What is HUB History?
There’s a lot more to the Hub of the Universe than the Freedom Trail and the Tea Party. In every episode of HUB History, host Jake shares a fascinating story from the long history of Boston. Sometimes, there are uplifting stories, like the life of Dr. Rebecca Crumpler, who became America’s first black female doctor, or Isaiah Thomas, who published the newspaper that helped inspire our Revolution. And sometimes the stories are depressing, like the tragic Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire and the origins of African slavery in 17th century Boston.
From the serial killer who called himself The Giggler to the brutal pirate whose exploits helped Benjamin Franklin make his name as a printer, and from the African American writer who inspired the abolition movement to the eccentric gay architect who laid the groundwork for Boston Pride, HUB History unearths forgotten stories and marginalized people.
Jake and Nikki dig up unknown stories about our founding fathers, like the time the children of John and Abigail Adams took part in a Thanksgiving day riot, or the time Paul Revere was court martialed for cowardice. And they recover forgotten stories from Boston’s 20th century history, like how the so-called “Spanish flu” first reared its deadly head in Boston, or the running gun battles fought between police and radical anarchists in Jamaica Plain.
Join host Jake (and occasionally cohost emerita Nikki) for a new episode every other Sunday at about 6pm (EST/EDT), then check the show notes for each episode at HUBhistory.com for historic images, maps, and primary sources.
About the Hosts
Jake Sconyers has been a Boston tour guide, a volunteer docent at Roxbury’s Shirley-Eustis House, and an organizer of History Camp Boston. He is also a runner and an avid photographer.
Nikki Stewart has moved on from HUB History and now works as the Executive Director of the Old North Church Foundation. She cohosted the show for the first three years, writing about half the episodes in that period. Honors and Awards
Boston Preservation Alliance Executive Director Greg Galer says, “The means to engage people with the history of Boston have grown dramatically, and the Hub History podcast is a wonderful way to expand the connection of the broader public to our past. The more people who are informed and enthusiastically connected to the stories of the places and people of Boston, the more engagement we have with the desire to preserve these places for future generations. To understand a historic place and the events that happened there is to recognize its value and its connections to lessons valuable to us today.”
For his work on HUB History, Jake Sconyers was honored with a 2022 Massachusetts History Alliance Star Award for innovation in communications in public history.
MHA STAR Awards for exemplary work in the field of local and public history in Massachusetts recognize long term commitment, outstanding work with concrete results, exemplary innovation, local leadership for change, or contributions to equity and justice.
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