For about 12 years, the eccentric Ann Winsor Sherwin and her son William made a cozy home on an abandoned four-masted schooner that ran aground off Spectacle Island. Against all odds, she managed to hold off agents of the ship’s owners, the health commission, the Coast Guard, and the Boston Harbor Police. Abandoned by her no-good husband who thought he could make it big in Hollywood, Ann and her three children were destitute and homeless until they set up a home on the schooner, riding out the Great Depression rent-free on Boston Harbor. They were a family out of time, until the world (in the form of the US Army) came calling for young William.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/241/

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This week, we’re trying something a little bit different. This fall and winter, the Old North Church historic site has been hosting a series of conversations about radical Black abolitionist David Walker, and his book An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. As part of their Digital Speaker Series, education director Catherine Matthews moderated a discussion between artist, educator, and activist L’Merchie Frazier and playwright Peter Snoad on December 15. This edition focused on the text of the Appeal as a piece of rhetoric that pointed out the brutality and hypocrisy of slavery and urged the enslaved to rebel by any means necessary. Thanks to our friends at Old North for allowing us to share this panel with you.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/240/

Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

The new book Urban Archipelago: An Environmental History of the Boston Harbor Islands explores how the city of Boston has transformed the islands on its doorstep time and time again, as the city’s needs shifted over the centuries. From a valuable site for farming, to a dumping ground for all of Boston’s problems, to a wilderness of history and romance, to an urban park, these many transformations reflect a changing city. Author Dr. Pavla Šimková joins us this week to discuss how Boston initially embraced the islands, later turned its back on the Harbor, and more recently has embraced them both again. You’ll hear us argue about the 1960s plan to hold a bicentennial expo on the harbor and the role of storyteller Edward Rowe Snow in promoting the Harbor Islands to a new generation, and you’ll hear us agree about the beauty and importance of this urban asset.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/239/

Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Dr. Pavla Šimková is a historian and postdoctoral researcher at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society at the University of Munich. The Carson Center is an interdisciplinary center focusing on the environmental humanities, from history to geography to anthropology to literary criticism, drawing fellows from around the world. In the past, she has researched the environmental history of Bohemia, and her current project investigates the transnational environmental history of the Bavarian Forest and Šumava.

The early years of James Gately, who was better known as the Hermit of Hyde Park, were shrouded in mystery.  Gately was an Englishman who came to Boston after his life took a bad turn.  He had trouble making money when he got here, got robbed of his last cent, and decided to give up on humanity and disappear into the wilderness forever.  For almost thirty years, he scratched out a meager existence living off the land in the woods of Hyde Park, while his legend grew.  By the time he died in 1875, he was so well known that treasure hunters beat a path to his door to search (unsuccessfully) for the fortune they believed he had buried in his woods.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/238/

Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren is a practicing surgeon and author of the recent book Revolutionary Surgeons: Patriots and Loyalists on the Cutting Edge, which is a profile of eleven Revolutionary War surgeons. Dr. Hasselgren joined Jake to discuss the Boston physicians, brothers, and brothers in arms Joseph and John Warren. Joseph is famous for arranging the lantern signal from Old North and dispatching Paul Revere on his famous ride, as well as for his heroic death at Bunker Hill. His little brother John followed him into politics and medicine, and went on to found Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Hasselgren brings a unique perspective to the conversation, examining the medical careers of these eminent physicians through a physician’s eyes. The episode explores how 18th century physicians learned their craft, how they earned a living, and how they intermingled medicine and politics, as well as how surgery was changing during the Revolution and the groundbreaking surgery pioneered by John Warren and his son John Collins Warren.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/237/

Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Dr. Per-Olof Hasselgren is a practicing endocrine surgeon at Beth Israel, and he has an endowed chair at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hasselgren has written books on thyroid cancer, sepsis, and the use of anatomical words in English slang. He has a longstanding interest in surgical and American history, but Revolutionary Surgeons is his first book of history.

Follow Dr. Hasselgren on Facebook or learn more about his work and his earlier publications on his website.