With a partial “Muslim Ban” in place, it’s important to remember that vilifying “enemy aliens” is one of the darkest chapters of our nation’s history. A hundred years ago, Americans were all too willing to imprison or even deport their neighbors of German descent. Here in Boston, the preeminent director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra was affected, along with almost a third of the orchestra’s musicians.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra in World War I
- Art created by “enemy aliens” interned at Fort Oglethorpe.
- The BSO’s history of its early years, including Karl Muck’s tenure.
- An article about Muck’s internment.
- An article about the national anthem controversy.
- Below are a link to a the BSO’s 1917 season programs, with insert indicating that they national anthem will be played and a recording of the BSO as conducted by Karl Muck.
This Week in Boston History
- Original witness statements from the Woodbridge/Phillips duel, July 3, 1728.
- A record of the Blessing of the Bay, first ship to be built in Massachusetts, July 4, 1631.
- The grand opening of the Middlesex Canal and the terrible poem that accompanied it, July 5, 1802.
- The pirate Captain William Kidd is betrayed and arrested in Boston, July 6, 1699.
- Accounts of the cowardice of Captain John Callender at Bunker Hill, for which George Washington court martialed him, July 7, 1775.
- John Adams compares the manure (compost) in London to that in Quincy, and finds that in London wanting, July 8, 1786.
- George Washington, new commander of the Continental Army, convenes his generals in a council of war, July 9, 1775.