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Revolutionary Spaces

**Revolutionary Spaces ** connects people to the history and continuing practice of democracy through the intertwined stories of two of the nation’s most iconic sites—Boston’s Old South Meeting House and Old State House. We foster a free and open exchange of ideas, explore history, create gathering places, and preserve and steward historic buildings.

https://www.bostonhistory.org

Talking Teapots: What Treasures Tell Us About History

Thu, Nov 6, 2003

Nancy Carlisle, Curator of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA)'s traveling exhibition "Cherished Possessions", tells tales of treasures from the 17th to the late 20th century and how they reflect the larger historical themes of revolution, immigration, industrialization and reform. What can a teapot belonging to Boston Massacre martyr Crispus Attucks or pottery vases made by immigrant women in Boston's North End tell us about the history of New England?

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Our Daily Bread: Tales of How Treasures Were Saved

Thu, Nov 13, 2003

"Cherished Possessions" exhibition manager Ken Turino recounts several fascinating stories, including that of a Dorchester family who saved two pieces of bread allegedly dating to the 17th century and a bedcover made by the mother and grandmother of Samuel Adams and passed down through generations of women. Turino shares the stories of how the 200 objects in the "Cherished Possessions" exhibition were saved and managed to survive to the present day, which are often as interesting as the objects themselves.

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Bits to Beeswax: The Conservation of Treasures

Thu, Nov 20, 2003

Michaela Neiro assistant conservator for the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), explains how the creative use of materials, such as clay and beeswax, as well as computer technology, help conservators save cherished objects. SPNEA has the largest assemblage of New England art and artifacts in its collection, a total of nearly 100,000 items. The care and conservation of these objects is an astonishingly meticulous and important job.

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230 Years Later: The Boston Tea Party Revisited

Thu, Dec 11, 2003

Local historian, author and tour guide Charlie Bahne takes us back to 1773 when the talk of the town was tea. Learn about the actual value of tea not only in monetary ways, but the importance tea played in everyday civilians lives. On the 230th anniversary of the famous event, Mr. Bahne explore these topics and more in the building that served as the dramatic backdrop of the infamous Boston Tea Party meeting.

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Scandal on the Stage: Banned Theater in Boston

Thu, May 1, 2003

This program includes vignettes of censored plays in Boston, beginning with the Puritan censorship of Morton's Maypole and climaxing with the 1929 banning of Eugene O'Neill's Freudian theatrical experiment, Strange Interlude. A panel discusses the performances, the historical ideas of censorship, and what forms censorship takes today.

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Native Americans and the Boston Harbor Islands

Wed, May 7, 2003

Currently the home of a waste water treatment plant, many do not know Deer Island's history as an internment camp for Native Americans (many of whom died) in the 1675 war known (in Anglicized terms) as King Phillip's war. Multiple perspectives (Anglicized and Native American) are still being revealed about the dark pages of Deer Island's history. This and other topics particular to Native American history and the Boston Harbor Islands are discussed with a diverse panel moderated by cultural anthropologist for the National Park Service (Northeast Region) George Price. Panelists include Edith Andrews, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Jim Peters, Executive Director, MA Commission on Indian Affairs, and member of the Wampanoag Mashpee, and Pat Garwood, Tribal Council, Nipmuc Nation.

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Anouar Majid: Piracy, Terrorism and the Question of Islam

Thu, Mar 11, 2004

Dr. Anouar Majid, professor and chair of English at the University of New England, discusses the United States' first major contact with the Muslim World in the Barbary War and the parallels to our own time.

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Town Meeting with Howard Zinn

Thu, Mar 25, 2004

Howard Zinn discusses his classic book *A People's History of the United States*. James R. Green, Professor of History at UMass, Boston, moderates. This event is presented in collaboration with the Organization of American Historians as a Partners in Public Dialogue Program.

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Military History of the Boston Harbor Islands

Wed, May 28, 2003

Historian and author Jayne Triber draws on her research and experiences working at Fort Independence on Castle Island in South Boston and at the Boston Harbor Islands national park area to review the dramatic, colorful, and military history of these hidden treasures. For over 350 years, the Boston Harbor Islands have played an important role in the defense of Boston, Massachusetts and the United States. From the colonial period to the Cold War, the Harbor Islands have been the site of fortifications, training camps, prisoner-of-war camps, and Nike missile installations.

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Patriots of Color: Revolutionary Heroes

Mon, Jun 16, 2003

State Representative Byron Rushing and James Horton, an historian at George Washington University, salute Native American and African American war heroes. This event includes performances and authentic music from the Revolutionary War. It was co-sponsored by the Boston National Historical Park, Massachusetts Historical Society, and Old South Meeting House. The Patriots of Color Celebration derives from the National Park Service report titled, "Patriots of Color, 'A Peculiar Beauty and Merit': African Americans and Native Americans at Battle Road and Bunker Hill". Revolutionary War consultant George Quintal Jr. painstakingly uncovered approximately 120 new minority identities, untold stories that literally and figuratively change the faces of the Lexington and Concord, and Bunker Hill battles. The report's concept was to revive the neglected historical memory of those men before they were permanently lost. The Patriots of Color Celebration reminds the Boston community about their enduring pluralistic heritage and will help educate the public about the African American and Native American communities that are often under-recognized for their ancestral contributions to the Revolutionary War.

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