Category: Illuminating the Unseen
-
Allow History to Illuminate Your Journey
In the final episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie reviews some of the key themes from her previous videos, discusses the crisis facing history and social studies K-12 teachers today, and considers how our learning together can illuminate our collective journey toward a more equitable future. See below for the video, primary sources, and episode…
-
Anti-Slavery and the Episcopal Church in the Antebellum and Civil War Era North
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie examines how Episcopal churches in the northern United States, including Old North Church, responded to slavery and anti-Black racism between 1830 and 1865. Jaimie invites viewers to consider this guiding question: “How do civic institutions, like churches, become places that exercise control over marginalized people?” See below…
-
People of Color as Children and Elders in 18th and 19th Century Boston
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie considers what it was like to be a Black or Indigenous child or elder in 18th and 19th-century Boston. In the United States, being very young or very old can increase our vulnerability. As Jaimie explains, both Black and Indigenous children and elders found themselves in uniquely…
-
Paul Revere’s Ride and the Mark of Urban Slavery
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie explores an often-overlooked detail of Paul Revere’s ride. In a letter recounting his historic midnight mission on April 18, 1775, Revere mentions that he “passed Charlestown Neck and got nearly opposite of where Mark was hung in chains.” Who was Mark and why was he hanged? As…
-
John Eliot and the Conversion of Native Peoples in Boston’s North End
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie examines the efforts of missionaries in the late 1700s and early 1800s to urge Indigenous people in Massachusetts to convert to Christianity. She focuses on Rev. John Eliot, a Congregational minister in Boston’s North End, and his work with a prominent missionary group, the Society for Propagating…
-
Old North and Black Freedom
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie examines the struggle for Black freedom in Massachusetts from 1723 – 1795. Jaimie tracks what the lives of free and enslaved Black people at Old North looked like before slavery was abolished in Massachusetts and how their lives changed during the years right after slavery ended in…
-
The Social Construction of Race in Early Massachusetts History
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie examines the story of Beulah Speene, a mixed-race woman who was married at Old North Church in 1767. Curiously, Beulah’s birth record suggests that she was white, yet Old North’s marriage records indicate that she was a person of color. How does a person, over the course…
-
Old North and Enslaved People in the British Colonial Period
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie discusses slavery in Boston during the British colonial period. How did it differ from Southern slavery? How many enslaved people lived in Massachusetts? How did Old North congregants participate in and profit from slavery? Jaimie looks at a 1755 assessor’s report, a newspaper article, and tax records…
-
Indigenous Women at Old North During the British Colonial Period
In this episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie shares primary sources that reveal the relationship that one adolescent Indigenous woman, a sixteen-year-old named Elizabeth, had with the Old North Church during the complicated days of the British colonial era. Jaimie examines Elizabeth’s story in the larger context of what it meant for Indigenous and Black…
-
Race and Evangelism in the Church of England
In the first official episode of Illuminating the Unseen, Jaimie explores the Church of England’s views on Black and Indigenous people in the American colonies during the early days of the Old North Church. Jaimie looks at a 1754 sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, the church’s first and longest-serving rector. Cutler’s words reveal…