For this week’s show, I spent some time asking visitors and locals what nicknames they know for Boston. From the Hub to Titletown to Beantown and beyond, people know a lot of nicknames for Boston, but it turns out that most of us don’t know the meanings behind the monikers. In this episode, I dig into the stories behind five nicknames you might have wondered about.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/304/

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Found in Reykjavik years back…

A post shared by Jacob Sconyers (@jacobsconyers)

The Boston bean pot welded to the bumper of this oil truck is a cute local touch. pic.twitter.com/axb47RzBMr

— Jake @ HUB History (@[email protected]) (@HUBhistory) November 6, 2016

105 years ago this month, Irish President Eamon De Valera embarked on an 18-month tour of the United States, starting with a visit to Boston. His goals were to raise funds for the Irish Republic, gain international recognition, and garner support for Irish independence from British rule. De Valera’s visit to Boston included a massive rally at Fenway Park, a speech to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and visits to historical sites. Despite facing challenges, such as his questionable immigration status and opposition from Yankee-aligned politicians, the tour was a success, laying the groundwork for nearly a century of American support for Irish republicanism before the Good Friday accords finally brought the Troubles to an end.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/303/

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

In this episode, we delve into the historical visit of Irish President Eamon de Valera to the United States, particularly his impactful visit to Boston in 1919. Despite facing challenges with his immigration status, De Valera’s tour aimed to raise funds for the Irish Republic, gain international recognition, and garner support for Irish independence from British rule. His visit to Boston included a massive rally at Fenway Park, a speech to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and visits to historical sites.

De Valera’s appearance in Boston sparked enthusiasm and support from Irish Americans, with thousands flocking to see him speak at Fenway Park. He conveyed gratitude for their support and expressed hope that Ireland would gain recognition as a sovereign state. De Valera emphasized the importance of securing Boston’s support due to its revolutionary history and symbolic significance to the cause of Irish independence.

During his visit, De Valera also visited Cambridge, Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, paying tribute to historical landmarks significant to both American and Irish revolutionary history. His speech at the Massachusetts House of Representatives highlighted the mandate of the New Republic and addressed misconceptions about the Irish struggle for independence.

Despite De Valera’s efforts to rally support in the United States, the Irish Republic ultimately collapsed, leading to the establishment of the Irish Free State under the 1921 Anglo-Irish treaty. De Valera continued his political career and eventually became the third president of the Republic of Ireland. His visit to the United States laid the groundwork for raising millions of dollars to support the Irish Republic and remains a significant chapter in Irish-American relations.

On the first anniversary of D-Day, Boston was feeling festive. Yes, there was a somber editorial cartoon in the Globe picturing an allied cemetery in Normandy to remind people of the sacrifices that the nation had made, but Germany had just surrendered, making the sacrifice seem worthwhile. Now, on D+1 (or was it D+366?), the city would turn out to hail a conquering hero, as General George S Patton, Junior set foot on American soil for the first time in two and a half years. His speech in Boston honored the city’s wounded veterans but managed to deeply offend gold star families whose sons, fathers, and brothers had died under Patton’s command. Was this a simple slip of the tongue or a symptom of a deeper and more concerning malady, a closely guarded and dark secret?

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/302/

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

Joseph Warren Revere was a Boston boy, but a military career kept him from spending much of his adult life here. He was the grandson of the famous Paul Revere and named after the secular saint Joseph Warren. As a young Navy officer on the USS Constitution, he fought slavers and pirates, discovered buried treasure, met a czar, and almost killed a king. Falling in love with California while serving in the Mexican-American War, he made a small fortune during the Gold Rush, while getting mired in scandal. By the time he served as a union general in the US Civil War, Revere had fought under the flag of three nations. He had seen war on four continents, discovered a fifth, and traveled to all of them. He had dined sumptuously with monarchs and nobles, and broken bread with native peoples around the world. He was a skilled artist and map maker, and an aggressive combat leader. None of those accomplishments, however, could save his career from an ignominious end amongst charges of cowardice after the battle of Chancellorsville.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/301/

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

Did you feel an earthquake in Boston on April 5, 2024? Depending on where you were at the time, you might have felt nothing or you might have noticed a mild tremor. While we think of Boston earthquakes as a punchline and damaging quakes as a California problem, that hasn’t always been the case. Imagine an earthquake that comes on with the sound of rolling thunder, one where the ground heaved like waves on an angry sea, throwing people to the ground, opening up fissures in the earth, and triggering a tsunami that affects distant shores. This was the experience of Boston during the great Cape Ann earthquake of 1755, and the effects of a similar seismic shock in modern Boston could be simply catastrophic.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/300/

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

During the bicentennial celebrations in 1976, Boston bustled with fireworks, concerts, and historical reenactments, while a unique spectacle quietly unfolded at the Old North Church. The iconic lanterns, forever linked to Paul Revere’s midnight ride, were illuminated not by candlelight, but by the distant light of a star some 200 light-years away. This episode explores the technological challenges involved in capturing starlight and converting it into an electrical signal that traveled thousands of miles, as well as the promotional challenges for Hawaiian officials who wanted to feel like part of the bicentennial celebration. Buckle up, as we journey from the volcanic peak of Mauna Kea to the heart of revolutionary Boston, all under the ethereal glow of a distant star.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/299/

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

Eclipses happen when the moon passes between the sun and the earth during the daytime, briefly blocking the light of the sun from the face of the earth. Over the past few years, observers in the US have been treated to every flavor of solar eclipse: a partial in 2021 when part of the sun’s disc remains unobscured; a total eclipse in 2017, when viewers in the narrow path of totality experienced daytime darkness, and an annular eclipse just last fall, when a ring of fire hung in the cold, bright sky. In honor of the April 2024 total eclipse, I’m sharing a clip that cohost emerita Nikki and I recorded within the first year of this podcast about some of the earliest experiences of eclipses here in Boston, most notably in 1780 and 1806. I’ll also share a clip about an unrelated phenomenon that darkened the skies over Boston for a second time in 1780, then again in 1881, 1950, and several times in the past 5 years. This was no eclipse however, but rather a much more terrestrial effect.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/298/

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

This week I’m pleased to be able to share a recent talk from the Shirley-Eustis House in Roxbury about recent archaeological discoveries at Shirley Place that help shed light on the lives of enslaved residents at the 18th century governor’s residence, as well as evidence of the home’s original location before it was moved into its current position in the 19th century. The presenter is past podcast guest Joe Bagley, the archaeologist for the city of Boston, who has led a series of digs at the Shirley house and at the house’s original location across Shirley street. This work is important because written records have only revealed the identity of one of the Africans who were enslaved at the house by Royal Governor William Shirley. In the talk, Bagley explains how discoveries of animal bones, forgotten paving stones, and a cowrie shell connect the dots to the enslaved lives that history otherwise overlooks. He also shares stone flakes and pottery shards that remind us that the history of Shirley Place long predates William Shirley, encompassing the Massachusett people who first called it home.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/297/

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

I’m pleased to share a recent talk called “Cotton Mather and the Women He Loved” that was part of the Congregational Library and Archive’s Valentines Day celebration. Helen Gelinas spoke about Cotton Mather and the women he was closest to: his three wives, his daughters, and his sisters, as well as his lifelong mission to understand the biblical Eve, the prototype for all women in his universe. Helen examined who he was behind closed doors, as a husband and father, and she challenged us to reconsider our assumptions that Cotton Mather would have been a tyrant over his wife and a strong disciplinarian who ruled his children with a rod. She also shared the surprising insight that between wives, Cotton Mather was one of Boston’s most eligible widowers, who was pursued aggressively by suitors.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/296/

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

Presenter Helen K. Gelinas is the Director of Transcription for New England’s Hidden Histories. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Hartt School in Connecticut, and a BA in English and an MA in American Studies from the University of Tübingen, Germany. In Tübingen, she was selected by The Mather Project to be a research and editorial assistant for Volume 5 of Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana. Following the presentation and publication of her essay, “Regaining Paradise: Cotton Mather’s Biblia Americana and the Daughters of Eve,” she earned a Research Fellowship to the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale Divinity School. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Early American Studies at the University of Heidelberg, completing her dissertation entitled, “‘The Spirit and the Bride’: Female Parity, Prophecy, and the Power of the Pen in the Works of Cotton Mather.”

Date: Friday, April 4, 2024

Does your family history include puritans or ancestors who lived in early New England (1620-1850)? Join us for an in-person workshop on Friday, March 29 from 10:00am – 2:00pm at the Congregational Library & Archives with New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director Dr. Tricia Peone and CLA Archivist Billy McCarthy.

Participants will learn how to use the New England’s Hidden Histories digital archive and other resources at the CLA to research family histories and fill in context for understanding the lives of people in the past.

The workshop will include time to conduct your own family history research at the CLA. Participants are encouraged to send requests for specific items they wish to look at in advance. You do not need to be a historian to attend. Anyone interested in learning how to work with and interpret historical records is welcome. However, space is limited.

The cost to attend includes lunch. Email [email protected] with questions about the workshop.

In this episode, I'm joined by Professor Adrian Chastain Weimer, author of the recent book A Constitutional Culture: New England and the Struggle Against Arbitrary Rule in the Restoration Empire. The book focuses on the period just after King Charles II returned the Stuarts to the English throne, during which he when he sought revenge against Boston Puritans for their perceived role in the execution of his father. Decades before the absolute rule of Edmund Andros, the crown sent four royal commissioners to Boston with secret orders that would upend every facet of public life, from voting to worship to the code of laws. Our conversation explores how the colonists defended their liberty within the constitutional system of colonial Massachusetts under restoration rule.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/295/

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

Adrian Chastain Weimer is a professor of history at Providence College, where her focus is on 17th century New England. Professor Weimer’s work examines the intersection between faith and public institutions, as well as the relationships between early English settlers and the Native communities surrounding them. Her first book, Martyr’s Mirror, examined how New England Puritans and minority religious groups envisioned themselves as persecuted by wider society, and she is currently editing the collected works of Daniel Gookin. A Constitutional Culture weaves together several of these interests, explaining how royalists tried to reinsert themselves into New England culture and government during the crisis that followed King Charles II’s return to the throne during the English restoration.