Arthur Kingsley Porter was a celebrity professor, who worked in the shadow of the Harvard secret court that purged the campus of gay students and faculty. He grew up in wealth and privilege, expecting to follow his brother into the family law firm, before experiencing an epiphany that drove him to become one of the world’s foremost experts on medieval European art and architecture. After a midlife revelation led to an unconventional lifestyle, his family sought refuge at their Irish castle and their offshore cottage, until Porter disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the summer of 1933.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/232/

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This week, our friends at the Paul Revere House are hosting the chair of African Lodge No. 459, Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Masons will be presenting a talk called “Who was Prince Hall: An Introduction to an Extraordinary Man” at Old North Church on Tuesday, September 28th. He’ll be talking about the founder of Prince Hall masonry, and a tireless activist for the rights of Black Bostonians in the late 18th and early 19th century. Their description of the event says, “This lecture introduces Prince Hall as an historical figure, with an emphasis on his achievements and contributions in supporting the argument that Prince Hall should be considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Mr. Pires will argue that Prince Hall, an unsung Patriot and forgotten Founding Father, should receive his long overdue recognition.”

The lecture will be held both in-person at Old North and virtually, and both versions are free to attend. Not only that, but all the lectures are being recorded and will be available to stream for free at a later time.

Since the earliest days of the Bay Colony, prisoners of war have been held on the islands of Boston Harbor. This week, we’re sharing two classic stories of the Harbor Islands POWs from past episodes. One of them is about the Confederate prisoners who arrived at Fort Warren on Georges Island in the fall of 1861, fresh from the field of battle in North Carolina. They’d be joined by Maryland politicians who supported secession, the supposed diplomats Mason and Slidell, and eventually even Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens, who didn’t seem to much appreciate Boston hospitality. 81 years later and a mile away on Peddocks Island, a group of unruly Italian prisoners were confined at Fort Andrews after starting what may have been the only soccer riot in Boston history at a South Boston prison camp.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/231/

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Joe Bagley is the archaeologist for the city of Boston, and his new book Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them catalogs 50 of the oldest houses, stores, churches, and even lighthouses that still stand here in the Hub. In this episode, he tells us how it’s still possible to rediscover an unknown house from the 1700s in the North End in 2020, and how a house from the 1790s, the 41st oldest building in Boston, could be demolished in the few short months since the book was published. Along the way, we’ll talk about how he researched the book, the rules he had to write for himself about what “counts” as a historic building, and how similar his life is to Indiana Jones. We’ll also explore how historic buildings can reveal the otherwise untold stories of enslaved Bostonians, women, and even some of the earliest Japanese citizens to visit the United States. Plus, I’m joined by special guest host Nikki this time around!

Please check out the full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/230/

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Joe Bagley is the archaeologist for the City of Boston, a post he has held since 2011. Educated at BU and UMass, he specializes in both Native American and Historical archaeological analysis. Through the Archaeology Department, Joe manages Rainsford Island, as well as the archaeology lab and collection that will reopen on Rivermoor Street in West Roxbury in 2022. His first book was A History of Boston in 50 Artifacts, and he joins us today to discuss his latest, Boston’s Oldest Buildings and Where to Find Them.

In 1773, an ad appeared in the Boston Gazette for a Black artist who was described as possessing an “extraordinary genius” for painting portraits. From this brief mention, we will explore the life of a gifted visual artist who was enslaved in Boston, his friendship with Phillis Wheatley, the enslaved poet, and the mental gymnastics that were required on the part of white enslavers to justify owning people like property. Through the life of a second gifted painter, we’ll find out how the coming of the American Revolution changed life for some enslaved African Americans in Boston. And through the unanswered questions about the lives of both these men, we’ll examine the limits of what historical sources can tell us about any given enslaved individual.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/229/

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

On August 10, 1780, British prisoners of war being held on a ship on Boston Harbor conspired to disarm their guards and escape. In the end, they were all caught, but an American guard was killed. This case gives us a fascinating insight into what life was like for POWs in the American Revolution, but there’s very little record of it in historical sources. If the prosecutor in the murder case hadn’t signed the Declaration of Independence four years earlier, his papers may not have been considered worth saving, and we might have no record of this interesting case at all. Amazingly, the defense basically argued that all’s fair in love and war, and that since the redcoats had been taken prisoner by force, they had a right to seek freedom by force. Even more amazingly, it worked!

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/228/

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

Boston Light, America’s first and oldest light station, still welcomes visitors and locals alike if they approach the city by sea, but that wasn’t always the case. During the first year of the Revolutionary War, there were three attempts to destroy Boston Light during the siege of Boston. First, the newly formed Continental Army burned the strategically important lighthouse twice in July 1775, 246 years ago this week, using the 18th century equivalent of a stealth fighter: the humble whaleboat. Then, as the British finally evacuated Boston in the spring of 1776, the last ships to leave the harbor blew up the lighthouse that June.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/227/

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

Co-Presented by Revolutionary Spaces and the Upstander Project

From smallpox and measles, to cholera, dysentery, and tuberculosis, Indigenous peoples have suffered disproportionate loss of life from disease since European settlers began to trade with them and later occupy their land. The novel coronavirus has impacted Indigenous peoples with a familiar ferocity, flagging their perennial lack of good jobs, housing, and healthcare. Join a distinguished panel of experts to learn about the historical and present-day conditions that have made Indigenous people especially vulnerable to disease, and the strategies required to break this pattern of discrimination and social violence.

Panelists will include Ramona Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag), Chairwoman of the Native Land Conservancy, Lorén Spears (Narragansett/Niantic), Executive Director of the Tomaquag Museum, and Mishy Lesser, Learning Director at the Upstander Project. The discussion will be moderated by Claudia Fox Tree (Arawak) of the Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness.

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Liberty & Co, who sell unique products inspired by the American Revolution. Their most recent offering is a selection of historic documents printed by the print shop of Edes & Gill that operates out of Faneuil Hall.

Printer Gary Gregory adopted the name of the 18th century print shop that published the Boston Gazette, a notorious Whig paper that helped fan the flames of Revolution. Gary uses a reproduction of a wooden English Common Press that was made in Colonial Williamsburg to print faithful reproductions of historic documents using authentic materials, equipment, and methods. Among the prints available from Liberty & Co is a reproduction of Thomas Paine’s American Crisis, the legendary pamphlet that helped Washington inspire his soldiers to stick out the times that try men’s souls at Valley Forge.

You could also select a magnificent copy of the Declaration of Independence, carefully reproduced from the Dunlap Broadside, which was the very first printed version of the Declaration, with the first pressing struck in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Edes & Gill copy is printed at 3/4 scale, to be more convenient to frame and display in your home than a full 18th century broadsheet.

Save 20% on any purchase with the discount code HUBHISTORY.

For almost 20 years, Nike missile batteries formed a suburban ring around Boston that ushered the city into the 1950s and the atomic age. The Ajax missile and its successor, the Hercules, were intended to defend Boston and its many military assets from Soviet bombers flying over the North Pole to rain nuclear destruction on the Hub. The ring of bases stretched from the South Shore to the North Shore and far inland, always ready to fire in 15 minutes or less. The Nike program was an open secret, with base gates sometimes thrown open for the public and reporters alike. But there were more closely guarded secrets, as well. Like the fact that the Ajax missile wasn’t really equipped to engage modern jet bombers. Or the fact that a successful interception by the later Hercules would result in a nuclear detonation in our own backyards, with tens of thousands of Americans killed or injured.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/226/

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