This week’s show relates three incidents across three centuries when daytime turned to darkness in the skies over Boston. They weren’t solar eclipses. Instead, they were a different natural phenomenon, one that was completely unpredictable and each time led to speculation that the end of the world was at hand.
History Camp
If you want to have a chance to hang out with us, come to History Camp Boston on July 7th. There will be sessions on all aspects of history, including a podcaster panel where I’ll be presenting alongside hosts from In The Past Lane, Ben Franklin’s World, The Past and the Curious, and Stuff You Missed in History Class.
On the Sunday after History Camp, Jake will also be leading a special tour of the Back Bay that focuses on the process of creating a planned, elite neighborhood out of a polluted salt marsh.
When Darkness Veiled the Sky
- A 1912 Forest Service report explaining what causes Boston’s dark days.
- Professor Samuel Williams’ contemporaneous scientific account of the 1780 dark day.
- Abigail Adams describes the 1780 dark day.
- Cotton Tufts describes the 1780 dark day.
- George Washington’s account of the 1780 dark day in faraway New Jersey.
- Abraham Davenport prefers to be found at his desk if the 1780 dark day is actually the end of the world.
- Modern analysis reveals the source of the smoke in 1780.
- Sidney Perley’s history of storms and weather in New England, including descriptions of dark days.
- A letter from Emily Dickinson on the 1881 yellow day.
- Ryan W Owen’s article about Boston’s yellow day.
- The first photograph of a comet, made in 1881 just weeks before the yellow day.
- An artist’s rendering of comet C/1888 K1.
- Wild conspiracy theories about a dark day in 1950.
Featured Historic Site
Since fire was the ultimate source of Boston’s dark days, our featured historic site this week is the Boston Fire Museum, located in a rehabbed firehouse in the Fort Point neighborhood. The Fire Museum has an extensive collection of historic photos, artifacts, firefighting equipment, and even fire engines.
The collection stretches from a 1793 Ephraim Thayer pumper, which was a hand drawn and hand pumped fire engine that was the first constructed by an apprentice to Paul Revere, to electronic alarm systems from the 1960s that gathered signals from fire alarms and retransmitted them to the responsible firehouse, to the protective gear and breathing apparatus in use by the Boston Fire Department today.
The museum is a favorite of children, but it has a lot to offer history buffs of all ages. It is open every Saturday from 11am to 5pm. Admission is free, but donations are gladly accepted. Street parking is limited in the neighborhood, but there are garages nearby and the museum is a short walk from South Station.
Upcoming Event
Friend of the show Rose Doherty is leading a unique tour of historic Gibbs College in the Back Bay on June 23. Rose is an author, and we know her as the president emerita of the Partnership of Historic Bostons and a great tour guide. She’s also a recovering academic, having served most recently as Assistant Dean and Director of Liberal Arts and Criminal Justice programs at Northeastern University’s University College. Before that, she was an English faculty member and academic dean at Gibbs College. Now, she is the author of the first history of Katharine Gibbs School/Gibbs College and the amazing entrepreneurial founder Katharine Gibbs, who is the focus of the tour.
Here’s how Rose describes it:
What Would Gibbs Do or WWGD is the tagline used on television’s “NCIS.” Jethro Gibbs is a former Marine officer who lives by a set of rules which his staff must follow. Women and men who went to Gibbs College during its century also lived by rules. A single misspelled word earned a zero, and ignoring rules about dress or professional behavior resulted in penalties.
Gibbs was the most famous school of its kind in the world from 1911 to 2011. Katharine Gibbs made sure that all of the campuses from Providence, Boston, New York, and beyond were in beautiful buildings in elegant parts of their cities. What could be more elegant than Back Bay?
Join me in a tour of the excellent sites of Gibbs in the Back Bay from 1917 to 2011. Whether you are a graduate, a history buff, or someone who has heard about Gibbs for years and wants to know more, here is a great treat!
While the tour is free, it will be limited to just 12 guests. We will post a link to the description in this week’s show notes, along with Rose’s contact information. She asks that potential guests call or email her to make a reservation.
If you’d like to attend, just call Rose at (781) 449-3175 or email her to make your reservation. Though the tour is free, attendance will be limited to just 12 guests, so be sure to reserve in advance.