The Boston Massacre: A Family History

When:
Thursday, Mar 05, 2020 6:00p -
7:00p

Where:
Boston Public Library, Central Library in Copley Square, Rabb Hall
700 Boylston St
Boston, MA 02116

EventScheduled OfflineEventAttendanceMode

Admission:
FREE

Categories:
History, Lectures & Conferences

Event website:
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/events/5d93922f0619732400d2dd1b

Join us on the 250th anniversary of the Boston Massacre to hear the dramatic untold ‘people’s history’ of the storied event that helped trigger the American Revolution


The story of the Boston Massacre—when on a late winter evening in 1770, British soldiers shot five local men to death—is familiar to generations. But from the very beginning, many accounts have obscured a fascinating truth: the Massacre arose from conflicts that were as personal as they were political.


Professor Serena Zabin draws on original sources and lively stories to follow British troops as they are dispatched from Ireland to Boston in 1768 to subdue the increasingly rebellious colonists. And she reveals a forgotten world hidden in plain sight: the many regimental wives and children who accompanied these armies. We see these families jostling with Bostonians for living space, finding common cause in the search for a lost child, trading barbs and and sharing baptisms. Becoming, in other words, neighbors. When soldiers shot unarmed citizens in the street, it was these intensely human, now broken bonds that fueled what quickly became a bitterly fought American Revolution. Zabin’s The Boston Massacre delivers an indelible new slant on iconic American Revolutionary history.


SERENA ZABIN is a professor of history and director of the American studies program at Carleton College. Her books include Dangerous Economies: Status and Commerce in Imperial New York and she is also the codesigner of a forthcoming serious video game about the Boston Massacre, Witness to the Revolution.

Share this event

Add to:

Reddit
03/05/2020 18:00:00 03/05/2020 19:00:00 America/New_York The Boston Massacre: A Family History Join us on the 250th anniversary of the Boston Massacre to hear the dramatic untold ‘people’s history’ of the storied event that helped trigger the American Revolution The story of the Boston Ma...

https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/the-boston-massacre-a-family-history Boston Public Library, Central Library in Copley Square, Rabb Hall, Boston, MA 02116 false MM/DD/YYYY

Sponsored events