Join the 17th Century
Explore the story of early Boston, Massachusetts, and the wider 17TH century world
Time to change history!
Ta dah! We’re delighted to announce that the City of Boston has awarded the Partnership of Historic Bostons, following a joint application with Upstander Project and Elizabeth Solomon of the Massachusetts of Ponkapoag, a grant to identify sites for new historical markers in Boston. Just under a century ago, the Founders Memorial depicting improbably heroic and robust colonists and equally improbably kneeling Native men in Midwest garb was installed on the Boston Common. Where, we will ask, are the memorials to the Native people whose land this was?
Of course, there is a plethora of historic sites all over Boston that have been heretofore unnoticed. The site of the home of Zipporah Atkin, the first Black woman recorded to have owned her own property in the 17th century. The place where Cotton Mather’s house was bombed after he championed smallpox vaccination. The Boston Common itself, where dozens of Native men were hanged during King Philip’s War - in addition to witches, criminals and Quakers.
We’ll be in touch to ask you what historic sites you think need to be memorialised today. We’ll be sending you a survey as we start our research. Boston is bursting with history and, with with your help and Upstander Project and Elizabeth Solomon of the Massachusetts at Ponkapoag, we’ll help to put more unknown voices on the Boston map. Stay tuned!
Image: The Founders Memorial on the Boston Common, installed in 1930 and improbably bearing the visage of then-Mayor James Michael Curley, as well as inaccurate depictions of two Native men. Wikimedia Commons.
we’ve got just the right summer outing for you
Heading for the beach, but need a bit of history heft? We’ve got the answer. Join our Summer Season of walking tours, book discussions and - brand new!! - watch parties on social media. Summer ennui? Not a chance.
Here’s what we’ve got for you:
Our fun, fabulous and fascinating walking tours of the historic centre of Boston. We’ve got our tried and true 1630: From Shawmut to Boston, as you walk in the footsteps of the first people of Shawmut and the first colonial founders. We present, too, our new walking tour, Smallpox: To Vax or Not to Vax, the story of a disease that devastated Native people and prompted the bombing of the home of Cotton Mather, author of rules for enslaved people and a proponent of vaccination.
Book discussions of award-winning historian Gloria Whiting’s elegant, profound account of how enslaved New Englanders preserved their family connections - even while they were in different homes. Join book club leader Evana Tamayo to delve into Belonging: An Intimate History of Slavery and Family in Early New England.
And PHB watch parties! Our social media guru Denise Connor welcomes you to watch and discuss (that is, text) on Bluesky and YouTube three of the most outstanding presentations in our backlist. Long before 1776, and starting in England, there was a clamour for rights, rebellion and a republic.
Grab your beach towel, sunglasses and sunscreen, and join us for our summer season, here! We return with presentations in the autumn.
Image: Summer isn’t summer without… history. Wikimedia Commons..
Events
“Land as an IDOL”
Daniel Richter with Brad Lopes
ONLINE, SEPTEMBER 30, 2026, 5:30-7:30PM
Age of Exploration, papal bulls, terra nullius? What were the justifications that English Puritans used to explain their expropriation of Native land? Renowned historian Daniel Richter tackles the question of justification in an exploration of theory and practice of colonial land annexation. “Land! Land! Hath been the Idol of Many in New-England,” lamented Puritan clergyman Increase Mather. Join this trenchant presentation, moderated by Aquinnah Wampanoag educator Brad Lopes.
“We need a full and honest
reckoning with our history.”
— attendee, Tyranny vs Liberty series
Change at Peskeompskut
In May 2026, hundreds of people gathered to mourn the slaughter of 300 elders, women and children by colonial forces at Turners Falls, in one of the worst atrocities in King Philip’s War. But this Day of Remembrance was not just about mourning. It marked the telling of the truthful story of the massacre, as Liz Cold Wind Santana-Kiser and David Brule relate.
JOIN OUR BOOK CLUB!
Eloquent, powerful, original, both sweeping and intimate - how many more words of praise can we offer Gloria Whiting’s Belonging? Read with us as we delve into the way enslaved Black people struggled to marry and form families - and to keep those families intact - and how their struggle helped to end Massachusetts slavery. Join us Sat, September 5!
surprising revolutionaries
New England Puritans insisted on self-government, bearing with them their charter. They drafted the first American bill of rights, enshrining liberties which far surpassed any in the English-speaking world. Who would have thought that Puritans could be so revolutionary? Francis J. Bremer explores the 1641 Body of Liberties and its guarantee of due process, the right to protest, and equality under the law.
“This talk opened a new world for me.”
— attendee, ‘I Pledge Allegiance’: Sovereignty and Sanctuary in the Dawnland