Lanterns & Luminaries
A Day of Inspiration and Celebration
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at Old North Church
Sponsors Breakfast from 9:30am – 10:45am
Ticketed Program from 11am – 12:30pm
One If By Land, Two If By Sea — 250 Years It Will Be!
In honor of the 250th anniversary of the “two if by sea” lantern signal, Lanterns & Luminaries 2025 will be a unique event filled with commemoration, inspiration, and celebration. Filmmaker Ken Burns will accept the Third Lantern Award, which is presented annually to an individual who embodies the values symbolized in Old North Church’s iconic signal lanterns: leadership, courage, hope, tenacity, and active citizenship.
With Ken’s much-anticipated series, The American Revolution, scheduled to premiere on November 16, 2025 on PBS, we cannot think of a better person to honor with the Third Lantern Award in this anniversary year. Ken’s documentaries and approach to filmmaking have been an inspiration as we bring the past to life for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. His films demonstrate time and again that recounting history is not simply a retelling of events and facts — it is finding the human story, the universal experiences that allow us to put ourselves in the shoes of those who lived decades or centuries ago. His masterful storytelling and willingness to face America’s complexity and contradictions head-on have been the platonic ideal we strive for in our interpretation of Old North’s three centuries of history.
Sponsors and their guests will join Third Lantern Award honoree Ken Burns and the Old North Illuminated Board of Directors for a seated breakfast in Old North’s beautiful Washington Garden. Following the breakfast, a ticketed special anniversary program will include a dramatic reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” inspiring remarks by Mr. Burns, a short clip from Ken’s new documentary The American Revolution, and a preview of Patriots’ Day celebrations in Greater Boston.
Tickets for the 11am program will go on sale in early February. Sponsorship packages, which include a seated breakfast at 9:30am, are available now. For questions, contact Nikki Stewart at nstewart@oldnorth.com.
Dress Code: First and foremost, comfortable shoes are important given the brick around the church. Many guests will go to their office after the event. We suggest attire that falls between business and cocktail. Tricorner hats are optional! Tents have been reserved, should it rain.
Old North Illuminated, formerly the Old North Foundation, is a secular 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to inspire active citizenship and courageous, compassionate leadership by interpreting and preserving the Old North Church & Historic Site.
Host Committee
Jared Bowen, Co-Chair — Executive Arts Editor and Host of The Culture Show, GBH
Jeff Bray
Woodie Haskins
Lisa and Peter Levesque
Michael Maler
Catherine Matthews
Jillian McGrath
Nicole A. Moore
Barbara Russell
Jackie Russell
Nikki Stewart and Jacob Sconyers
Honorary Host Committee
Jonathan Lane, Revolution 250
Suzanne Segura Taylor, Freedom Trail® Foundation
Nina Zannieri, Paul Revere House
City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata, Boston City Council District 1
Event Partners
Sponsors
Patriot
Tauck
Revolutionary
Jeff and Kristen Bray
Minuteman
Maryann Brink and Jonathan Chu
Nancy Csaplar
Thomas A. Kershaw / Hampshire House Hospitality Group
Gordon and Barbara Russell
Allen Snyder
Lantern
The Bigelow Family
Angela Johnson
Mrs. Peder Knudsen
The Mill River Foundation
National Park Foundation
“Scenes from the Revolution” A Quarter Millennial Musical from Songs Children Sing
About Our Honoree
Ken Burns has been making documentary films for almost fifty years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, Ken has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun said, “… Burns is not only the greatest documentarian of the day, but also the most influential filmmaker period. That includes feature filmmakers like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. I say that because Burns not only turned millions of persons onto history with his films, he showed us a new way of looking at our collective past and ourselves.” The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of his films, “More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source.”
Ken’s films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including seventeen Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Oscar nominations. In September of 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Ken was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In November of 2022, Ken was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. Ken has been the recipient of more than thirty honorary degrees and has delivered many treasured commencement addresses. He is a sought-after public speaker, appearing at colleges, civic organizations, and business groups throughout the country.
The American Revolution, Ken’s new six-part, 12-hour documentary series that explores the country’s founding and its eight-year War for Independence, will premiere on Sunday, November 16, 2025 and air for six consecutive nights. The documentary will present the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through. By weaving together accounts of American political leaders and their British counterparts with the perspectives of the so-called ordinary people who waged and witnessed war, The American Revolution will be an expansive, evenhanded look at the virtues and the contradictions in the fight for independence and the birth of the United States.