Speaker Series Archives

September 25, 2024.

When we think about Americans who changed the course of history, we rarely think about children. In the popular imagination, young people usually stand on the sidelines of history, sheltered and coddled by the adults who really make things happen. In reality, however, children have played a vital part in American politics and culture since the colonial era.

In this online talk, Dr. Anna Mae Duane of the University of Connecticut explored the often-overlooked role of children in shaping the course of early American history. From the Salem Witch Trials to the Revolutionary War and the fight against slavery, Dr. Duane revealed how young voices and actions influenced pivotal moments in our nation’s past, including revolutionary changes in social and political structures.

June 15, 2024

In June, Boston artist Ifé Franklin led an Egun Ancestor Procession at Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, steps away from Old North Church. Egun Ancestor Processions are, in the words of the artist, “beautiful community rituals that honor the lives of the enslaved whose burial sites are often forgotten. Each journey offers a healing balm to heavy hearts that are grappling with the difficult history of enslavement. We gather to pray, sing, dance, wail, and shout as we hold the old souls in the highest regard.”

Please enjoy this recording of the Procession from filmmaker Maria Servellon. Old North Illuminated was proud to sponsor this meaningful event with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, National Parks of Boston, Proverb, and HUB History.

May 15, 2024

In 1791, the eruption of the Haitian Revolution shook the world. It was the only revolt of enslaved people to abolish slavery and create a free and independent Black nation in the Americas. Enslaved women represented nearly half of colonial Haiti’s plantation populations and performed much of the same physical labor as their male counterparts. However, few women are identified in archival records as having taken part in the revolutionary struggle. In this history talk, Dr. Crystal Nicole Eddins draws on African and African diaspora perspectives to shed light on the ways that enslaved women may have contributed to the revolution for freedom and liberation.

Dr. Crystal Nicole Eddins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the author of Rituals, Runaways, and the Haitian Revolution: Collective Action in the African Diaspora.

April 25, 2024

From the moment the Separatists and Puritans made contact with the Indigenous People of what is now known as Massachusetts, the Commonwealth has had a history steeped in revolution. With the establishment of Boston, Governor John Winthrop proclaimed it “a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people will be upon us.” While it is prized for its historic social and political impacts, Boston is still responsible for spearheading revolutionary change in modern times for the LGBTQ+ community, with the eyes of the country upon it.

In this online talk, historian and author Russ Lopez discussed how a state that was formed on strong puritanical ideologies became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Discussing some of the lesser-known histories of Massachusetts’ past, Lopez shows us that there has always been an LGBTQ+ community in the Commonwealth, just not always in plain sight.

March 20, 2024

Did you know that Massachusetts was at the center of the national struggle for women’s rights? Or that this struggle was intertwined with the abolitionist movement? Barbara Berenson, the author of Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers, delivered a history talk about the Bay State’s prominent role in women’s fight for the vote.

Long before the Civil War, Lucy Stone and other local abolitionists were among the first to oppose women’s exclusion from political life. After the war, the Boston-based American Woman Suffrage Association led campaigns across the country. Their work laid the foundation for the next generation of suffragists to triumph over tradition. Berenson highlighted the many ways in which Black activists and working-class organizers fought for suffrage, even as many white leaders ignored their efforts. She also discussed the battle over historical memory that continues to influence how we remember the women’s suffrage movement.

February 28, 2024

A great work of historical fiction transports audiences back in time in a uniquely human way. At its best, historical fiction makes the struggles of the past feel raw and emotional in the present, sheds light on those left out of the dominant historical narrative, and challenges us to consider multiple perspectives. How do writers of historical fiction accomplish this feat?

On February 28, playwright Patrick Gabridge and novelist William Martin joined us on Zoom to discuss writing stories set in revolutionary times in America’s history. Patrick Gabridge has written numerous historical fiction plays, including Revolution’s Edge at the Old North Church. William Martin is a master of historical thrillers and is well known for his best-selling series of books starring the treasure hunter Peter Fallon.

Gabridge and Martin shed light on their process for researching little-known events and people, portraying history from a variety of viewpoints, the differences between writing plays and novels, and more.

January 24, 2024

Just a few years after the end of the American Revolution, another earth-shaking revolution erupted in France. When a Parisian crowd stormed the Bastille in July of 1789, it triggered the overthrow of the French monarchy and the birth of a new society. What sparked this momentous event?

In this online talk, the celebrated historian Robert Darnton offered a new explanation of how the French Revolution happened. Looking at gossip, street songs, graffiti, and underground newsletters over a period of 40 years, Darnton argued that Parisian popular media fed a widespread conviction that the regime had lost its legitimacy. By 1789, ordinary Parisians had developed a “collective temper” that readied them to take the great leap into a revolution.

December 14, 2023

Established in 1732, Old North Church’s crypt has received the mortal remains of wealthy aristocrats, revered clergy, and military heroes, along with those of ordinary citizens, and persons otherwise forgotten to history. 2023 marked the completion of an extensive preservation and restoration project in this historic crypt, which included the removal and restoration of sealed tomb doors. A team of archaeologists was there for this rare opportunity to document the tombs and the burials that lie within.

Jane Lyden Rousseau, an osteoarchaeologist and burials specialist who worked on this unique project, spoke about the intriguing finds archaeologists discovered during the recent renovation project, and how this work was conducted without disturbance to the burials. Learn about the strange and storied history of the burial crypt of the Old North Church, customs of death and burial in historic New England, and why for many a “final resting place” may not have always been final.

This talk includes mentions of death, burial, and human remains. No photographs of human remains will be shown out of respect for the deceased.

November 15, 2023

Jordan E. Taylor, author of Misinformation Nation: Foreign News and the Politics of Truth in Revolutionary America, led a fascinating virtual talk about “fake news” in the Revolutionary era.

America’s Founding Fathers are often praised for their wisdom and discernment. But like Americans today, they faced a mountain of misinformation. Their political choices, from resisting British authority to declaring independence to forming a new nation, depended in part on their understanding of what was happening in places like London, Paris, and Port-au-Prince. Lacking modern tools to verify news, the information they encountered about events abroad was often contradictory, confusing, and outright false. How did they navigate this challenge? Did misinformation help to spark the American Revolution?

October 22, 2023

Many people visit Boston’s historic burying grounds to see the monuments of historical figures like Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Crispus Attucks, Samuel Sewall, Prince Hall, and Cotton Mather. But few pause to read the inscriptions on the stones of other early “every day” Bostonians, whose names and lives are now long forgotten. For those who take the time to look and “listen” closely, these gravestones convey highly personal messages that not only reveal a glimpse into their personal lives, but also the literature that they read, the hymns they sang, and the poetry that moved them. These stones also can tell us a great deal about colonial Bostonians’ attitudes toward life, death, and eternity.

Burial ground expert John Hanson explored the history and poignancy of the Copp’s Hill Burial Ground epitaphs with a multimedia presentation at the Old North Church. The program illuminated history through the artistic disciplines of poetry, verse, and music.

October 19, 2023

In Dr. Jaimie Crumley’s Fall 2022 Speaker Series talk, she argued that the women of African descent who participated in Episcopal Churches during the British Colonial Period (roughly 1607-1783) primarily joined the church because of mixed feelings of desire and coercion. However, in this talk, Dr. Crumley demonstrated that the dynamic between women of African descent and Episcopal Churches in the urban North shifted after the American Revolution.

Starting in the 1780s, many northern states either abolished slavery (in the case of Massachusetts) or promised enslaved people their gradual emancipation. While coercion continued to define the lives of free people of color, the end of slavery offered more opportunities for them to explore their faith. In the early decades of freedom and quasi-freedom in the North, some women and men of African descent made Episcopal Churches in the urban North (including the Old North Church) their spiritual homes. In this talk, Dr. Crumley discussed how some women of color in the urban North participated in the Episcopal Church during the nineteenth century.

September 21, 2023

Between April 1775 and the early months of 1783, more than 75,000 colonists fled the upheaval of the Revolution for the protection of the British Empire. Nearly half of these refugees, including many New Englanders, landed on the rocky shores of Nova Scotia. The most prominent of these exiles called themselves “loyalists,” a label they fashioned to accentuate their own unwavering fidelity, and the broader collective’s shared dedication to maintaining Britain’s empire in North America. This title suggested a unified body with common goals, but it also erased the array of experiences, beliefs, ambitions, and even allegiances that these refugees brought with them.

Concentrating on a few loyalist families from the greater Boston area, including that of Rev. Mather Byles Jr., the rector of Old North Church until 1775, Dr. G. Patrick O’Brien of the University of Tampa explored what it meant to be a loyalist during the American Revolution. The talk paid special attention to how marginalized loyalists, including women and enslaved people, grappled with the hardships of wartime exile and the role these figures had in bringing families back to their American homes after the war.

May 10, 2023

When Old North Church opened its doors in 1723, it fanned the flames of a growing religious controversy over sacred singing. While Old North was Boston’s second Anglican Church, Massachusetts was dominated by Congregationalists who had strict rules about what type of music was appropriate for worship.

Old North’s massive new presence in Boston’s North End delivered a powerful ritual challenge to the city’s Congregationalists, none more important than the innovative psalm texts and tunes that its congregation sang at Sunday services. This talk from Dr. Stephen A. Marini of Wellesley College explores these little-known sacred song practices and their contexts from the earliest decades of Old North’s history.

March 23, 2023

Much ink has been spilled writing about Southern New England’s cultures, religions, and history. However, those writings have largely excluded Black and Indigenous New Englanders. Historians and literary theorists who study Black and Indigenous New Englanders have argued that our studies of eighteenth-century New England must include the stories of Black (people of African descent) and Indigenous (New England Indian) peoples. The research findings are decisive. Black and Native peoples in eighteenth-century New England had rich cultures that contributed as much to New England history as the English groups that settled in the region. Some of these Black and Indigenous peoples participated in the rituals of the Old North Church.

On March 23, we hosted a panel discussion on Zoom with historians Dr. Richard Boles, author of Dividing the Faith, and Dr. Margaret Newell, author of From Dependency to Independence and Brethren by Nature. Through their research and writing, Boles and Newell have offered new insights about religion, slavery, colonialism, and freedom in eighteenth-century New England. The panel’s moderator was Dr. Jaimie Crumley, the Research Fellow at Old North Illuminated.

February 22, 2023

As Americans weathered the turbulent days of the Revolutionary War and early republic, African Americans carved out their own religious and political spaces in the new nation. In this talk, Dr. Chernoh Sesay of DePaul University explored how enslaved and marginalized people of African descent fashioned community in unexpected places and played pivotal roles in historic change. Special attention was given to Black religious and political spaces in Boston, including the emergence of Prince Hall Freemasonry, a branch of Freemasonry for African Americans founded by the Beacon Hill abolitionist Prince Hall.

Drawing on archival material from Boston’s churches and recent scholarship, Dr. Sesay explored the themes of gender, ritual kinship, abolition, and emancipation in Black religious spaces. This talk also considered how the circumstances and contradictions of the American Revolutionary era were shaped by the religious and political experiences of African Americans.

January 25, 2023

In the midst of the American Revolution, a sensational “true crime” story shocked the people of Worcester, MA. Bathsheba Ruggles Spooner, the daughter of prominent Loyalist Timothy Ruggles, was convicted of conspiring with American and British soldiers to murder her husband. For this crime, she was hanged before a crowd of 5,000 spectators — despite being 5 months pregnant.

Why did the state exact such a brutal punishment on Bathsheba Spooner? Was it her family’s Loyalist leanings? Was it that she defied gender norms? Was it a reaction to the chaos of the war? Andrew Noone, the author of Bathsheba Spooner: A Revolutionary Murder Conspiracy, unpacked the volatile mix of cultural, economic, and political forces that led to Spooner’s disturbing demise.

November 17, 2022

In the familiar American account of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth were pious English refugees fleeing the tyranny of the Old World. They encountered “friendly Indians,” led by Chief Massasoit, who took pity on the bedraggled strangers, taught them how to plant corn and where to fish, and thereby helped them survive their first harsh winters in America. According to this telling of the story, Massassoit’s people helped the colonizers, joined them for a celebratory meal, and then moved offstage.

In this talk, Dr. David J. Silverman revealed the distortions of the Thanksgiving Myth and dived into the often overlooked history of the Wampanoag people. Dr. Silverman explored how the traditional Thanksgiving Myth has promoted the idea that Native people willingly ceded their country to the English to give rise to a white, Christian, democratic nation. The talk traced how the Wampanoags have lived—and told—a different history over the past four centuries.

October 26, 2022

The 1692 Salem trials are infamous for being the greatest witch hunt in American history. What led to these disastrous events? As Dr. Tad Baker explained, it took a perfect storm of factors, including religious discord, political factionalism, the worst weather of the century, and an abject failure of leadership.

In this talk, Dr. Baker unpacked the decisions made by Massachusetts leaders, including Salem’s local ministers, the panel of nine judges who heard the trial, and the governor who appointed them. As a professor of history at Salem State University and an expert on the trials, Dr. Baker untangled the tragic tale of Salem’s witchcraft hysteria.

September 21, 2022

As Dr. Jaimie Crumley, the Old North Foundation’s new Research Fellow, explained, there were two versions of the research question for this talk. The polite version was, “How and where are Black women’s and children’s stories found in the historical records of the Old North Church from 1723-1800?” The more honest version was, “What do you do when you go to the archives earnestly desiring to find stories of Black women and children in the Old North Church’s history and instead you find piles of pew deeds, hastily scribbled notes between friends about whether a piece of gray silk might make a pretty gown, and baptism records that frequently fail to account for baptized ‘negros’ by any name other than that of their enslavers?”

The second version of this research question responds to the historical record’s failure to account for Black women’s and children’s lives. This talk considered the silences about Black women and children in the Old North Church’s archival records and shared some of the Black feminist archival reading methods that allow us to expand the legibility of archival documents. This talk was part one of Dr. Crumley’s two-part series about research methods that allow us to discover Black women’s and children’s stories in the Old North Church’s archives.

July 28, 2022

With Boston’s identity as a port city, the Old North Church was shaped in many ways by the congregation’s relationship with the Atlantic world and maritime industry. Researcher T.J. Todd dived into the stories of two of Old North’s most famous seafaring congregants: Captain Samuel Nicholson, the first commander of the USS Constitution, and Captain Thomas Gruchy, the privateer who captured and donated the beautiful carved angels in the church’s gallery. T.J. explored how the reputations and fortunes of these two captains were made, and lost, via the Atlantic.

In addition to the exploits of these notable sea captains, the talk delved into the everyday lives of Boston’s sailors, which included Old North’s free and indentured Black congregants. T.J. went beyond the walls of the church for a portrait of the excitement and struggles of a life at sea in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

June 7, 2022

Julie Flavell’s new book, The Howe Dynasty, provides a ground-breaking reinterpretation of one of 18th century Britain’s most famous military families that forces us to imagine the Revolutionary War in ways that would have been previously inconceivable.

Delving into previously neglected letters of the sister of General William Howe and Admiral Richard Lord Howe, The Howe Dynasty explores the American War of Independence through the eyes of the Howe women. A riveting narrative, as well as a long-overdue reassessment of the entire Howe family, Flavell’s book is the first biography of a British ‘First Family’, whose members had as much at stake as the Washingtons and Adamses in the conflict that created the United States. Meet the men and women of the aristocratic Howe dynasty and hear their stories in a talk by the author that includes rare portraits.

Born in the U.S., Julie Flavell grew up in Massachusetts. Her lifelong interest in Anglo-American relations is reflected in her first book, When London Was Capital of America. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Flavell lives in Britain and has lectured at Dundee and Edinburgh Universities. Her latest book, The Howe Dynasty, was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice in August 2021 and is one of five Finalists for the 2022 George Washington Book Prize.

This event was hosted in partnership between:

National Parks of Boston

The Old North Foundation

Revolution 250

British Consulate-General in Boston

March 16, 2022

During the American Revolution, women were thrust into the difficulties and dangers of the war. With many men joining the militia, women found themselves in charge of family businesses and farms. This required them to learn new skills or take a more active role than they had previously. Some women became camp followers and performed duties such as mending and washing clothes, nursing sick or wounded soldiers, and preparing meals. They followed the men onto the battlefields and performed duties as needed, often risking their lives.

In this talk, Kathleen (K.M.) Waldvogel discussed her research for her middle-grade book, Spies, Soldiers, Couriers, & Saboteurs: Women of the American Revolution. During her work, she discovered fascinating stories of ordinary women who felt compelled to stand up for what they believed, including sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington who rode approximately 40 miles to warn the countryside of the British marching to Danbury, Connecticut.

Waldvogel focused on researching the stories of little-known women who felt the need to take an active role to help the Patriots defeat the British. As the title of her book suggests, many of these women contributed in unconventional ways.

January 26, 2022

In his 1829 Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World, the influential Black abolitionist David Walker wrote, “America is as much our country, as it is yours.” Yet, the conflict between belonging and excluding threads through our nation’s history from its beginning.

For the final digital speaker event that touches on David Walker’s life and legacy, Old North Foundation Executive Director Nikki Stewart moderated a panel discussion with some of Boston’s leading historians that explored questions such as:

• What does it mean to be a citizen?
• How has dominant culture limited perceptions of what it means to be “American”?
• How can communities assert belonging when their past has been erased?
• Can we collectively reclaim and restore those stories and experiences in a shared “American” history?

The Old North Foundation is committed to telling stories of active citizenship and courageous, compassionate leadership throughout history, and we are proud to have hosted this series of events on David Walker and his Appeal.

December 15, 2021

Artist, educator, and activist L’Merchie Frazier and playwright Peter Snoad discussed David Walker’s Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. This talk was the second in a three-part series dedicated to Walker, his work, and his legacy.

David Walker, a 19th-century Black abolitionist, was a fiery and unforgiving voice in the fight for freedom and an inspirational and influential leader of the abolitionist movement. In his 1829 Appeal, Walker called on enslaved people to revolt against their enslavers and compelled white Americans to recognize the moral depravity of slavery. Copies of this revolutionary pamphlet were sewn into the lining of sailors’ clothing in Boston and then smuggled into the South for distribution. The Appeal made a tremendous impact; giving hope to the enslaved and terrifying slaveholders.

In this talk, L’Merchie Frazier and Peter Snoad, both experts on Walker, analyzed his seminal text and considered how the Appeal’s charges of greed, hypocrisy, and indifference remain relevant today.

November 3, 2021

On the night of June 1, 1743, terror struck the schooner Rising Sun. After completing a routine smuggling voyage where the crew sold enslaved Africans in exchange for chocolate, sugar, and coffee in the Dutch colony of Suriname, the ship traveled eastward along the South American coast. Believing there was an opportunity to steal the lucrative cargo and make a new life for themselves, three sailors snuck below deck, murdered four people, and seized control of the vessel.

In this talk, historian Jared Ross Hardesty recounts the origins, events, and eventual fate of the Rising Sun’s final smuggling voyage in vivid detail. That story, as told in his new book, Mutiny on the Rising Sun: A Tragic Tale of Slavery, Smuggling, and Chocolate, was part of a multi-year, international research project that revealed the mutiny’s connection to the Old North Church. More significantly, the project uncovered an unknown part of Old North’s history: a connection to slavery and the slave trade.

Opening with what years of research uncovered about Old North, Hardesty narrates a deeply human history of smuggling, providing an incredible story of those caught in the webs spun by illicit commerce. The case generated a rich documentary record that illuminates an international chocolate smuggling ring, the lives of the crew and mutineers, and the harrowing experience of the enslaved people trafficked by the Rising Sun. Smuggling stood at the center of the lives of everyone involved with the business of the schooner. At once startling and captivating, the case of the Rising Sun shows how illegal trade created demand for exotic products like chocolate, and how slavery and smuggling are integral parts of Old North’s history.

March 31, 2021

Completing the United States Census is a core element of active citizenship. Census numbers impact community funding, representation in congress, and so much more. And yet, the history of the Census includes barriers to full participation. Although the United States Census is meant to be an unbiased and apolitical part of American democracy, it has been altered by popular opinion and fear numerous times in the past. Race is one such category that has changed consistently since the creation of the census. Gabby Womack examines how mixed-race Americans were erased from the census in 1930 and how it was connected to racial “passing”.

This presentation dives into the stories of “passers,” creation of race science, passing in pop culture, and the U.S. government’s attempt to stop this practice and erase the nuanced identities of mixed race people.

February 24, 2021

Author Nicholas A. Basbanes discusses the remarkable relationship of the celebrated 19th-century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and his wife, Frances Appleton Longfellow, the focus of his recent biography of the couple, Cross of Snow, which is set largely in Boston and Cambridge during the tumultuous years leading up to the Civil War. The couple’s marriage in 1843 represented a melding of two highly gifted and principled people whose shared values and deeply held convictions found expression and purpose in manifold ways, not least of which was the influence Fanny brought to bear on Henry’s creative process, serving, in her words, as “a pretty active spur upon his Pegasus.” Revered in his time as a “poet of the people,” Longfellow’s works were translated into more than 30 languages, memorized by millions of people, with lines that resonate to this day.

November 11, 2020

The story of Community Servings over the past 30 years is one of innovation, food justice and community building. Focused on providing scratch-made, medically tailored meals to critically and chronically ill neighbors across Massachusetts, the agency leverages thousands of volunteers to make 800,000 meals each year to serve individuals and families who are hungry, sick and isolated.

Through cutting edge research and advocacy, Community Servings is now partnering with 12 Massachusetts healthcare organizations to feed patients through their health insurance. Join us to learn more about the program and its unique, uplifting role in our community.

March 23, 2020

This interactive webinar-style program heard ten powerhouse women working in Boston today offer a 5-minute spotlight presentation on a visionary woman from Massachusetts history. Presentations explored the evolution of women’s professional identities and the ways in which each of these women have paved the way for equal rights. Afterward, the audience engaged in a community chat about intersectional feminism, pay equity, and what we can each do today to advocate for equal rights for all in the workplace.

Speakers: Casey Baines, Scarlett V. Hoey, Chloe Lin, Marie Palladino, Maddy Rodriguez, Jodie Smith, Jen Steele, Dina Vargo, Dr. Lisa Wong, and Rebecca Sivitz