"The story is being told for the first time," said project co-manager Charlotte Moore. "It is really going to fill in a piece of history that people had no concept of."

Private groups such as the Cambridge African American History Group and the Cambridge Black History and Cultural Association had long been researching African American presence in Cambridge on their own.

In March 1991, Reeves, then vice mayor, brought African American history research to the forefront of city activity.

"It was when I was completing my senior thesis at Harvard in Mather House, while reading one of DuBois's autobiographies, that I came to know the rich history of African Americans in Cambridge," Reeves said.

Nearly 20 years later, Reeves saw a chance to launch by proclamation the African American Heritage Project to highlight African American achievements by drawing on the talents of many scholars.

In a joint venture, private research institutes were matched with city-sponsored associations such as the Cambridge Historical Commission and Cambridge Discovery, a non-profit organization.

For the past two years, project historian Rev. Jeffrey L. Brown and scholarly advisor Henry Louis Gates Jr., DuBois professor of the humanities and chair of Harvard's Afro-American Studies Department, have aided this quest for historical recognition. Moore of Cambridge Discovery and Sullivan of the Cambridge Historical Commission executed the details and physical aspects of the project.

"I feel that we have made significant strides in social relations for all these people to come together and work on this trail," said the Rev. Jeffrey L. Brown.

"Everybody involved has been touched by an urgency to show the community that it has hidden treasure," Brown said.

Brown, pastor of the Union Baptist Church, first became interested in Cambridge African American history when preparing a paper on Black churches for the Harvard Divinity School in 1987.

Now, he has broadened his research to serve the community and in particular the youth of the community.

"It amazed me that none of the children know of the wealth of African American history, around the corner, next door or even in their own homes," Brown said.

Brown said that to help "anchor and encourage" the youth of Cambridge, the African American Heritage Project is working directly with schools and the National Park Service to provide a school curriculum and trail excursions for students.

It was also based on Brown's advice, according to Moore, that the program chose four other phases of the program to extend trails to cover themes in addition to political and social change in the 19th century and early 20th century. Religious history in the African American community, family history, Black-owned businesses and the roles of Blacks in the early days of Cambridge will provide more branches to the project.

The idea of a historic trail in Cambridge will not be limited to only African American citizens. Eventually the trails will branch to possibly cover Irish, Portuguese, Italian and French Canadian Cantabrigians, Reeves said.