen as having contributed to society, to the military, to any of it, then people can sort of overlook you,” he said. “It plays into some people’s biases. Why should we pay any attention to you in the present day, politically, socially, economically, if you have not contributed?”
Yet efforts to reclaim these histories are underway. MA250, the official bicentennial commission, has distributed millions of dollars in grants to commemorate Revolutionary War battles across Massachusetts, with support for institutions like the Black Heritage Trail in Concord, which highlights the lives of Black residents during the Revolution.
Museum exhibitions have also received grants. Two figures being highlighted are Crispus Attucks, a sailor of African and Indigenous ancestry who was killed on March 5, 1770, in the Boston Massacre, and Salem Poor, who purchased his freedom from slavery before fighting at Bunker Hill.
American Ancestors, a nonprofit history and heritage organization in Boston, is opening its “Patriots of Color” exhibition this month. The exhibit features 26 Black and Indigenous men and women who played roles in the Revolutionary War. Among those highlighted are Prince Ames, a Black and Narragansett man from Andover who was forced to join the Continental Army in place of his enslaver, and Paul Cuffe, a Black and Wampanoag businessman who petitioned the Massachusetts government against taxation without representation.
Ryan Woods, president and CEO of American Ancestors, explained the purpose behind the exhibition. “By telling these lesser known stories, we want to highlight that ordinary people made a tremendous difference in the arc of the country’s history,” he said. Some descendants of the featured patriots will attend the exhibition opening.
Prince Estabrook: From Slavery to Patriot to Freedom
Records about Prince Estabrook are scant, but the National Park Service has documented key points of his biography. He was likely born around 1740 in the Lexington area. His father was enslaved by landowner Benjamin Estabrook, meaning Prince was born into slavery.
What is documented is that on April 19, 1775, he was serving under the command of Colonel John Parker when his left shoulder was struck by a musket ball. He recovered from that wound and went on to serve eight years with the militia and the Continental Army.
After the Revolutionary War, he was granted freedom and returned to Lexington. Tax records from 1790 show him on Benjamin Estabrook’s payroll as “a non-white freeman.” Whether he ever married, had children, or owned property remains unknown. According to family records, he died around 1830, at approximately 90 years old, and was buried in the same cemetery as Benjamin Estabrook’s son, Nathan, in Ashby, Massachusetts.
Keeping the Story Alive
Price, who has handed off the reenactment role to younger colleagues but still attends the early morning commemoration every year, stressed the importance of preserving Estabrook’s memory. “Keep the story alive to make sure that everybody knows, everybody that we can get in touch with, everybody knows that Prince Estabrook was here,” he said. “He was a viable person. He did his role, he did his part in fighting for the country.”