Tag: 250th anniversary

  • ‘Voices of Dorchester’ event will bring Revolutionary War stories to life for 250th anniversary 

    The “Voices of Dorchester” program on April 11 presented by Historic New England and the Dorchester Historical Society aims to amplify stories from the time period using diaries, letters and personal accounts…

    In Dorchester, history isn’t just confined to museums. It can be found in the old houses people pass on their way to work and in the stories passed down from historical figures to present-day residents. 

    The “Voices of Dorchester” program presented by Historic New England and the Dorchester Historical Society aims to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution this year by bringing stories from the time period to life using diaries, letters and personal accounts. 

    The event, on April 11 at the Adams Street Branch of the Boston Public Library, will allow attendees to delve into the history of those who lived in Dorchester before them.

    “I want people to see these places differently,” said Carole Mooney, secretary of the Dorchester Historical Society.  

    “When you’re leaving Star Market and you notice that boarded-up house across the street, instead of thinking, ‘Oh, what an old, dilapidated building,’ maybe you say, ‘That’s where Lieutenant Colonel Badlam’s family lived,’” she added.

    p9 Pierce House REP 8-23.png

    The event will begin at the library with presentations from both historical groups, then will go into an optional tour of the nearby historic home (above) of Colonel Samuel Pierce, a Dorchester farmer and militia leader who participated in the fortification of Dorchester Heights — a key moment in the war. 

    Pierce’s correspondences and journals are the backbone of the program, said Kate Hooper, the school program manager at Pierce House.

    “Often when we hear about the Revolutionary War, we think about the famous names … but we often don’t remember that it was just these everyday farmers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, weavers that were really the ones putting a lot at risk,” Hooper said. 

    She noted that the primary source documents directly connect with what elementary grade students are learning about local history and about the American Revolution.

    The event will also show correspondences from prominent figures in the American Revolution, like George Washington and Alexander Hamilton. 

    Attendees are encouraged to bring any historical correspondences from Dorchester residents dating back to the American Revolution they may have as the groups work to document the community history. 

    “This is what you won’t get in your history books,” Mooney said. 

    “Voices of Dorchester” takes place April 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Adams Street Branch of the Boston Public Library. Register here. 

    This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Hundreds celebrated 250th anniversary of Evacuation Day on Dorchester Heights

    Hundreds celebrated 250th anniversary of Evacuation Day on Dorchester Heights

    Above: Revolutionary War reenactors fire their muskets at the city. The guns were only loaded with powder, not actual bullets. Photo by Truman Dickerson 

    Hundreds of people and dozens of Revolutionary War reenactors on Tuesday, March 17 celebrated the 250th anniversary of the British evacuation from Boston with cannon fire, musket volleys and war cries on Dorchester Heights in present-day South Boston.

    “I’m really grateful as governor that so many people understand the importance of celebrating our history,” Governor Maura Healey said at the event. “If we don’t know our history, we’re not going to know where we need to go in the future.” 

    The event, organized by the South Boston Citizens’ Association and the National Park Service, commemorated a military maneuver by George Washington at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, where he and his soldiers secretly placed artillery pieces on the Dorchester Heights, which overlook downtown Boston.

    “British forces wake up, and they see all of this new stuff on top of Dorchester Heights, and they’re like, ‘Oh, what are we going to do?” Lou Rocco, director of museum operations and experience at Revolutionary Spaces, a history museum in downtown Boston, said in an interview.  

    Rocco said a snowstorm halted an initial British assault aimed at dislodging the guns, and that Washington and the British commander, General William Howe, eventually reached a “gentleman’s agreement” by which Howe agreed to evacuate his troops without laying waste to the city. 

    Washington, in turn, agreed not to fire on Howe’s forces.

    “Had [Washington] chosen to shell the city from Dorchester Heights, it would have been devastating for the town, for the British army stationed there, and for the many British naval ships,” Rocco added. 

    On Tuesday, elected officials from across Massachusetts joined park rangers, historians and reenactors on the hilltop to mark the occasion and to emphasize the enduring legacy of the colonists’ fight for freedom. 

    “Here is where they stood together, here with a common purpose, which was nothing less than liberty itself,” Representative Stephen Lynch, of Massachusetts’ Eighth congressional district, said at the event. “Hardworking families from across the colonies, rebelling against the King of England.”

    Brad Bittenbender, a 77-year-old member of the Sons of the American Revolution, said it was a “form of public service” to carry a musket, don colonial regimental garb and participate in mock drills on the hilltop.

    “Our mission is to keep alive the basis of this country, what it was founded on,” the Wrentham native said. “To remember the patriots who made that possible … to have the freedom that we have today.”

    Redcoats man the cannons. Credit: Truman Dickerson

    In order to join the Sons of the American Revolution, applicants must prove direct lineage to a colonial soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War.

    “We don’t refer to ourselves as reenactors,” Bittenbender said. “We are direct descendants of Revolutionary War patriots.”

    In Bittenbender’s Massachusetts regiment, uniforms are custom-made by a tailor in the state who takes measurements of each man. Bittenbender’s officers’ uniform cost him $1,200, and his musket, an Italian-made replica of the standard British pattern of the time, costs $900, he said. 

    “This has already been shot six times today,” he said, cocking the rifle’s hammer.  

    After the last speech of the afternoon, given by Tarona Armstrong, the superintendent of National Parks of Boston, a few dozen reenactors lined up in formation and manned cannons aimed at downtown Boston. 

    After an order was given, the guns (which were not loaded with actual cannonballs) went off with deafening bangs. Then, groups of reenactors, who were separated by state, raised their muskets and leveled them toward Boston’s skyline before firing them too.

    Bittenbender, asked if there was any bad blood between his Massachusetts regiment and those dressed in British uniforms, chuckled.

    “We don’t really think about that,” he said.

    This story is a product of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

    A mounted reenactor circles the hill. He was trailed by a National Park employee, who picked up the animal’s droppings with a large shovel. Credit: Truman Dickerson