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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

  • Senior sports writer for *The Boston Herald*, Howard Bryant talks about his new book *Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston.* In his book, Bryant traces the haunting practice and legacy of racism, chronicling the policies and personality of the Yawkey family as well as the conflicted Boston press that wrestled with its own racial issues, set against the backdrop of Boston's difficult struggle with race.
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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • 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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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • John Quincy Jr., an 11th generation descendant of the Quincys in America and author of *Quincy's Market*, discusses the history of his well-known ancestors, one of New England's most famous political families. From the early 19th century's Edmund de Quincy to Mayor Josiah Quincy, the man responsible for building one of Boston's best known landmarks, Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • "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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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • 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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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • Eric Jackson, who has been heard nightly on WGBH 89.7 FM for more than 20 years, discusses the rise of this beloved and uniquely American music form in the wild decade of the 1920's. Jackson, host of WGBH's Eric in the Evening, has been called the dean of Boston jazz radio. Using Buddy Bolden as a starting point, Jackson highlights the changing instruments in the early jazz band and discusses stylistic changes in the music through piano styles like ragtime, stride and boogie woogie. He underscores the differences between what is called New Orleans jazz and the styles popularized in Chicago in the late 20s. Jackson reviews the roots of the big band by looking at Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman's pioneering work.
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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • Enoch Woodhouse, attorney and veteran Tuskegee Airman, explains how the heroic deeds of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II were an important factor in ending racial segregation in the US military by 1948.
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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • 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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    Revolutionary Spaces
  • Marcus Rediker discusses his book, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age, an unprecedented social and cultural history of pirates and their democratic, egalitarian and multiethnic society. Villains of All Nations explores the "Golden Age" of Atlantic piracy (1716-1726). This infamous generation provided the images that underlie the modern romanticized view of pirates, such as the dreaded black flag The Jolly Roger; swashbuckling figures like Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard); and the nameless, one-armed pirate who became known as Long John Silver in Stevenson's Treasure Island. Rediker exposes pirate history and shows how sailors emerged out of deadly working conditions on merchant and naval ships, turned pirate, and created a starkly different reality aboard their own ships, electing their officers, dividing their booty equitably, and maintaining a multinational social order. The real lives of the real motley crews, which included cross-dressing women, people of color, and the "outcasts of all nations," are at least as compelling as the contemporary myth.
    Partner:
    Revolutionary Spaces
  • Bruce Twickler, writer and director of the film Damrell's Fire, explains why Boston can credit its deliverance from Chicago's fate to John Damrell, its courageous fire chief. A spark in the basement of a building on Boston's Summer Street turned into a firestorm, reducing over 700 buildings to 65 acres of rubble. Tragically and miraculously, only 30 people were lost.
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    Revolutionary Spaces