Zipporah Potter Atkins, born on July 4, 1645, in Boston, Massachusetts, holds the distinction of being the first recorded African American to own land in the city. Her parents, Richard and Grace Potter, were enslaved by Captain Robert Keayne. However, due to Massachusetts laws at the time, children born to enslaved individuals were considered free, granting Zipporah her freedom from birth.
In 1670, at the age of 25, Zipporah purchased property on Salem Street in Boston’s North End, near a mill pond that flowed into Boston Harbor. This acquisition was remarkable not only because she was a free Black woman in colonial America but also because land ownership by women, especially women of color, was exceedingly rare during that period. It’s believed that she financed this purchase using an inheritance from her father, who had received a bequest from his former enslaver, Captain Keayne.
Zipporah married and took the surname Atkins, with the ceremony reportedly officiated by the prominent Puritan minister Cotton Mather. Notably, she maintained ownership of her property throughout her marriage, a significant feat given that, at the time, married women’s property typically became their husband’s. In 1699, when she sold her home, Zipporah signed the deed with her initials, indicating she was literate—a notable achievement when many people, especially women and people of color, lacked basic literacy skills.
Zipporah Potter Atkins passed away on January 8, 1705, at the age of 59. She was laid to rest in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in Boston, though the exact location of her grave remains unknown.
Her legacy was brought to light in 2009 by Dr. Vivian Johnson, a retired Boston University professor, who discovered documentation of Zipporah’s property ownership. In recognition of her pioneering achievements, a memorial plaque was unveiled in 2014 on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, near the site of her original property. This site is now a stop on the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail’s North End Tour, ensuring that Zipporah Potter Atkins’s contributions are remembered and celebrated!
