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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

War of Words: The Last Colonial War in American Literature

Wed, Sep 21, 2005

As a young author, James Fenimore Cooper set out to write a series of Revolutionary War era novels, but abruptly changed his plans after his first visit in 1825 to several classic French and Indian War sites in northern New York. Professor Wayne Franklin of Northeastern University explains how *The Last of the Mohicans* the first of Cooper's many "colonial" novels, helped to create a popular understanding of the discontinuities and radical disruptions of this country's first 150 years.

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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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History of the Boston Athenaeum

Thu, Feb 3, 2005

John Lannon, associate director of the Boston Athenaeum, discusses the history of this enduring fixture on Beacon Hill. Founded in 1807, it houses such treasures as George Washington's library, and artworks by artists such as John Singer Sargent and Gilbert Stuart.

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Sarah's Long Walk: The Struggle that Changed America

Thu, Feb 10, 2005

Stephen Kendrick, author of *Sarah's Long Walk* and minister of First and Second Church, Boston, discusses the history behind the famous case of Sarah Roberts. In 1848, 5-year-old Sarah Roberts had to pass five white-only schools to attend the poor and densely crowded all-black Abiel Smith School. Incensed at this injustice, her father Benjamin Roberts took action. He resolved to sue the city of Boston on her behalf, and began a hundred-year struggle that culminated in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.

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Legacy of the Cocoanut Grove Fire of 1942

Tue, Sep 14, 2004

Stephanie Schorow, reporter for *The Boston Herald* and author of *Boston on Fire: A History of Fires and Firefighting in Boston*, examines many myths and misconceptions about the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, and evaluates its legacy and its continuing impact on Boston. The fire that swept through the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston on November 28, 1942, was one of the worst in the nation's history, resulting in at least 492 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The fire led to new building codes, medical innovations in burn treatment and legal precedents in manslaughter law.

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Masquerade: Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier

Wed, Sep 29, 2004

Historian Alfred Young, author of *Masquerade*, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich examine Americans' public memory of Deborah Sampson and other Revolutionary-era women. Performer and storyteller Joan Gatturna brings Deborah Sampson to life in a dramatic first-person performance.

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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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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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Digging: The Workers of Boston's Big Dig

Wed, Mar 23, 2005

In celebration of the final stages of the Big Dig and the people who work extraordinarily hard each day to make it a possibility, photographer Michael Hintlian shows his work, *Digging: The Workers of Boston's Big Dig*, and discusses the difficulties and joys of putting this collection together. Starting in 1997, Michael Hintlian began photographing the 5,000 men and women who worked on the Big Dig. Despite being thrown off of one site after another, his perseverance paid off in a book of stunning, gritty black-and-white photographs.

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Caroline Healey Dall: Daughter of Boston

Thu, Oct 20, 2005

Helen R. Deese discusses the 45 volume diary of Bostonian transcendentalist Caroline Healey Dall, which is perhaps the longest diary written by any American and the most complete account of a nineteenth century woman's life in existence. Bostonian Caroline Healey Dall (1822-1912) was a transcendentalist, early feminist, writer, reformer, and an extremely active diarist. Caroline Healey Dall kept a diary for 75 years that captured the fascinating details of her sometimes agonizing personal life, the major figures who surrounded her, and many facets of nineteenth century Boston.

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