The Sunday Olympian’s Looking Back theme for 2024 was Many Voices, celebrating our diverse and rich history. Festus Campbell, shown in this photograph from the mid-1800s, was born in Louisiana and escaped slavery to settle in Massachusetts, later moving to Olympia. A talented horticulturalist, he lived with his long-time companion Mary Quincy in a home on what is now Capitol Campus.
Courtesy First Baptist Church, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Text © Deborah Ross and The Olympian 2024