Join the 17th Century
Explore the story of early Boston, Massachusetts, and the wider 17TH century world
disreputable ancestors
Just four years from now, Boston will hold its 400th anniversary. Is it the moment to question our past? Join us this Sunday, September 13, at 11am, for a thoughtful, even provocative, sermon by the Rev. Stephanie May at First Church Boston, 66 Marlborough St., Boston, on the 396th anniversary of the naming of the city.
What do we think of the Puritans today? Are they the heroes long lauded in the American origin story? Should we question the past? What relevance do they have today? How disreputable are they, really?
We hope to see you this Sunday for Stephanie May’s sure-to-be superb sermon. We’ll all be there! Look for the PHB team with the pink name tags.
To mark this anniversary, we’re offering FOR FREE! our new Smallpox in Boston walking tour. Meet at Park Street Station, 1pm pronto. Sign up here!
We’re also delighted to announce Puritans in the 21st Century: Politics, Myths and the Future, a day-long symposium on November 7 on Puritans and their relevance today. Are they the first Christian Nationalists, as some claim? What would John Winthrop have to say about the state of our politics? Why can’t we budge the myths about the Puritans as fun-hating, sex-loathing, grim-faced martinets.
Given in honor of the scholar Francis J. Bremer, whom many of you know from his brilliant presentations for PHB, this symposium is being hosted by six leading Massachusetts organisations: American Ancestors, the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the Congregational Library, First Church Boston, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Partnership of Historic Bostons.
Register now to join brilliant scholars including Holly Brewer, John Coffey, David Hall, Abram Van Engen, Daniel Richter and Adrian Chastain Weimer in the gorgeous setting of the American Ancestors building in downtown Boston.
A disreputable ancestor? Puritan founder and Massachusetts governor John Winthrop as interpreted by an Andy Warhol fan.
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.
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