thomas hutchinson

Playwright Patrick Gabridge uses theatre to convey the human story of the Revolution and other historic events.  Through his "Plays in Place" he and actors have told the stories of the Boston Massacre in the Council Chamber of the Old State House, the decision for independence at Old North Church, as well as the stories of abolitionists and others at Mount Auburn Cemetery.  The scenes are local, the human dimension is universal.  He is also the author of non-historical plays, screenplays, and novels, and an engaging story-teller using the power of place to tell America's Revolutionary story.

http://www.gabridge.com

Stacy Schiff's biography of Samuel Adams, The Revolutionary:  Samuel Adams 
is a milestone in Revolutionary-era biographies, and introduces a complex and engaging political character--his main focus was liberty, and he learned how to shape a revolutionary movement to secure it.  Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Stacy Schiff--born in the town of Adams, Massachusetts  tells us about the Samuel Adams we thought we knew, and the one we should know. 

John Hancock, the most famous signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a man of contradictions.  He was a man born into privilege, and yet he became one of the most passionate voices for the rights of the common man. He was a wealthy man of business, but longed for military glory.  We talk with Brooke Barbier, author of King Hancock:  The Radicat Influence of a Moderate Founder, about this enigmatic figure we think we know so well.  Brooke Barbier is also the founder of Ye Olde Tavern Tours, for those who want beer with their history (and vice versa), and the author of Boston in the American Revolution:  A town vs. an Empire, available from Amazon or as part of a tour.  

The publication of Thomas Hutchinson's secret letters to London politicos outraged Massachusetts citizens, as Hutchinson advised the British establishment on how to suppress colonial dissent and insulted those who disagreed with British policy.  Ultimately, when it was learned that Benjamin Franklin had leaked the letters, Franklin's reputation was ruined in England, and he became an undisputed revolutionary.  But how did Franklin get the secret letters?  Jeremy Bell, author of three books on William Hogarth, joins us to unravel this 250-year old mystery, and tell us about Franklin as an associate of Sir Francis Dashwood and other members of the "Hell-Fire Club" one of many stories that Jeremy weaves in  "Ben Franklin's Sit-down Walking Tour of Boston," at the Bell in Hand.  He shares some of this, as well as other enduring questions, and tells us his own favorite dramatic portrayal of Franklin, was in "Sons of Liberty," with Dean Norris from "Breaking Bad" as "Bad Ass Ben."  

History is written by the victors, but to understand history we need to take a more nuanced look.  What about the people who not only were skeptical about American Independence, but actively opposed it? Join this conversation about Loyalists with Eileen Ka-May Cheng, the Sarah Yates Exley Chair in Teaching Excellence at Sarah Lawrence College, author of The Plain and Noble Garb of Truth, and a forthcoming book about the loyalists. 

Best remembered now for the eponymous beer that started the craft brewing industry, Samuel Adams was a great political leader in Massachusetts.  Yet this fervent author of editorial pieces in support of the rights and liberties of the people is little known today.  We learn more thanks to  Ira Stoll, author of Samuel Adams:  A Life.