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Free online lectures: Explore a world of ideas

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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

  • 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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  • The Alcotts: The Real Family Behind "Little Women"

    Wed, Sep 24, 2003
    Jan Turnquist, executive director of Orchard House, discusses the daily activities and pursuits of the Alcotts, a trailblazing family of reformers.
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  • 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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  • African-American Voices of the Civil War

    Wed, Apr 28, 2004
    A special evening program featuring Charles Fuller, 1982 Pulitzer Prize in drama winner for *A Soldier's Play*. Discussions and performances bring the testimonies of slaves, soldiers, reporters and activists from the Civil War to life, in celebration of the publication of *Freedom's Journey*.
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  • Debating Reparations for Slavery

    Thu, Oct 10, 2002
    Glenn C. Loury of Boston University and Melissa Nobles of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology debate the pros and cons of slavery reparations. How do you put a price on 300 years of injustice? The legacy of slavery in the United States continues to shape life and society for all Americans. The controversial arguments surrounding slavery reparations is proof that this country is still struggling with how to address and overcome the repercussions of slavery. Does this country owe a financial debt to the descendants of black slaves? Who should pay and receive reparations? How much is owed? Instead of repairing damage, might such payments polarize communities and create new racial tensions?
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  • Jewish Heritage on Beacon Hill

    Thu, Feb 17, 2005
    Ellen Smith, lecturer in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, discusses the history of Jewish immigration in Boston. Boston's first Jewish congregation established a synagogue in the South End in 1852. By 1907, Boston's Jewish population had grown to 60,000 with many families settling in the West End. The Vilna congregation began to hold services on Beacon Hill in 1903 and remained there until 1985.
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  • Last Mantua Maker: Women in Boston's Clothing Trades

    Thu, Mar 24, 2005
    In 1845, after almost a dozen years in business, Rebecca Goodwin Major closed up shop. She was the very last Boston woman to call herself a mantuamaker in the pages of the city directory. Most of her competitors abandoned the 17th-century term for the more up-to-date nomenclature, dressmaker. Marla Miller, assistant professor of public history at UMASS Amherst, will look at how one of the most prestigious occupations available to American women since the 17th century, faded from the Boston scene.
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