Join the 17th Century
Explore the story of early Boston, Massachusetts, and the wider 17TH century world
the past is now
Across the New England, we see the signs of a war commonly described - if it is described at all - as a colonial conflict of the distant past. But is it? Our very landscape brings it into the 21st century.
Historical markers, the use of mascots portraying Indigenous people, the loss of land and sovereignty, a historical narrative that cancels Indigenous experience: on its 350th anniversary, King Philip’s War is still as present as ever.
Join us, on Tuesday, March 24, from 6-7:30pm ET, for The Past is Now, an inter-tribal panel discussing how this deadliest of American wars is still with us today. With us in person at the main Cambridge Public Library and online will be:
Hartman Deetz, Mashpee Wampanoag
Brad Lopes, Aquinnah Wampanoag
Elizabeth Solomon, Massachusett at Ponkapoag
and Brittney Walley, Hassananmisco Nipmuc.
The Past is Now is the second presentation in our series on King Philip’s War, Metacom’s Resistance, a long overdue look at the war that determined the shape not only of New England, but the US.
A special deal for you!
It’s not officially published for a few more months, but supporters of PHB - that’s you! - can order a copy of Brown University historian Linford Fisher’s stunning new book, Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in US History (New York: Liveright, 2026) at a massive 50% discount.
The bookshop price is $39.99. For PHB supporters, the price is $20, plus postage and packing.
“Vivid, insightful, provocative”… “a masterful history”… “a stunning reorientation of continental history [which] lays bare the theft of Native lands and bodies” are just some of the reviews. Have a look, too, at independent scholar Lori Rogers-Stokes’ review on our READ page, here.
The price is $20 if you want it brought to you at one of our four in-person events or $26.25 if you’d like it mailed to you.
To order a copy, you can:
send us a check marked “book” - with your address if we need to mail it, or with an indication of which event you’ll be attending in person so we can hand it to you. OR
pay by credit card or PayPal, here - also indicating that you’ll pick it up, and at which event, or whether we should mail it.
Register for Lin Fisher’s April 8 talk on enslavement and King Philip’s War, here.
Any questions? Email us at phbostons@gmail.com.
their marks, their lives
“What do you see in these marks?” asks Kimberly Toney, coordinating curator for Native and Indigenous materials at the John Carter Brown Library and John Hay Library at Brown University. “What do they make visible? And what responsibilities come with knowing all this?”
Those of us who read traditional accounts of early New England history are accustomed to erasure - the invisibility of Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands in traditional accounts, except perhaps as greeters of colonists on the shore or aggressors at war. Kim Toney’s important project on Instagram and Tumblr, Their Marks, shows that, on the contrary, Indigenous people were present in all aspects of life, as their signatures, or marks, testify. Their marks are a sign of agency and survivance.
Read Kim Toney’s important blog post, here, and see the marks of twelve Indigenous people of the Eastern Woodlands, whose lives we explore in our series on King Philip’s War, Metacom’s Resistance.
Kim Toney will appear as part of an inter-tribal panel exploring the costs and consequences of King Philip’s War in the final event of the series, at the main Boston Public Library and livestreamed, on Thursday, May 28, 5:30-7:30pm ET. Sign up for The Long Legacy here.
This is one of few known written records, in his own hand, of Metacom, or Philip, Wampanoag sachem who led Indigenous resistance. Philip, sachem of the Wampanoag. Quitclaim by Philip, Rehoboth, MA. From the collections of the John Carter Brown Library.
Events
the past is now
hartman deetz, brad lopes, elizabeth solomon and brittney walley
IN PERSON, CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY, TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2026, 6-7:30PM ET, AND LIVESTREAMED
It’s been a little over 350 years since the outbreak of King Philip’s War in Swansea, Rhode Island. So why are we still concerned with it? Isn’t it a relic of a distant past? Not so, says this panel of Indigenous speakers. For Native people, King Philip’s War is still deeply present. Join this panel discussion in person or online for an insightful, important awakening to the way that this history marks us all today. In collaboration with the Cambridge Public Library and History Cambridge.
“We need a full and honest
reckoning with our history.”
— attendee, Tyranny vs Liberty series
rebellion or resistance?
Once histories of King Philip’s War spoke of “skulking Indians” and “perfidious heathens.” Now, inspired and inspiring new scholarship is turning that narrative upside down. Maryann Zujewski offers an essential list of primary, secondary, digital and other materials, including tribal websites of presenters in our Metacom’s Resistance series, to help you continue the journey in finding out what really happened.
are you a reader?
If your answer is yes, well - we are readers, too. That’s why we’ve created our READ page, to tempt you to read more! Find out supporter David Achenbach’s view of Edmund Morgan’s The Puritan Family - still in print after 60 years - and author Lori Rogers-Stokes on Lin Fisher’s new book on enslavement. And don’t forget to join our virtual book club!
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