Commonwealth Museum to host exhibit honoring Massachusetts' revolutionary history

Boston Globe

26-02-2025

The exhibition, titled 'Upon Such Ground: Massachusetts and the Birth of the Revolution,' will be held at the Commonwealth Museum, located inside the Massachusetts Archives building at 220 Morrissey Blvd, starting on March 17, and will feature dozens of original mid-to-late 18th-century artifacts from before and after the Revolutionary War. Many of the artifacts have rarely been displayed due to their delicate nature, and are typically stored in a climate-controlled vault, according to Debra O'Malley, director of communications for Galvin.
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The exhibition will be unveiled after a reception celebrating the anniversary of Evacuation Day, which commemorates the British evacuation following the nearly yearlong Siege of Boston. It will open to the public the following day and remain on display until June 17, the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, one of the first major battles of the Revolutionary War.
Key artifacts that will be featured in the exhibition include:
Bunker Hill Drum:
A drum purportedly used at the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Buttrick Sword:
The sword of Major John Buttrick, the officer who gave the order to fire on the British at Concord's North Bridge.
Royal Proclamation of 1763:
An original copy of the proclamation issued by King George III prohibiting western expansion beyond the Appalachian Mountains following the French and Indian War. Scholars often cite this as a contributing cause of the American Revolution.
Watertown Treaty of 1776:
A treaty signed between the Massachusetts Provincial Council and the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Mi'kmaq tribes, establishing a military alliance. It is often cited as the first foreign treaty signed by the United States.
Boston Massacre Trial Papers:
Documents from the Supreme Judicial Court Archives related to the prosecution of British soldiers following the Boston Massacre.
Paul Revere Bill:
Paul Revere's bill for a series of rides for the Massachusetts Committee of Safety.
Prince Hall Petition (1777):
A legislative petition by Prince Hall, famed abolitionist and leader of Boston's free Black community, calling for the abolition of slavery.
Letter to the Provincial Congress from John Hancock:
A letter from Hancock, then-president of the Continental Congress, transmitting a list of appointments for general officers in the Continental Army.
A Resolve Electing Massachusetts Delegates to the First Continental Congress:
A document electing Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, James Bowdoin and John Adams as representatives, to meet with other colonial committees in Philadelphia to consider measures to restore harmony with Great Britain.
Two Discharges of African American Veterans Signed by George Washington.
Paul Revere's Engraving Plate of the Occupation of Boston (1768).
O'Malley said the exhibition's focus is on the role Massachusetts played in America's separation from Great Britain.
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'Without Massachusetts, there is no American Revolution—and potentially no United States,' O'Malley said.
All artifacts will be available for viewing on March 18, the first day the exhibition will be open to the whole public. After that, select items will be available for viewing on a rotating basis only, for the sake of preserving the artifacts, O'Malley said.
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at