When it comes to Boston history, it seems like there’s a riot for every possible season. It’s Thanksgiving season now, so this week we’re going to discuss a riot that took place at Harvard University… not during the tumultuous anti-war protests of the 1960s or 1970s, but on Thanksgiving day in 1787. There’s tantalizingly little in the historical record about what happened or how it started, but we know that some very famous historical figures were right in the middle of the action.
Harvard’s Thanksgiving Day Riot
- Pitt Clarke’s Harvard diary
- Minutes of the Harvard administration’s deliberations on punishing the rioters. (pages 285-287)
- Abigail Adams’ sisters write one another about Charles Adams’ bad behavior
- John Quincy Adams writes about the riot in his diary.
- Cotton Tufts hears from cousin John Quincy Adams about the “riotous ungovernable spirit” at Harvard.
- A JQA letter to another cousin.
- Abigail writes to John Quincy asking him to watch after his little brothers.
- Abigail’s sister gripes a bit about Charles.
Upcoming Event
This week, we’re featuring A Visit with Louisa May Alcott – Living History Performance with Jan Turnquist, at Old South Meeting House. Per the event description:
Louisa May Alcott was one of many literary greats who stepped forward in the late 19th century to support Old South Meeting House’s fundraising efforts after its narrow escape from demolition and during its first years as an independent nonprofit organization. On the evening of the Little Women scribe’s 186th birthday, join us at the Meeting House for a captivating living history experience that will bring you behind-the-scenes stories from Alcott’s life – from her unconventional upbringing in poverty, to the family love that inspired her to write an American classic. This interactive show is presented by the director of Orchard House, the Alcott family’s historic home in Concord, Massachusetts, and will be enjoyed by ages 6 to 106. From young readers to Alcott scholars to First Lady Laura Bush, audiences of every stripe have acclaimed Jan’s performances.
This program is made possible with support from the Lowell Institute. The event will take place at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, November 28. Doors open at 6:30; a light reception will be served.
The event is free but registration is required.
Featured Historic Sites
Royall House and Slave Quarters
Located in Medford, the Royall House and Slave Quarters is the early 18th century home of Isaac Royall, one of the wealthiest citizens of Massachusetts, and one of the colony’s largest slave owners. Unlike almost any other historic site associated with slave owners we’ve visited, the interpretation at the Royall House is more focused on the enslaved than the enslavers.
Dogtown/Babson Boulders
This week, we featured two historic attractions in the forest on the Rockport/Gloucester town line, Dogtown Common and the Babson Boulders. Dogtown is the remains of a late 17th century settlement, that’s now a ghost town. The Babson Boulders were commissioned by Roger Babson, an eccentric millionaire who briefly owned the land formerly occupied by Dogtown.
To visit, park in the small lot along Dogtown Road in Gloucester, then follow a trail map to find the numbered cellar holes and carved boulders. You can find out more about each house site by matching the number at the cellar to the key in Babson’s 1936 guide to Cape Ann.
Roger Babson also founded a group called the Gravity Research Foundation. He hated and feared gravity, blaming it for his sister’s death when they were children. The Foundation was meant to fund research into antigravity devices. Along with many other projects, the foundation placed stones at about two dozen colleges around the country, including one at Tufts, and one at Eastern Nazarene in Quincy that questions what gravity is, how it works, and how it may be controlled.
Castle Island
Castle Island, in South Boston, is the current location of Fort Independence, as well as Sully’s. It’s been the site of an important fortification since the 1630s, first simply called “the castle,” then later Castle William, Fort Adams, and finally Fort Independence.
- Episode 6 featured the arrest of Governor Edmund Andros and his imprisonment at Castle William.
- Episode 25 discussed the disastrous military career of Paul Revere, including his command at Castle Island.
- Episode 54 introduces Governor William Shirley, who fled to Castle William during an impressment riot.
- A map of Fort Independence in 1809.
Gibson House
This week’s historic site is the Gibson House Museum, on Beacon Street in the Back Bay. Built in 1860, it’s a perfectly preserved relic of Victorian Boston. Nothing inside has been touched since its eccentric owner died in 1954, and by that time he had already spent decades planning to make it a museum of the Back Bay known by his wealthy mother and grandmother. Lucky visitors might be treated to an upstairs/downstairs tour, which focuses on the experience of household servants at the Gibson House. When you visit, imagine that the astronomer Williamina Fleming once worked in a similar house during the same era. The museum is open Wed-Sun year round, for guided tours only at 1:00, 2:00, and 3:00.