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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://revolutionaryspaces.org

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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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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Capitol Men: The First Black Congressmen

Tue, Feb 24, 2009

Philip Dray tells the the epic story of America's reconstruction through the lives of the first black congressmen. After the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which granted black men suffrage, 16 black southerners were elected to the United States Congress. These Capitol men faced a high degree of hostility and scrutiny upon their arrival in Washington, yet actively pursued civil rights and lasting economic and educational reforms. Dray reveals how these men became a source of inspiration for Americans in the years following the Civil War, and how they laid the groundwork for future civil rights legislation.

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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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Hero at the Great Boston Fire of 1872

Tue, Sep 21, 2004

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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Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age

Fri, Jun 25, 2004

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.

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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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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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Midwifery and Medicine in Boston

Thu, Nov 4, 2004

Amalie M. Kass examines Walter Channing's obstetrical practice and charts his many other distinguished pursuits, such as lecturer to hundreds of young men in "the art of midwifery," consultant to doctors throughout New England, staff physician for nearly two decades at Boston's only general hospital, and editor of the *New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery*. A prominent obstetrician, professor of midwifery and medical jurisprudence, and dean of the faculty at Harvard Medical College, Dr. Walter Channing (1786-1876) was a central figure in Boston's medical community for more than 50 years. Kass's book rescues this remarkable, but overlooked physician from obscurity, and provides a vivid depiction of his city's rapidly changing social, political, and economic landscapes. In addition, Channing was a major force in gaining acceptance for the use of anesthesia in childbirth, played an instrumental role in founding the Boston Lying-In Hospital as a refuge for women who would otherwise lack decent obstetrical care, and was an active champion for the social reform movements of his day.

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