Latest news with #Boston250
Boston Globe
15 hours ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Archeologists scour Charlestown for Revolution-era artifacts, seeking stories of the forgotten
Boston 250 seeks to learn more about the ordinary Bostonians in 1775 whose lives have been historically ignored, such as women and children, and Black and Indigenous people. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'The folks that get talked about in the 250th are the older men who were in the battle,' Bagley said, 'but there's thousands of people impacted by this day. And we really want to tell those other stories.' Advertisement Archeologists and volunteers sift for artifacts in a backyard in Charlestown as part of the city's Boston 250 Archaeology project. Lane Turner/Globe Staff In a private Charlestown backyard this month — a property that belonged to the The Trumbull property had a house, a barn, a leather tannery, and a distillery, which was probably converting molasses into rum, Bagley said. Advertisement 'That distillery is going to have direct connections to the slave industry,' he said, because it was 'bringing molasses up from the Caribbean. All of that is produced by enslaved people.' He has no evidence that the Trumbull family were enslavers. As Bagley and his crew dug and sifted, other team members conducted Volunteer Tim Riordan inspects an excavated artifact in a backyard in Charlestown as Boston 250 archeologists conduct a dig. Lane Turner/Globe Staff The City Archaeology Program, part of Boston's 'To be honest, a lot of our work is self-created,' Bagley said. 'We decided amongst ourselves that Boston history is very well covered, but there's a lot that hasn't been told — so we're going to focus on underrepresented histories.' They reached out over social media and in public meetings, and Charlestown residents offered up possible excavation sites. The team has forthcoming digs at A trench is measured so any found artifacts can be identified by depth in a backyard in Charlestown in one of Boston 250 Archaeology's excavations. Lane Turner/Globe Staff 'Charles Bulfinch is a huge architect, and we don't often get to see the buildings that are gone now,' Bagley said. 'It's not going to be much of it. Maybe the basement. But still.' Advertisement Before excavating, the team found a treasure trove in their documentary research. Charlestown leaders had called on residents to submit 'They were going to submit to the new country and say, basically, 'Hey, it would be great if we could get refunded for all these losses,'' Bagley said. 'It took them forever to recover. It devastated the town.' 'It's an amazing set of documents. It's also a tragic set of documents,' he added. 'They never got a restitution for anything that they lost.' A trench is excavated inch by inch in a backyard in Charlestown as City of Boston archeologists research ordinary life at the time of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Lane Turner/Globe Staff Boston City Archaeology, with offices and an exhibition space in West Roxbury, has a roster of volunteers. Jennifer Reed, a retired elementary school library teacher from the North Shore, dove into the documentary research. 'When you look at these The researchers discovered a claim from Margaret Thomas, a Black woman who had bought a house in Charlestown from 'Given the time period, she likely was manumitted at some point in her life, or born to someone that was freed,' Bagley said. It's unclear how she came to own the property, but Thomas's life after the battle is better documented: She married William Lee, George Washington's enslaved butler, and Advertisement The stopper from a 20th-century bottle of perfume held by a team member after it was excavated in a dig in Charlestown. Lane Turner/Globe Staff As the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution unfolds, Bagley said the team will spread over Boston to dig up more untold history. Next year, they'll be at a fort in Roxbury, 'and we know there's Black soldiers there,' he said. They're looking at Boston Common, where British soldiers encamped with their families. He's interested in those women and children. What was their life like? 'It's a totally different story than I think people associate with the siege of Boston,' Bagley said.
Boston Globe
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
250 years later, Paul Revere will ride again
'We're thrilled to launch Boston 250 on the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's Midnight Ride... a night that had far-reaching impacts on history and how Boston's community gave rise to a spirit of American resistance,' said Mayor Michelle Wu in a statement. The ride begins at 8 p.m. outside the Paul Revere House at 19 North Square. Here's a breakdown of special events and activities along the route. Free open houses at the Paul Revere House and USS Constitution Museum Advertisement From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., visitors to the Paul Revere House can The USS Constitution Museum will stay open until 9 p.m., with author and historian J.L. Bell Lantern Workshops From 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., participants can craft paper lanterns at Paul Revere Mall in the North End (look for his statue!) to carry during the parade following Revere on the first leg of his journey. Additionally, wooden lanterns will be available at the USS Constitution Museum for those joining the parallel Charlestown parade, which marches to the Navy Yard to welcome Revere upon his arrival. Advertisement One of the lanterns Paul Revere used as a signal during his famous Midnight Ride on April 18, 1775, is on display at the Concord Museum. Barry Chin/Globe Staff 6:30 p.m.: Boston250 launch and free performance of 'Revolution's Edge' At the Paul Revere Mall, a free costumed reading of Old North Illuminated's 7:00 p.m.: Lantern service at Old North Church Historian Heather Cox Richardson will deliver the keynote address. More details at 8:00 p.m.: Revere departs Spectators can gather at North Square to watch Revere's departure, and follow him in a lantern-lit parade as he rides to the waterfront. 8:15 p.m.: Lanterns illuminated Two lanterns will be raised in the steeple of Old North Church — a reenactment of Revere's signal that British forces were advancing toward Lexington and Concord 'by sea.' 8:00-8:30 p.m.: Revere crosses Boston Harbor From the Harborwalk at Langone Park, visitors can watch Revere depart from the US Coast Guard Station and row across the Charles River. Those at Charlestown Navy Yard can greet him at Pier 1 and follow him from the waterfront to Charlestown City Square. A ticketed 8:30-9:00 p.m.: Revere arrives in Charlestown Deacon John Larkin and the Charlestown militia will welcome Revere's arrival in Charlestown City Square. City of Boston archaeologist Joe Bagley will deliver a speech highlighting Larkin's and Charlestown's roles in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. 9:10 p.m.: Revere rides out of Charlestown Revere will mount his horse and barrel down modern-day Main Street, shouting, 'The Regulars are out!' as reenacted by the Advertisement 9:30 p.m.: Bunker Hill Monument illuminated As Revere departs Charlestown, the National Park Service will illuminate the Bunker Hill Monument's pyramidion, displaying the two flags flown at its 1843 opening. The lighting will continue nightly through July 4. A visitor was silhouetted as he stood at the base of Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown on a gray February day. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Source: National Park Service, USS Constitution Museum Rita Chandler can be reached at
