Event

Tour of Boston Monuments

Friday, October 9, 2020 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
At MHS
Eleanor Citron

In recent history, the question of what to do with monuments--particularly those of Confederate origins--has become a source of contentious debate. The City of Boston only possessed one such monument on Georges Island, however, it was removed in 2017. Does this mean that Boston no longer possesses any problematic statues? In the words of Boston Globe journalist Ty Burr, “Are Boston’s statues honoring all the right men?” And, who gets to decide?

Join Eleanor Citron, MHS’s summer intern, for a virtual tour of Metro Boston’s monuments--from those championed by the city, to those beheaded or uprooted, and things in between.

This is an online program

Upcoming Events

Social Reform and Identity Formation in the 17th Century - A Panel Discussion
Social Reform and Identity Formation in the 17th Century - A Panel Discussion
Hybrid / NOTE: times are shown in EST
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM EST
This panel investigates forms of social control in 17th century New England. Arthur George Kamya’s paper examines the regulation of distilled liquor in 17th century Massachusetts Bay Colony, exploring how authorities navigated competing moral, economic, and security imperatives. Initially targeting a cross-section of colonists, liquor laws evolved to focus on servants, Native Americans, and eventually African Americans. The colony's approach shifted from moral censure to pragmatic revenue generation, with officials using fines and licenses to fund government operations. Kamya’s study illuminates how alcohol regulation became a tool of social control, state-building, and the construction of racial hierarchies in colonial New England, offering insights into the complex interplay between commerce, governance, and identity formation in early America. As discussed in Alice King’s work, Connecticut adopted a notable strategy towards certain Indigenous populations during the initial decades of settlement, attempting to control and exploit Native communities by turning them into colonial tributaries who would provide essential supplies, wampum, and military aid. King’s paper considers the evolution of tributary politics at the end of the seventeenth century after the Dominion of New England and Glorious Revolution had destabilized colonial authority and left colonists vulnerable to attack by French and Native forces, including the Wabanaki Confederacy during King William’s War, 1689-1697, when Connecticut leaders sought to raise soldiers for New England’s defense from these historic tributary communities.
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