Revolutionary Boston Gift Shops
The Revolutionary Boston Museum Stores are in three convenient locations, offering the Freedom Trail’s best selection of books, maps, revolutionary-era flags, cool souvenirs and one-of-a-kind gifts.
206 Washington Street, Boston
Open 9AM – 5PM
(open until 6PM Memorial Day – Labor Day)
Lower Level, 4 South Market Street, Boston
Open Mon – Sat 10AM – 9PM,
Sun 11AM – 6PM
While today voting is seen as the number one way to be involved in the political process, the right to vote was not open to the majority of the population in the 18th century. What was accessible, instead, was the right to petition.
Cliff Odle has made a career of being a storyteller. He is an actor, director, playwright, and educator, specializing in teaching playwrighting and acting at Bates College. For his new play The Petition, opening August 12 at the Old State House, he focuses on Prince Hall, and sharing the struggles of a man—and a people—who are often relegated to the background of the story of the nation’s founding.
In preparation for the return of Cato & Dolly, we spoke to playwright Patrick Gabridge about finding the humanity in history, how people react to theatre in a museum, and the Hancock Vice Presidency that might have been.
Not everone in the Hancock household enjoyed the same rights and freedoms as that famous signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The nonprofit boards governing Boston’s Old State House and Old South Meeting House have voted to pursue a merger that will strengthen their shared commitment to maintain and enhance visitor experiences in and around the two historic Freedom Trail sites long into the future.
In preparation for an exhibit here in the Old State House, we are partnering with the Preservation Carpentry Program at the North Bennet Street School to recreate the front entrance to John Hancock’s long-demolished mansion. The students of the Preservation Carpentry program are truly artists as well as craftspeople, and the range of techniques they are employing throughout this project is amazing. From timber framing to detailed carving, we never cease to be amazed at their skill, every time our staff visits their workshop.
In preparation for an exhibit here in the Old State House, we are partnering with the Preservation Carpentry Program at the North Bennet Street School to recreate the front entrance to John Hancock’s long-demolished mansion. This post marks the beginning of a new blog series detailing that process.
This post is the final part of a series exploring the legacy of Crispus Attucks, the first victim of the Boston Massacre. These posts were written by students in the Master of Public History program at Northeastern University. Crispus Attucks was an enslaved man of African and Native American heritage about whom little is known, but his legacy has been important to successive generations of Americans. For more information about the life and legacy of Crispus Attucks, see First Martyr of Liberty: Crispus Attucks in American Memory by Mitch Kachun (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Sunday August 25 marks the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in the English colonies of North America. This day will be commemorated as a day of healing and reconciliation marked by the ringing of bells across the country. The Bostonian Society has several bells in its collection, one of which has ties to this history.