Supporters from across the region cheered as scissors snipped the commemorative ribbons in Woods Hole to celebrate Dr. James G. Townsel, a pioneering neuroscientist whose plaque has become the first off-Island addition of the Martha’s Vineyard African American Heritage Trail.
Huddled at the sidewalk by the Marine Biological Laboratory’s quadrangle on a chilly Tuesday afternoon, students, educators, and scientists honored Townsel — who worked out of the local laboratory for decades — for his efforts to make neuroscience accessible to individuals from communities underrepresented in the field.
Students from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket also attended the ceremony. Maddie Garvin, an eighth grader from Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School who cut the commemorative ribbon, said it was an “amazing thing to be able to be a part of.” Her school was added as a Heritage Trail site in 2020, and she said attending these types of events make history feel real.
“It makes me understand it a lot more than just reading it or hearing it,” Maddie said.
