Red, White & Blue
July 2022
This past week, after some time with family in Illinois and New Hampshire, Wendy and I spent a couple days in Boston, Massachusetts. The cradle of the American Revolution. There is an interesting contrast in the city of Boston. It is a modern city with glittering skyscrapers. With all the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. But the street corners are marked with statues and monuments and plaques — reminders of the heroes of yesteryear who helped pave a new way forward.
Some of the inscriptions are beautifully written:
In memory of George Robert White - A public spirited citizen whose great gift to the city of Boston provided for the creation of works of public utility and beauty for the enjoyment of inhabitants
To the men of Boston who died for their country on land and sea in the war which kept the union whole, destroyed slavery, and maintained the Constitution, The grateful city has built this monument that their example may speak to the coming generations
Others cut straight to the point:
Samuel Adams - A Patriot - He organized the Revolution and signed the Declaration of Independence
Wendell Phillips - Prophet of Liberty, Champion of the Slave
Here in 1719 stood the printing office of James Franklin - publisher of the New England Courant. Here served as an apprentice his brother Benjamin Franklin
We visited the oldest municipal public library in the United States. The inscription reads:
The public library of the city of Boston, built by the people and dedicated to the advancement of learning
The murals inside the library are amazing. There is a huge mural dedicated to all the various disciplines — science, philosophy, history, etc. There is another mural called “The Triumph of Religion” depicting scenes from various religious traditions. In the middle of that room, there is massive empty space: The artist never finished the panel that was supposed to depict the Sermon on the Mount.
The Trinity Church building, constructed in the 1870s. Their Episcopalian congregation first formed in 1733.
One of the most interesting memorials is the Boston Irish Famine Memorial. On a street corner in front of a futuristic-looking Walgreens, it pays tribute to the American Dream. Four plaques tell the story of a desperate group of immigrants who arrived on our shores. The statues depict a “before” and “after” scene of a small family. Once destitute, the Irish made their way in American society.
One of the oldest buildings in Boston has been converted into a one-room museum with a display of a printing shop that would have been used in the Revolutionary Era. It includes a “press” on the right side of the room, stored next to paper rolls and ink. In the center of the room are boxes containing metallic numbers and the letters of the alphabet, in various sizes. The capital letters were stored in the upper case; lower case letters kept directly below. The press was a form of physical craftsmanship.
Indeed, many of the Revolutionaries were artisans of some sort. Paul Revere was a metal worker who tried his hand in various crafts, including dentistry. His house has been preserved and now sits near the Italian section of the city, where we ate some delicious pasta.
General George Washington. We drank some beers in a tavern that claimed to have been patronized by Washington and other Revolutionary organizers.
I didn’t expect to find much interest in the U.S.S. Constitution — an old ship sitting in the Boston Harbor. But the story of its preservation was inspiring. The old ship was an accomplished battleship from the War of 1812. They said the wooden hull was so strong that cannon balls simply bounced off it — hence the nickname, “Old Ironsides.”
At several points over the years, the U.S.S. Constitution might have been decommissioned, scrapped, and used for spare parts. But it wasn’t, because the people wanted it to remain a symbol of America. Children pitched in their pennies, adults rallied, and the battleship was restored. And it remains a symbol of America, sitting there today in the Boston Harbor, next to an interactive museum describing what it would have been like to serve on a battleship in the 19th century.
Our flight home was almost canceled. We sat there on the plane for a while, wondering if we were about to spend more time in Boston. Luckily they found a first officer and we were wheels up, on our way back to Phoenix.
Historical Photo of the Month
Image posted by the Twitter feed of the Arizona Capitol Museum. If you’ve never been to the Capitol Museum, I highly recommend it. An excellent display of Arizona’s political history. If we get through this era in one piece, they might need to add a few more rooms.
From the Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Happy 4th!