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Fox News
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
‘One if by Land': White House, Boston celebrates 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's midnight ride
It's been 250 years since Paul Revere rode into the night — and now, the Trump administration is riding high on history. On Friday, the White House released a presidential statement commemorating Revere's ride, calling the silversmith a patriot whose "bold act of defiance set in motion a war of independence that changed the course of history." The White House also posted a video tribute titled "The Ride That Roused a Nation," offering a cinematic retelling of the 1775 event. Meanwhile, in Boston, Massachusetts, where it all began, the anniversary was marked Friday with a reenactment of Revere's historic ride. Actor Michael Lepage portrayed Revere, walking from the Paul Revere House to the Old North Church, where two lanterns were lit to signal the British advance. After crossing the Charles River, First Sgt. Matthew Johnson of the National Lancers took up the ride on horseback, continuing the journey to Lexington. Revere's mission began late on the night of April 18, 1775, when two lanterns lit in Boston's Old North Church signaled that British troops were crossing the Charles River by sea. Revere mounted a borrowed horse and rode into the countryside to alert colonial militias and warn patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington. Although he was stopped by British patrols before reaching Concord, his message had already been passed along by fellow riders William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott. Thanks to their warning, militia forces were ready when the first shots of the American Revolution rang out the next morning on Lexington Green. The presidential statement highlighted these facts while paying tribute to Revere as "a master craftsman, a husband, a father, and a proud son of liberty." It also quoted from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous 1860 poem, "Paul Revere's Ride," which turned the midnight journey into a national legend. While the actual ride was part of a larger effort involving multiple messengers, Longfellow's verse — "a cry of defiance, and not of fear" — helped enshrine Revere's name in American memory, where it remains to this day. The video released by Trump's team underscored that legacy with dramatic narration, archival imagery, and references to key sites like Old North Church and North Bridge in Concord. "In the dead of night, a silversmith became a signal. A signal became a movement. And that movement became America," the voiceover declares, in the first of many patriotic events planned as part of the administration's "Salute to America 250" initiative. That effort, launched ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, includes coordinated federal, state, and local commemorations aimed at spotlighting major moments in early American history. Friday's Revere tribute serves as an unofficial kickoff, tying 1775 to 2025. Previous presidents have also marked Revolutionary milestones. Gerald Ford launched the nation's Bicentennial by lighting a lantern at Old North Church in 1975, symbolically extending Revere's message into the country's third century. In 2001, George W. Bush commemorated the 225th anniversary of independence with a speech in Philadelphia focused on the founding ideals of liberty and equality. The Trump administration's message follows in that tradition, while also preparing for what's expected to be a high-profile semiquincentennial year.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How a Maine poet turned Paul Revere into a hero for the ages
Apr. 18—Andrew Pal can't tell you how the poem "Paul Revere's Ride" goes, but he's quite clear on how it made him feel. "As I kid, I just remember it as something that inspired," said Pal, 71, a retired radio advertising executive from Windham. "It's a critical part of our history. It's something that you've got to know." Revere's famous ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Massachusetts colonists of advancing British soldiers, has become an enduring part of our country's history, a symbol of bravery and heroism from the earliest days of the American Revolution. Its 250th anniversary is being celebrated at events around the country this weekend. But if not for Maine poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, writing some 85 years after Revere's ride, most Americans would likely know very little about the Boston silversmith or his mission. His poem about Revere's ride was meant as a call for unity and action among abolitionists on the eve of the Civil War. Longfellow picked Revere over William Dawes, Samuel Prescott or a dozen or so other riders who carried out similar warning missions that night, on the eve of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In doing so, Longfellow got himself a great opening rhyme —"Listen, my children, and you shall hear, Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" — and secured Revere's place in the collective national memory. "When Revere died (in 1818), there's no mention of his ride in his obituary, or in his eulogy," said Tom Putnam, a former director of the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts, who lives in Kennebunkport. "During his lifetime, it was somewhat suppressed. It wasn't what he was known for." Longfellow was arguably the most popular poet of his day, at a time when poetry had the same sort of pop culture influence that TikTok and Netflix have today. His poem lived on long after the Civil War was over, recited by school children and made into songs. The opening number of the 1950s Broadway musical "Guys and Dolls," about lovable gamblers, features the rhyme: "I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere." The poem created such mythology around Revere that he's often remembered as an important actor in the American Revolution, alongside others from Massachusetts who played much bigger roles, like John Adams, Samuel Adams or John Hancock. More than 250,000 visitors annually journey to Revere's house, a major tourist attraction in Boston's North End. On a recent Thursday afternoon a half dozen people walking or sitting near the Longfellow statue on Congress Street in Portland said they had heard of Revere. Some knew a couple of lines from the poem, including "One, if by land, and two, if by sea." House painter Rodney Nason of North Yarmouth, sipping a cup of coffee, said he remembered hearing about Revere in school, but didn't think he knew the poem. But when given a few lines from it, he said it rang a bell. "I know he was a very popular poet, so the poem probably really helped spread the folklore about Revere," said Nason, 50, who himself writes poetry. "It's sort of like if Paul Revere showed up as a topic on (the HBO series) 'The White Lotus' and everybody started talking about him." Kitty Gilbert, a nurse practitioner who lives near the Longfellow statue, said she remembers learning about Revere and the poem when she was a youngster. She didn't remember any lines, but remembered the story pretty vividly. "I know it was about his ride, going through towns and alerting people that the British were on their way," said Gilbert, 63, a native of Washington, D.C. "And that was important because it was at the start of the Revolution." SEEKING A UNIFYING SYMBOL Longfellow lived much of his adult life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and so was familiar with Revolutionary War history around Boston, Putnam said. In 1842 he had taken British author Charles Dickens on a tour of the city's historic sites, including the Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung on the night of April 18, 1775. Years later, as an ardent abolitionist, he decided to write a poem with Revere as the hero. He thought the heroism shown at our country's birth would unify people about the country's future. "Longfellow wrote it as a way of reminding people what it felt like to come together during the American Revolution in a bid to instill that unified spirit as the country was pulling apart over slavery, " said Larissa Vigue Picard, executive director of the Pejepscot History Center in Brunswick, where Longfellow attended and taught at Bowdoin College. "The depiction of this lone rider, even though he wasn't the only one, feels very superhero-like. I think that's one reason it has staying power. We are pulled in by the drama of the moment and this heroic person who's out to save us all from the encroaching enemy." During the Revolution, the enemy was the British, said Picard, while at the start of the Civil War it was, in Longfellow's view, the South or anyone trying to dissolve the Union. Longfellow finished "Paul Revere's Ride" in October 1860 and it was published nationally in the January 1861 issue of Atlantic Monthly magazine. The magazine arrived in Boston on Dec. 20, 1860, Putnam said, the very day that South Carolina seceded from the Union. Revere was a prominent Boston citizen during Colonial times and into the early days of the United States, a noted silversmith whose work is collected in museums around the country. He was a businessman who supplied copper sheeting for American Navy ships, said Nina Zannieri, executive director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association, which runs the Paul Revere House in Boston. He was also an accomplished horseman who had been asked several times before to deliver important news from Boston to other colonies, as tension between colonists and the British were escalating. But would he have been so well-known nationally if not for Longfellow? "We kiddingly say we don't need to hire a marketing person because we have Henry," said Zannieri. ""The downside of the poem for us is that it sort of makes Revere a disembodied hero. It sort of obscures all the other things that are important about him." On April 18, 1775, Boston had already seen several years of skirmishes and tension between British soldiers and colonists, including the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in 1773. At that point, Boston leaders had learned the British army was planning to raid stockpiles of guns and ammunition in the Boston area. Militias and local leaders knew of this plan and set up a network of riders to warn people in those locations as the British approached. Revere took a boat across the Charles River to Charlestown and then rode north to Medford, where other riders were waiting to bring warnings to towns north of Boston. He then continued on to Lexington, where he was captured and briefly held by the British, before being released. Dawes had ridden through Cambridge to points west of Boston, while Prescott rode to towns even further west of the city. Historians estimate there may have been a dozen riders who helped spread the word of British attacks that night, but most of their names have been lost over time. There were lanterns hung in the Old North Church tower, as Longfellow mentions, but they weren't there to let Revere and other riders know which way the British were coming, said Tiffany Link, collections curator at the Maine Historical Society. They were more of a back-up plan, a way to let people in nearby towns know the British route in case Revere or other riders couldn't get out of Boston. Revere's ride and the Battles of Lexington and Concord are the basis for celebrating Patriot's Day in Maine each year — Maine was part of the colony of Massachusetts at the time. Both states have celebrated the day for more than 100 years, and in the past decade or so a few other states, including Connecticut and North Dakota, have followed suit. But Maine uses the spelling Patriot's Day, as if to denote one patriot, while in Massachusetts, it's Patriots' Day. So one might surmise the patriot in question is Revere. Or it could be Longfellow, whose poem has helped instill a sense of patriotism in people since 1860. Either way, the two men are connected, and continue to help expand each other's legacy. "When people visit his childhood home, we ask if they're a fan of Longfellow or his poetry," said Kathleen Neumann, curator of education and public programs at the Maine Historical Society, which manages the Wadsworth-Longfellow House on Congress Street. "The answer is often no, or non-committal. But if we mention Paul Revere, that's when we get recognition. It's not a perfect analogy, but it's not a huge stretch to say that what Longfellow did for Revere a 150 years ago is like what Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of the Broadway musical 'Hamilton') has done for Alexander Hamilton today." Copy the Story Link
Chicago Tribune
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Column: Plans being made to celebrate our semiquincentennial
Here's a word you'll be hearing more and more next year: Semiquincentennial. Spellcheck will question if it's a real word. It is. It means a 250th anniversary. Which is what the U.S. will be celebrating next year, marking our daring break from Great Britain and the founding of the nation. Wasn't it just the other day we had the nation's bicentennial in 1976, during the Swingin' Seventies? Time does fly. In New England, states are kicking off the historic semiquincentennial on Friday by commemorating the April 18, 1775, heroic ride of Paul Revere the year before independence was declared. In the Boston area, residents are urged to post two lights in their windows that night. As most of us should know, silversmith Revere and other patriots alerted the Massachusetts countryside of British troops planning to crack down on nascent revolutionaries by crossing the Charles River by boat from Boston prior to battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, which ignited the American Revolutionary War. The colonists' planned signal alert was lanterns in the steeple of Boston's Old North Church: 'One if by land, and two if by sea.' Revere's 'The British are coming' ride was immortalized in poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's classic, 'Paul Revere's Ride,' published in 1861. America250 is the umbrella organization tasked with observing July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Some may say the semiquincentennial is coming at just the right time, as the ideals of democracy as we have known it since 1776 are being challenged daily. That may be why the administration of President Donald Trump is working to undercut the celebration by slashing federal funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, which may leave the agency with less money to hand out to local groups for programming related to the milestone. Additionally, roughly 80% of the agency's staff have been placed on administrative leave, according to The Associated Press. While Downstate Illinois took part with various actions during the early founding of the republic, Lake County not at all. But, the state has its own Illinois America250 Commission, established by the legislature in 2022 to 'develop, encourage, and execute an inclusive commemoration and observance of the founding of the United States of America, and Illinois' imperative role in the nation's history.' The 18-person commission, with members from across the breadth and length of the Land of Lincoln, has been meeting regularly since its inception, bouncing around ideas of where Illinois fits in with the celebration. The group's next virtual meeting is set for April 28. The working deadline for a 'commemorations toolkit' is this July 4, according to commission meeting minutes. Museums, schools, libraries, regional tourism hubs and universities are being targeted, along with individual municipalities and governmental units, so Illinois has some place in the anniversary game. A similar tact, leaving local events and celebrations to individual communities, was taken during the bicentennial year and before that in 1968, when the state's sesquicentennial, the 150th anniversary of statehood, was observed. Illinois became a state in 1818, 42 years after the formation of the United States and after indigenous peoples had inhabited it for thousands of years. Historians tell us the state played a major part in the Revolutionary War. That's when Virginian George Rogers Clark and his band of rangers seized the British post of Kaskaskia by the Mississippi River on July 4, 1778, marching across Illinois from Fort Massac by the Ohio River. After the war, Illinois became part of the U.S. and the Northwest Territory, eventually achieving statehood. One Illinois community apparently ahead of the 250th celebration is Peoria. The city's Riverfront Museum along the Illinois River is partnering with Ken Burns, the acclaimed documentary filmmaker, giving him the title of museum guest curator for its major semiquincentennial exhibition, funded by private donors, and expected to open in early 2026. Burns is slated to release a new series on the Revolutionary War next year. I'm not sure how planning is going for Lake County to commemorate the semiquincentennial, although the Forest Preserve District's Dunn Museum off Winchester Road in Libertyville has a permanent exhibit entitled, 'An American Frontier,' which highlights the county's founding by European settlers in the early 1830s, along with other historical artifacts. Many of the county's communities were incorporated after the mid-19th century. Waukegan, first visited by Pere Marquette in 1673, was incorporated as Little Fort in 1859, after becoming the county seat in 1841. It's a long way from the Declaration of Independence signed by the Founding Fathers in 1776 to the early days of Lake County's founding. Yet, maybe those county communities that hold Fourth of July parades can incorporate the celebration into parade themes. They shouldn't overlook the chance to wave the flag and remember how and why the nation began.
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Gov. Kay Ivey signs ‘Two Lights for Tomorrow Day' proclamation
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Governor Kay Ivey signed a proclamation on Thursday endorsing a national initiative declaring Friday, April 18, as Two Lights for Tomorrow Day. According to the Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Commission and the American Village in Montevallo, the day aims to signify the ride of Paul Revere in 1775 — specifically, the line 'One if by land, two if by sea' written in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, 'Paul Revere's Ride.' 'Today, 250 years later, we gather together to plan ways to ensure that not only are those events remembered, but more importantly to ensure that not just the 'what' of 'what happened' is remembered but the 'why,'' The Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Commission stated on their website. 'We are called not to remember history just for history's sake, but to make it relevant, meaningful, and engaging for the public today.' The Alabama USA Semiquincentennial Foundation and the American Village are encouraging people to participate in Two Lights for Tomorrow Day by displaying two lights in statehouses, offices, schools, churches and homes on April 18. More information can be found here. Gov. Ivey's full proclamation reads: PROCLAMATIONBy the Governor of AlabamaWHEREAS, the state of Alabama recognizes the importance of honoring and commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation; andWHEREAS, the events of 1775 that began the revolution the year before independence was declared are significant moments that signaled the creation of a national identity and unity of purpose that transcended national geographic, cultural and societal divides; andWHEREAS, on the evening of April 18, 1775, with impending hostile action from the British Army in Boston, Massachusetts, Paul Revere and William Dawes along with other alarm riders undertook a perilous ride to alert everyone in the countryside of the coming danger; andWHEREAS, preceding their departure from Boston, a prearranged signal was set in the Old North Church steeple to ensure that the message got out and did not solely rely on just one or two alarm riders; andWHEREAS, the two lanterns that were the signal were immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride as 'One if by land, and two if by sea' and have become an enduring symbol of American vigilance, perseverance and preparedness in the face of adversity; andWHEREAS, we are reminded, 250 years later, that the call for unity and the call to serve each other is no less relevant today than it was then; andWHEREAS, a national initiative has been proposed by the United States Semiquincentennial Commission that two lights be displayed in public spaces across the country for all to see marking that significant anniversary in April 2025 and the beginning of the 250th anniversary commemorations leading up to the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026; andWHEREAS, that state of Alabama supports and encourages community events that promote patriotism, unity and reflection on our shared history;NOW, THEREFORE, I, Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, do hereby endorse the nationalinitiative and proclaim Friday, April 18, 2025, as Two Lights for Tomorrow DayIn the state of Alabama and encourage reflection on the idea that all these historic events were endeavoring toward one common goal: the chance to embrace our God-given rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of Under My Hand and the Great Seal of the Office of Governor at the State Capitol in the City of Montgomery on the 6th day of March 2025. Kay Ivey, Governor Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
