Janet Uhlar joined GBH All Things Considered host Arun Rath to talk about new insights from her book about the man who became president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress before being killed at the battle of Bunker Hill at the age of 34.

Fourth of July event organizers hope this year’s celebrations can bring people together, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Gil Rose joined GBH’s All Things Considered to offer his playlist picks for a special edition of Turntable.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to talk about his new graphic novel.

Boston By Foot was founded in 1976 by architectural enthusiast Polly Flansburgh and will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary this year to coincide with Boston 250th.

You’re invited to the premiere screening of “Promises of the Revolution,” a short-film series partnership between GBH and Mass Humanities.

This event celebrates the power of narrative and storytelling to offer a fresh perspective on the 250th celebration of the American revolution, reimagines our democracy, and brings communities together.

The four “Promises of the Revolution” films chronicle the efforts of present-day Massachusetts residents – from Marblehead to Mashpee - to hold the nation and themselves to the ideals that birthed the Revolution. Weaving together history with the challenges many communities face today, the documentaries show the diverse ways that young writers, Indigenous leaders, archivists, historians and artists tackle the 250th with creativity and courage. Their stories give viewers a window into the way history is made, who writes it, and why it matters to hear from those often left out of the telling.

This film series represents a new partnership between GBH and MassHumanities and reflects their mutual public missions to explore the ideas, people and places that shape the commonwealth.

“Promises” is based on four projects supported by Mass Humanities and conducted by Queer History Boston, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, WordPowered and the Marblehead Museum. The films were produced by Raeshma Razvi, with individual shorts directed by Wes DeShano, Evan Goodchild, and Steven Peters. The films are made possible through support from MA250 and the Eastern Bank Foundation. Promises of the Revolution was created in partnership between GBH and Mass Humanities. The program will premiere Thursday, July 2 at 9pm ET as part of GBH Local Lens.

Please join the filmmakers and the subjects and organizations featured in the documentaries for a half-hour screening and discussion, and evening reception.

Massachusetts spent its first 250 years inventing the country. Independence started here. So did public education, the telephone, the polio vaccine, the World Wide Web's first American node, and a long line of the institutions and ideas the rest of the country grew up using. Where Liberty Sparks Innovation is a one-day gathering at GBH about what this state helps invent in the next 250. The people, technologies, and institutions that carry the experiment forward to America at 500.

The day is part of Our America 250, a statewide initiative honoring the Revolution's quarter-millennium by treating it as a starting line rather than a finish. The program convenes scientists, founders, civic leaders, artists, educators, and organizers — including voices the first 250 years left out — for the kind of cross-generational conversation Massachusetts has always been good at hosting.

These talks will look to the future, and serve as living digital time capsules to be reviewed and acted on for the next 250 years.



SCHEDULE
Further details on the event schedule and line-up of speakers can be found here.

• 3:00 PM - Welcome Remarks
• 3:05 PM - Block 1
• 4:05 PM - Break
• 4:25 PM - Block 2
• 5:30 PM - Break
• 5:55 PM - Block 3
• 6:55 PM - Closing Remarks

Some higher ed institutions have developed curricular programs within a liberal arts curriculum for civic education, ranging from courses to majors and even schools. Political scientist Josiah Ober moderates a discussion focused on the importance of introducing primary sources, grounding teaching in great works of literature and why it’s important to include lived experience into the classroom. Panelists also highlighted the significance of developing cultural competency to make historic sources relevant and how prioritizing students’ critical thinking and reflection in the classroom is essential.

Marking the 250th anniversary of the United States’s founding is as big, varied, and complex as America itself — that’s why GBH’s Debra Adams Simmons, Editor-in-Chief of Special Editorial Projects, is managing the multiple threads of GBH’s America 250 initiative. A year-long effort to capture the stories that comprise this nation’s history in all its breadth, depth, and complexity, America 250 has enlisted the efforts of all of GBH’s national series and local services. We sat down with Debra to talk about the goals of America 250, what audiences can expect from the initiative, and the importance of exploring the untold narratives in American history.

Jennifer Moore, GBH News’ Statewide and Features Editor, is on the move. At the helm of the Connecting the Commonwealth initiative, a statewide news-sharing journalistic partnership between GBH News, CAI (Cape and Islands Radio) and NEPM (New England Public Media), Moore’s beat extends from Provincetown to Pittsfield, and everywhere in between. Now in its second year, the collaborative is sharing stories multiple times a day and producing in-depth feature series on matters of statewide significance. We sat down with Moore to learn about the trailblazing journalism that Connecting the Commonwealth has produced so far, and where it’s headed next.