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From Puritans to Catholics: Religion in Boston’s North End
This 3-part series From Puritans to Catholics: Religion in Boston’s North End examines how shifts in religious traditions impacted cultural expression, demographics, political affiliations and economic status in the North End.Presented by the Paul Revere House in partnership with GBH, Suffolk University, Old North Illuminated and the North End Historical Society with funding from the Lowell Institute. -
Dean King With Guardians Of The Valley: John Muir And The Friendship That Saved Yosemite
The dramatic and uplifting story of legendary outdoorsman and conservationist JohnMuir’s quest to protect one of America’s most magnificent landscapes, Yosemite.
“Everybody needs beauty, as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” —John Muir
In this portrait of a place, a time, and a movement, the bestselling author Dean King takes us behind the scenes, to the beginning of America’s love affair with Yosemite Valley. In June of 1889 in San Francisco, John Muir—iconic environmentalist, writer, and philosopher—met face-to-face with his longtime editor Robert Underwood Johnson, an elegant and influential figure at The Century magazine. Before long, the pair ventured to Yosemite Valley, the magnificent site Muir had visited twenty years earlier. There, they confronted a shocking vision, as predatory mining, tourism, and logging industries had plundered and defaced “the grandest of all the special temples of Nature.” The rest is history: that watershed moment led to the creation of Yosemite National Park, and launched an environmental battle that at once captivated the nation and ushered in the beginning of the American environmental movement. Join us for King’s illustrated presentation of his riveting new book, Guardians of the Valley, “a rich, enjoyable excursion into a seminal period in environmental history.” (The Wall Street Journal)Partner:American Ancestors Boston Public Library -
60 years later, the March on Washington continues to shape America's identity
As the country experiences continued efforts to roll back the gains of the civil rights movement, we analyze what has and hasn't changed since the 1963 March, and what progress would look like going forward. -
78 years after bombing of Nagasaki, health experts raise alarm over risk of nuclear war
"Nuclear war is something which cannot be treated after the fact. It must be prevented." -
Behind a monument to white men lies the history of soldiers of color at Bunker Hill
About 150 Black and Indigenous people fought in the famous battle. -
Paul Revere never owned slaves, but he still benefited from the slave trade
The home was built by a merchant named Robert Howard, who enslaved as many as five people. -
Crispus Attucks was once enslaved, but you wouldn't know it from some Freedom Trail tours
In the historic Granary Burying Ground, there is no mention of the Boston Massacre victim's ancestry. -
The architect behind the Massachusetts State House used slave labor on the US Capitol
Charles Bulfinch also came from a family of enslavers. -
Faneuil Hall, named for a slave trader, now has an exhibit on Boston's history of slavery
Peter Faneuil's fortune was built on an Atlantic shipping business intimately tied to the slave trade. -
More than 1,000 unidentified Black people are buried in Boston's second oldest cemetery
Copp's Hill Burying Ground contains few details of the free and enslaved Black people buried there.