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.

Take a deep dive into the American Revolution. Learn more about the new documentary from Ken Burns, GBH's America 250 collection, and other storiest that will further your knowledge about our nation's founding.

Two of Revere’s biographers make history fun in this animated conversation with the Executive Director of the Paul Revere House. They discuss all things Paul Revere — the man and the myth. While he is most famous today for the Midnight Ride, this talk will cover his life before and after the American Revolution.

Tune in here for our live stream on Tuesday at 6:30 pm.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren summoned Paul Revere and gave him the task of riding to Lexington, Massachusetts, with the news that British soldiers stationed in Boston were about to march into the countryside northwest of the town. The story of Revere's “Midnight Ride” has been told and retold over the past two and a half centuries, both as a historical event and as a national legend.This 3-part Lowell Lecture Series, presented by the Paul Revere Memorial Association, offers perspectives on the events of April 18, the various participants, and the lasting impact of the ride on our perspective today.Presented in partnership with GBH, the Suffolk University History Department, Old North Illuminated, Lexington History Museums, Evanston History Center at the Charles Gates Dawes House (Evanston, IL), and Made by Us, with funding from the Lowell Institute.All lectures are free and open to the public.