Author: jake

Harvard Harnesses the Heavens (episode 158)

Since we “fell back” to Standard Time this past weekend, Boston has been forced to adjust to 4:30 sunsets.  To help us understand why the sun sets so early in Boston in the winter and what we could do about it, we’re going to replay a classic episode about how the idea of time zones and standard time was born in Boston, with the help of the Harvard Observatory.  And because we’re talking about the observatory, we have to share the story of the women who worked as human computers at the Harvard Observatory.


Continue reading Harvard Harnesses the Heavens (episode 158)

Girl in Black and White: the Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement, with Jessie Morgan-Owens (episode 157)

We’re joined this week by Dr. Jessie Morgan-Owens, who called from New Orleans to discuss her book Girl in Black and White: The Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement. Mary was born into slavery in Virginia, the child of an enslaved mother and father. Through the remarkable efforts of her father, the entire family was emancipated when Mary was 7 years old. Shortly thereafter, Mary caught the eye of Senator Charles Sumner. Her complexion was light enough for her to pass as white, making her a powerful political symbol for the abolitionist cause. The books details her life and deep ties to the Boston area.


Continue reading Girl in Black and White: the Story of Mary Mildred Williams and the Abolition Movement, with Jessie Morgan-Owens (episode 157)

The Atlas of Boston History, with Nancy Seasholes (episode 156)

We’re joined this week by Nancy Seasholes, editor of the new book The Atlas of Boston History, which just came out on Thursday.  It’s a historic atlas of Boston that covers the period from the last ice age, right up to the present day.  It contains essays contributed by a wide range of well regarded local historians, as well as many written by Seasholes herself.  However, what sets this book apart is its beauty. As the name Atlas indicates, it is richly illustrated with maps, charts, diagrams, infographics, historical photos, paintings, and more.  It’s a book that I will use as a reference far into the future, and one that any of my fellow Boston history nerds will love.


Continue reading The Atlas of Boston History, with Nancy Seasholes (episode 156)

The City State of Boston, with Mark Peterson (episode 155)

We’re joined this week by Yale history professor Mark Peterson to talk about his new book The City State of Boston: The Rise and Fall of an Atlantic Power, 1630-1865.  In the interview, Professor Peterson will tell us why he believes that, from its settlement a century and a half before the US Constitutional government was founded until the end of the US Civil War, Boston had a political, economic, and social identity completely independent from the rest of what is now the United States.  He’ll also tell us surprising stories about money in early Boston, a French-born British army officer who embodied Boston’s relationship with Acadia, and what it meant for Boston to be a slave society where the enslaved people were kept out of sight. 


Continue reading The City State of Boston, with Mark Peterson (episode 155)

Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston, with Millington Bergeson-Lockwood (episode 154)

Historian Millington Bergeson-Lockwood, author of Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston, joins us this week to talk about the evolution of partisanship and political loyalty among Boston’s African American community, from just after the Civil War until the turn of the 20th century.  It was a period that at first promised political and economic advancement for African Americans, but ended with the rise of lynching and codified Jim Crow laws. It was also a period that began with near universal support for Lincoln’s Republican party among African Americans, with Frederick Douglass commenting “the Republican party is the ship and all else is the sea.”  However, after decades of setbacks and roadblocks on the path of progress, many began to question their support of the GOP, and some tried to forge a new, non-partisan path to Black advancement. Dr. Bergeson-Lockwood will tell us how the movement developed and whether it ultimately achieved its goals.  


Continue reading Race Over Party: Black Politics and Partisanship in Late Nineteenth-Century Boston, with Millington Bergeson-Lockwood (episode 154)

The Snow Hurricane (episode 153)

Before the Bomb Cyclone, before Superstorm Sandy, a historically severe storm hit Boston in 1804.  Meteorologists say that the tropical cyclone would be counted as a category 2 hurricane today, with winds of 96 to 110 miles per hour.  It wasn’t just the wind that made 1804 storm so memorable, although the wind was damaging enough, causing problems for industries representing a large sector of the early 19th economy and wrecking buildings that are major Freedom Trail attractions today.  What made the storm so memorable was the fact that it was the first known tropical cyclone to carry snow, giving it the enduring nickname, the Snow Hurricane.


Continue reading The Snow Hurricane (episode 153)

Women and Witchcraft (episode 152)

Between 1648 and 1688, four women were executed for witchcraft in Boston and Dorchester. Witchcraft can be loosely defined as the act of invoking evil spirits or consulting, covenanting with, entertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding any evil spirit. In practice, it often meant the failure to conform. This week, we’re discussing the trials and executions of Margaret Jones, Alice Lake, Ann Hibbins, and Ann Glover, who fell victim to superstition and Puritan morality.


Continue reading Women and Witchcraft (episode 152)

The Birth of Historic Preservation in Boston (episode 151)

From the mid-19th century through the nation’s centennial in 1876, some of Boston’s most important historic sites and attractions were destroyed or nearly so.  Starting with the Beacon Hill home of founding father John Hancock in 1863, and going right through the 20th century, Old South Meetinghouse, the Old State House, the Old Corner Bookstore, and many other buildings that help lend Boston its unique character, were threatened with demolition in the name of progress.  After early losses, Boston was faced with the prospect of midwestern cities like Chicago or St Louis buying up and moving iconic buildings in order to save them from the wrecking ball. Through this threat, Bostonians learned to value their cultural heritage and banded together to protect early historic sites, especially those connected to the Revolutionary War that were of importance to all Americans.  


Continue reading The Birth of Historic Preservation in Boston (episode 151)

Women’s Groups Remaking Boston (episode 150)

This week’s show dusts off two classic stories about times in Boston history when women’s volunteer organizations had a big impact on Boston.  First, we’ll talk about the Massachusetts Emergency and Hygiene Association, whose members introduced the concept of a playground to the American public in late 19th century Boston.  Then, we’ll fast forward a few decades to the 19 – teens, when the Women’ Municipal League sponsored Boston’s first (and so far only ) Rat Day. Both of these projects made valuable contributions to Boston’s quality of life, and they happened at a time when society didn’t generally approve of women’s work outside the home.


Continue reading Women’s Groups Remaking Boston (episode 150)

Boston’s Rock n Roll Riots (episode 149)

Boston has never needed much of an excuse to riot.  Over almost four centuries, we’ve had political riots, racist and xenophobic riots, and plenty riots that seem to be about nothing at all.  Of all the things Bostonians could choose to riot over, a rock and roll show might just be the most frivolous of all.  And yet Boston, like many other cities, has a rich history of riots and near-riots at rock concerts.  If you take enough excited young people and pack them into a tight enough space, with with enough hormones (and quite possibly booze or drugs) coursing through their veins, it doesn’t take much of a spark to set off the powderkeg.  From Chuck Berry to Led Zeppelin, and from the Rolling Stones to Green Day, we’re looking into the causes and consequences of some of the most iconic melees in Boston’s rock and roll history.


Continue reading Boston’s Rock n Roll Riots (episode 149)