Explore every episode of the podcast HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

For months now, listeners have heard me talking about another podcast I’ve been working on, but I haven’t shared much about what it is. This week, we introduce the brand new podcast “Queer Boston’s Pursuit of Happiness.” It’s hosted by Joan Ilacqua, Executive Director of Queer History Boston, and she joins us in this episode for a brief interview. After that, we will play the first episode of her show, which is all about LGBTQ+ Bostonians who challenged gender and sexuality norms during the era of the American Revolution. I’m really proud of the work we have been doing, and I can’t wait to share it with you! Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/361/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Before John Winthrop’s Puritan Arbella fleet made landfall in 1630 and set the standard narrative of Massachusetts Bay, a rowdy and disparate cast of English traders, eccentric recluses, and ill-fated opportunists was already carving out a precarious presence around Boston Harbor. In the decade before the Puritans named the colony they laid claim to “Massachusetts Bay,” the shores of the Bay were shaped by European fishing fleets, catastrophic epidemics that devastated indigenous communities, and early, mostly-failed attempts at permanent English habitation. From the ill-fated commercial colony at Wessagussett to Thomas Morton’s egalitarian "consociates" at Merrymount, these early experiments tested the bounds of survival, trade, and diplomacy on the Shawmut peninsula. In this episode, we step back before the founding date on the city seal to explore the forgotten decades of pre-Puritan English settlement. We will trace how early figures like Samuel Maverick at Winnisimmet and William Blaxton at Shawmut established their lonely outposts, navigate the tangled land claims created by competing charters, and examine the grim realities of early European impact on the region’s indigenous nations. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/360/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, Clemson professor Jonathan Beecher Field helps us explore the history of poor support in early New England and the surprising practice known as "warning out." In the 17th- and 18th-century, Boston and other New England towns tied public relief strictly to legal inhabitancy, a status similar to the modern concept of birthright citizenship, but on a hyperlocal level. Those without established local ties or the financial capital to post a cash bond were routinely "warned out," given two weeks to leave, and escorted beyond town borders to prevent them from becoming a financial burden on the town and its residents. The conversation draws parallels between early colonial policies and modern approaches to poverty, examining how historical residency restrictions rhyme with contemporary anti-homeless architecture, municipal sweeps, and broader debates over who deserves social support. From the systemic exclusion of Black and Indigenous residents to the way early New Englanders decided who was deserving of poor support and who deserved to be warned out, Professor Field’s research reveals how early New England town structures and Calvinist mindsets mirrored and continue to shape our modern attitudes toward poverty, displacement, and public responsibility. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/359/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Andy Woodruff's new book Boston in 50 Maps goes beyond familiar compilations of public-domain historic maps of Boston, Woodruff’s work offers an engaging, data-driven look at the Hub through 50 original, modern maps.  Andy’s maps reveal layers of Boston’s history, changing demographics, and hyper-local culture, from the myth of streets laid out by 17th century cows to the city’s long lost territories. In this conversation, we dive into fascinating corners of the area's past and present, including what triple-deckers and houses of pizza tell us about historical immigration patterns, why residents can’t seem to agree on the boundaries of their neighborhoods, which areas had better transit access a century ago, and exactly how saturated we are in Dunkin Donuts franchises.  Together, we explore how data-driven cartography offers a whole new lens on local history, revealing the stories that both historic maps and traditional prose histories often miss.  Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/358/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

For fans of the Hamilton musical, many members of the cast of characters have appeared on the podcast in the past. We talked about the years when Angelica Schuyler lived under an assumed name in Boston; Thomas Jefferson’s epic shopping spree in Boston; the Marquis de Lafayette’s many visits to Boston, culminating in his 1825 trip where he carried a keg of soil from Bunker Hill back to France to be buried under; and (because he commanded much of the siege of Boston) George Washington has been on the show a LOT in 2026. Even General “instead of me” Charles Lee made an appearance in our episode about the Marblehead schooner named after him. Over all those episodes, the stars of the show, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, have not appeared in Boston. In this episode, we are rectifying that omission. We will be talking about Hamilton and Burr’s fateful final meeting in Boston, as well as each of their first visits to our fair city. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/357/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, we mark the return of the tall ships to Boston Harbor when Sail Boston kicks off on July 11.  We’re also continuing the Revolutionary War theme that we keep coming back to in this year of 250th anniversaries.  This time, however, I’m not talking about a specific anniversary date.  Instead, I am going to play my interview with author Eric Jay Dolin about his 2022 book Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution.  Back in November, we had an episode about the schooner Lee that was commanded by the mysterious captain Manley.  It was one of the very first ships of the Continental Navy, but especially early in the war, the American cause relied on private vessels and private crews.  Some of the tall ships we see this month will be recreating these vessels, which were known as privateers.  Privateers were civilian ships that were outfitted for war by optimistic investors, with volunteer crews who were willing to risk their lives fighting for a share of the profits.  From the mouth of Boston Harbor to the very shores of Britain, these private warships sailed in search of rich English merchant vessels, while risking the lives and freedom of their crews.  While their role is mostly forgotten today, Eric will explain how central privateer crews were to the Continental cause, with a special focus on the many privateers that were crewed by New Englanders.  Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/356/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, we’re turning the clocks back to 1976, when America and Boston were in the midst of a massive celebration marking the Bicentennial. While other ideas were considered and discarded, Boston would mark the bicentennial with a series of thoughtful events around the city throughout 1976. To highlight the living city, photographer Constantine Manos was charged with a mission “to photograph the people of the city, of all walks of life, for an exhibition and book to commemorate the 1976 bi-centenntial of American independence from England.” The result of his effort was Where’s Boston, described as “a multi‐image, quadraphonic sound show and a graphic display of Boston today.” Over the course of the summer of ’76, tens of thousands of Bostonians and visitors streamed into the exhibit hall at the Prudential Center to see themselves reflected in the photographer’s lens. This summer, the Boston Athenaeum will revisit that optimistic vision of Boston in 1976 with the exhibition Where’s Boston? 50 Years Later. In this episode, curator Lauren Graves chats with Nikki about the project. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/355/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this week's episode, Nikki sits down with J.D. Dickey to discuss his new book  Boston, 1776: A Rogue Tour of Revolution City. Written as a historical travel guide, Boston, 1776 positions the reader as a visitor to Boston in July 1776. You’ll navigate the turbulent streets, tub-thumping taverns, and radical strongholds of a town at war with an empire. From the harbor wharves and seedy brothels to renowned assembly halls like Old South Meetinghouse and Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1776 leads us on a vivid tour of the vital hub of the Revolutionary War. At every stop along the way, we encounter iconic names like Paul Revere and Samuel Adams, but also the forgotten men and women who bled and brawled for freedom in every corner of Boston. B...and still needed to get out of the house at night. We'll follow in their footsteps into the taverns and dram shops of revolutionary Boston to learn the day's news, strategize for survival, and of course let off some steam. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/354/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

On May 22, 1964, sixty-two years ago this week, a fire that broke out on a back porch in Dorchester.  The Bellflower Street fire grew so fast and burned so intensely that it created its own weather, creating a literal firestorm and leaving the fire department struggling to contain it.  Columns of smoke and flame licked the sky, while every available firefighter from Boston and over two dozen suburban towns raced to the scene to make a desperate stand.  When the smoke cleared, 35 buildings had burned and 300 people were homeless. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/353/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

America’s first “interstate” highway was built to link Boston to New York City. The 17th century Boston Post Road is often overlooked in the city’s early history, but it marked the earliest and one of the most ambitious attempts to knit the fragmented English colonies of North America into a single, cohesive entity. From Boston’s first post office, which accepted only overseas letters, to the post riders who braved “mountainous passages” and roaring rivers, this primitive road network was the original interstate, forged not just for convenience, but for the survival of the British colonial project. In this episode, we’ll explore how the Boston Post Road evolved from an indigenous trade route into the King’s best highway, a crucial artery for colonial and early federal correspondence. We’ll trace the routes of the upper Post Road through the wilderness of Central Massachusetts and Connecticut and the coastal lower Post Road that shaped the roads and transportation networks of modern New England. Along the way, we’ll uncover the stories of the people who marked the miles, from wealthy landowners like Paul Dudley, to determined travelers like Madam Sarah Kemble Knight, to George Washington, who arrived in Boston for his first official visit as President along the Post Road. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/352/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory.com/

For Patriots Day this year, let’s talk about Paul Revere. Instead of focusing on his famous ride 251 years ago, let’s go into the back catalog to uncover some lesser known aspects of Paul Revere’s involvement in the Patriot cause. First, we’ll look at Revere as a messenger. He’s known for his famous ride on April 18, 1775, but Paul Revere was chosen for that ride because he already had a reputation as a reliable express rider, carrying secret messages from the Boston Committee of Correspondence on horseback to patriots in New York, Philadelphia, New Hampshire, and beyond. Then, we’ll turn the clock forward and look at Revere’s support for the cause after his famous ride. In 1779, Paul Revere was the colonel in charge of the Massachusetts artillery regiment, and he was tapped as one of the commanders of an expedition to dislodge the British from the Penobscot Bay in today’s Maine. The resulting fiasco was the worst American naval defeat prior to Pearl Harbor, and it left Revere’s soldiers half-starved and wandering through the Maine wilderness. In this episode, we’ll learn how much blame Revere bore for the chaotic retreat. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/351/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week, we chat with Scott Kerman, whose new book about Governor Mike Dukakis is The Duke: Weekly Conversations With The Last Honest Politician: A Political Giant and a Comedian Walk Into a Kitchen. This book is very different from the typical political biography, and I think we could have a serious conversation about whether it “counts” as history, but the fact remains that Michael Dukakis was a major party presidential candidate and remains the longest serving governor of the Commonwealth. When The Duke dropped almost a year ago, I was shocked to learn that it’s the first book about Governor Dukakis in decades, and the only one to include a wider focus than the 1988 presidential race. As you will hear in a few moments, as a humorist and comedian, Scott approaches this book very differently from most biographers, but if you have any interest in Governor Dukakis, you will want to tune in. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/250/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

What does it mean to lose your home to a war you hoped would never come? In the popular imagination, the American Revolution is a black and white story of “Good Patriots” versus “Bad British,” but the reality on the streets of occupied Boston was far more gray, hungry, and heartbreaking. By the time the British fleet finally sailed out of the harbor on March 17, 1776, the city was a shell of its former self—a place where residents had been reduced to eating rats and burning their neighbors’ houses for warmth. Our last episode examined the nearly miraculous American victory at Boston that forced the occupying British troops and Massachusetts residents who sympathized with them to evacuate Boston. In this episode, co-host emerita Nikki sits down with historian Dr. Patrick G. O’Brien to explore Evacuation Day from the perspective of the Bostonians who later became known as “loyalists.” From the economic fallout of the Boston Port Act to the shocking sight of British soldiers sleeping in tattered tents on a frozen Boston Common, this conversation explores the human cost of civil war, from the 1774 arrival of thousands of Redcoats to the desperate 10-day scramble of the March 1776 evacuation. From the rocky, fog-drenched shores of Halifax to the lonely streets of London, it’s a story of divided families, broken kinship bonds, and the long, bitter road to reintegration, reminding us that for many, March 17th was not a day of liberation, but a day of profound loss. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/349/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

026 marks the 250th anniversary of American independence, and here in Boston Independence Day comes early, on a holiday we celebrate every year on March 17 as Evacuation Day.  In the early months of 1776, the American Revolution was stuck in a freezing, muddy stalemate. For nearly a year, George Washington’s fledgling Continental Army had kept the British regulars pinned inside the city of Boston, but without heavy artillery, they lacked the muscle to actually end the occupation. Washington, frustrated and desperate, even fantasized about a suicidal frontal assault across the ice of the Charles River. But the arrival of Henry Knox and his "noble train of artillery"—dozens of cannons hauled 300 miles through the winter wilderness from Fort Ticonderoga—flipped the script overnight. This episode explores the high-stakes gambit that followed: the secret, overnight fortification of Dorchester Heights. We’ll dive into the primary accounts of those who lived through it—from Abigail Adams listening to the earth-shaking roar of a diversionary bombardment, to British officers waking up to find a "miraculous" fortress staring down their throats. You’ll learn how Washington used the best tactics and technology of 18th-century military engineering, like portable bulletproof shields crafted of wicker and dirt, known as Gabions, Fascines and Chandeliers, pulling off a logistical feat that left the British commander, General Howe, stunned. It’s a story of military brinksmanship, a providential storm that changed the course of history, and the chaotic, plundering retreat of the British that we remember every March 17th as Evacuation Day. Join us as we go behind the lines of the first great American victory of the war.  Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/348/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

At a time when most Bostonians were interred at burying grounds with familiar names like Copp’s Hill and the Granary, usually under slate markers decorated with winged skulls or cherubs, the congregants at Old North and just a handful of other Boston churches preferred to be sealed up inside the basement walls of their beloved churches. In this episode, co-host emerita Nikki is going to be interviewing one of her colleagues at Old North Illuminated, education director Emily Spence. They will be visiting the nearly-300 year old crypt that lies beneath the floorboards of the historic church, and talking about why it exists, who is buried there, and what researchers learned when the tombs were opened for a restoration project three years ago. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/347/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, Nikki Stewart of Old North Illuminated and Dr. Kyle B. Roberts of the Congregational Library and Archives discuss the pivotal role of religion in the American Revolution. The conversation explores how Boston’s religious landscape—ranging from established Congregationalist churches to the Church of England—acted as a catalyst for revolutionary thought or a source of complex loyalist tension. As the 250th anniversary of independence approaches in 2026, both organizations are shifting their focus toward a more inclusive historical narrative. Initiatives like "New England’s Hidden Histories" and new educational exhibits aim to uncover the long-overlooked stories of Black and Indigenous congregants. Ultimately, the episode emphasizes that understanding these intricate ties between faith and politics is essential for interpreting modern American identity and fostering a more nuanced perspective on our shared history. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/346/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

January 1776 was a dark and scary time in Boston. By this time, the city had been on a wartime footing for nine months following the battles at Lexington and Concord the preceding April. The redcoats had transformed the city into an armed garrison, but they were outnumbered and cut off by the patriots who surrounded them in Roxbury and Cambridge. The Americans had the numbers, but the British had artillery regiments and the guns of the Royal Navy to dissuade a frontal assault on the city. Those Navy ships were a lifeline for the British troops, bringing in enough food and supplies to keep them alive, but only barely. Even though many residents had fled the town, leaving mostly loyalists behind, there was not enough food or firewood to go around. Things weren’t much better on the other side of the lines. The patriots had enough to eat, though they were usually gouged on the prices that winter. But they were spending the winter shivering in hastily-built barracks with no insulation and little firewood. They must have watched with some jealousy as the redcoats across the river tore down the meetinghouse in North Square to use the timber as firewood. On January 24, George Washington seethed in a letter to John Hancock, “no man upon Earth wishes more ardently to destroy the Nest in Boston, than I do—no person would be willing to goe greater lengths than I shall to accomplish It, If it shall be thought advisable—But If we have neither Powder to Bombard with, nor Ice to pass on, we shall be in no better situation than we have been in all the year.” Little did the general know that Boston’s salvation was just a day away. The next day, 25-year-old Henry Knox arrived in Cambridge with 60 tons of artillery in tow. Against all odds, he had managed to float, cart, and sled 59 cannons and mortars from Fort Ticonderoga, on the icy shores of Lake Champlain in upstate New York, over the Berkshire mountains, to the Continental headquarters in Cambridge. This week, we are going to revisit an interview that first aired in May 2020 with author William Hazelgrove about his book Henry Knox’s Noble Train and the audacious expedition that saved Boston 250 years ago this week. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/345/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory

With the British military occupying Boston and patriots laying siege to the city, conditions in Boston deteriorated in the early weeks of 1776, with shortages of food, firewood, insulation, and almost everything leading to desperate circumstances. Against this grim background, audiences flocked to a makeshift playhouse to watch Boston’s first season of theater, including a play called “The Blockade of Boston” that premiered 250 years ago this week, only to be interrupted by a real life attack on the British lines in Charlestown. Our first listener-guest, Dr. Susan Lester, joins us this week to describe what her research has revealed about the legality of theater in colonial Boston, the format of a typical 18th century performance, and even the identities of a few of the actors who tread the boards at Faneuil Hall in January 1776. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/344/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Allan Rohan Crite was a world renowned artist who grew up in Boston’s South End in the early part of the 20th century. After enrolling in the Children’s Art Center and graduating from English High, he attended the MFA School and graduated in 1936. His work was first shown at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1936 and his first solo show at the Boston Athaneaum was in 1948. He went on to work at the Charlestown Navy Yard for over thirty years, while his paintings drew local and then national and international attention. During this time, he attended Harvard Extension School, where he earned an ALB degree in 1968. Looking at all of these experiences together, Allan Rohan Crite truly was a son of Boston, his work opening a window on the experience of Black Bostonians in the 30s, 40s, and beyond. If you are a lover of Boston history, you won’t want to miss the special exhibition of his work on view at the Boston Athenaeum through January 24 and at the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum through January 19th. In this episode, Michelle Leblanc from the Athenaeum joins us to discuss the two wonderful exhibitions Crite’s work that are on display in Boston right now and what we can learn about Boston history from them. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/343/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, Nikki is joined by Ken Turino, a public history career professional and expert on the interpretation of Christmas at historic sites. This week, they’ll be talking about the Boston origins of some of our favorite Christmas traditions, like Christmas cards and Christmas trees. They will also be talking about Ken’s new book Interpreting Christmas at Museums and Historic Sites, which offers practical guidance on how to use holiday cheer to engage interested visitors without alienating those who don’t celebrate. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/342/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

For the next few months, from December 2025 to about July of 2026, HUB History listeners are going to hear a lot less of host Jake. I will be stepping away temporarily to produce a six-episode podcast series for Queer History Boston. You may not recognize that name, because the organization was known as The History Project until a recent rebranding. Queer History Boston is a community archive that has been documenting, preserving, and sharing the LGBTQ+ histories of Boston and New England for over 45 years. A few months ago, we teamed up to apply for a grant from Mass Humanities and the Mass Cultural Council called “Expand Massachusetts Stories – Promises of the Revolution.” The grant program is meant to highlight stories of the American Revolution that usually go untold and highlight how marginalized groups have seized on the core promises made by the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the fundamental equality of all people, your basic promise of America. Our yet-to-be-named show will start with stories of queer and gender nonconforming veterans of the Revolutionary War itself, then follow subsequent generations of queer revolutionaries, right up to the first Pride parade in 1970. I’m incredibly excited for the opportunity, but it means I’m not going to have as much time for HUB History for a while. Luckily, you are going to be in incredibly capable hands while I am gone. Cohost emerita Nikki is going to rejoin the show for a while. If you listened to our show many years ago, back when HUB History was weekly, you’ll remember that Nikki used to anchor the podcast with me every week. Since leaving the show a few years ago, she has gone on to an incredible career at Old North Illuminated, where she has developed an incredible network of Boston history people. While I’m away, Nikki is going to interview authors, curators, rangers, and all kinds of interesting guests. The first of these conversations is coming up on December 14, when Nikki will interview Ken Turino about the history of Christmas in Boston and how historic sites in Boston and around the country can engage with Christmas in historically appropriate ways. Jake will be back to host a few episodes in the meantime, when time allows. And I’ll share updates about how my work with Queer History Boston is going when I do. If you have any questions or comments about these next few months, don’t hesitate to contact us!

By late November 1775, George Washington and the Continental Army encircling Boston faced a crisis: their soldiers were facing a frigid New England winter, their enlistments were expiring, and they were critically short of guns and gunpowder and essential supplies.  General Washington was desperate to strike the British before his army melted away, even contemplating the use of spears as a last resort against the world's most powerful military. The Continentals’ luck began to change when Washington commissioned a small squadron of six lightly armed schooners, the first American Navy, and ordered them to patrol New England waters. One of these schooners, the Lee, was commanded by a Captain John Manley of Marblehead. Operating under Washington's directive to harass enemy shipping, Captain Manley cleverly tricked and captured the British ordnance brigantine Nancy near Boston Harbor on November 29, 1775. This single ship that had strayed from the safety of a larger convoy proved to be an "immense acquisition" for the patriots, yielding a treasure trove of military stores: cannons, thousands of muskets, and perhaps most importantly, a cache of ammunition and gunpowder that, paired with Henry Knox’s noble train of artillery, would provide the Continentals with enough firepower to finally drive the British out of Boston. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/341/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This will be our 2025 Thanksgiving episode, and nothing says Thanksgiving quite like football… At least for most people, I guess. Somehow, the gene for caring about football missed me. The last football game I saw was a Super Bowl, and cohost emerita Nikki remembered that Beyonce sang Formation that year, which means it must have been 2016. All that to say that if the new book Inventing the Boston Game: Football, Soccer, and the Origins of a National Myth can get me interested in the early history of football, it can do it for anyone. Inventing the Boston Game follows the story of a group of upper-class Boston private school boys who called themselves the Oneida foot ball club. During the height of the Civil War in 1862, they started playing a ball game on Boston Common. Authors Mike Cronin and Kevin Tellec Marston join us this week to discuss how generations have argued about whether their Boston Game was some of the first soccer in the US or the first organized American football team. Especially after a group of teammates placed a stone monument on Boston Common 100 years ago this week, it was clear that they were deliberately inserting themselves into American sports history, but a century later it is hard to tell how much of their shared mythology was true. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/340/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, we’ll revisit two murder trials that were held in revolutionary Boston. The first case was against four ordinary sailors accused of murdering an officer of the Royal Navy on a ship in Massachusetts coastal waters, and the other was against nine British prisoners of war who were accused of murdering a guard aboard a prison ship in Boston Harbor. The sailors were accused in 1769, when Boston was under military occupation and the tensions that would result in the Boston Massacre were coming to a head. The redcoats stood trial over a decade later, in the midst of a bloody war that had touched the lives of all Bostonians by 1780. In both cases, attorneys and judges worried whether a jury could deliver justice in a polarized city. Both cases were argued by signers of the Declaration of Independence, with John Adams defending the American sailors in 1780 and Robert Treat Paine prosecuting the redcoats in 1780. In both cases, the defendants argued that they had acted in self defense, and amazingly, both cases ended in acquittal. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/339/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In October 1855, exactly 170 years ago this week, Boston hosted the third annual exhibition of the United States Agricultural Society, a grand five-day event that was lauded in the press as “a greater show of cattle and horses than has ever been given previously in the world.” Set on a newly created, fifty-acre fairground in the South End, the exhibition showcased Boston’s civic pride and economic power at a time when agriculture was still a primary driver of the American economy. While originally envisioned to showcase a range of crops, fruits, and agricultural implements, the Boston fair ultimately focused almost entirely on livestock and featured a significant amount of horse and harness racing, which was controversial in a city with a reputation for uptight conservatism. The event was promoted as a wholesome, family-friendly affair, with extensive amenities for women and children, deliberately distancing itself from the rough-and-tumble reputation of traditional cattle markets. The exhibition successfully attracted throngs of visitors, offered over $10,000 in cash prizes, and drew national attention, ultimately contributing to the popularity of harness racing in New England and strengthening the case for federal support of scientific agriculture. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/338/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

250 years ago today, a letter from George Washington revealed a devastating secret: there was a British spy at the highest level of patriot leadership. The traitor was none other than Dr. Benjamin Church, a man who seemed to embody the American cause. He was a Harvard-educated physician who had been appointed as our first surgeon general, he was a close confidant of leaders like Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren, and he was officially in charge of organizing the war effort as head of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety. Church had risked his life for liberty and was trusted with the revolution’s deepest political and military secrets, but a coded letter, a secret mistress, and a suspicious baker would unravel a web of deceit that would make Benedict Arnold blush. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/337/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week’s guest is Michael Ansara, author of a new volume of memoir called The Hard Work of Hope. It is a personal story, but it’s also a history of Boston in the 1960s, and especially of anti-war activism at Harvard and organizing among the New Left political movement during the Vietnam era. Michael went from a middle class childhood in Brookline to the playground of the elites at Harvard, just at the historical moment when the civil rights movement entered mainstream consciousness and as the US government dramatically escalated the war in Vietnam. Michael remembers the chaos and fear of those times, but also the patriotism and the optimism of youth that drove so many of his contemporaries, and the relentless organizing it took to shape that youthful optimism into a political movement that had the potential to change the world, though that potential may not have been fully realized. In our conversation, he looks back on hard-won lessons learned and grapples with the question of how today’s organizers might save a democracy teetering on the brink. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/336/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, we will learn about two important developments in the siege of Boston 250 years ago this month, in September 1775.  First, we'll learn about the invasion of Quebec that Benedict Arnold launched out of Boston that month, in hopes of winning over Canadian hearts and minds.  If you have ever wondered why Canada isn’t part of the United States, we can probably chalk that up to Arnold’s ill-fated expedition, as well as the 150 years of conflict between Canadians and New Englanders that had gone before.  We will also learn about the riflemen who made up much of the invasion force.  Recruited from the backwoods of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and what’s now West Virginia, these exotic troops were treated as celebrities when they first arrived at the Continental camp in Cambridge, but the bloom was soon off the rose.  As we’ll hear, some of the riflemen staged the first mutiny in the Continental Army 250 years ago this week, until they were personally subdued by George Washington near Union Square in today’s Somerville.   Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/335/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

After the Battle of Bunker Hill in June, the siege of Boston reverted to a stalemate through the summer of 1775. While Benedict Arnold would lead some of the Continentals north from Cambridge into Canada and Henry Knox tried to wrestle Fort Ticonderoga’s cannons south from upstate New York to Cambridge, there was not a lot of action around Boston. Instead, as we’ll explore in this episode, the focus shifted to preparation, with riflemen from the far western frontier in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland joining the lines, with Continentals building new forts to consolidate their siege lines, and with the redcoats venting their frustrations on Boston’s Liberty Tree. We’ll also see how the new Continental commander in chief, George Washington, could barely be restrained from ordering a direct, frontal assault on the superior British force in Boston, even though there wasn’t enough ammunition in the Continental camp to go around. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/334/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, we go in search of a Black Bostonian who was “well known” to his contemporaries, including Boston newspapers, but who was all but forgotten by history. If not for a one-paragraph news article and work by historians to reconstruct aspects of his life from notarial records, we may not know the name Caesar Marion. In this somewhat brief episode, we’re going to look at why Mr. Marion was thrown into Boston’s notorious jail 250 years ago this week, and then we’ll compare his treatment inside British-occupied Boston with the experience of Black volunteers in the Continental Army outside Boston, once Virginia enslaver George Washington took command. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/333/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In July 1775, the siege of Boston was approaching its peak, with the New England militias that had been surrounding Boston itself since April coalescing into the brand new Continental Army and the British dug in within the city to protect the vital harbor. 250 years ago this week, Continental officers planned a daring raid on Boston Harbor, essentially taking them deep into hostile territory, since the mighty Royal Navy ruled the waters. The objective of this raid, or rather raids, because there were two of them, was Boston Light. Marking the entrance to Boston Harbor since 1716, this humble lighthouse became an important strategic target, during a phase of the war where Britain’s presence in Boston was only possible because of a boatlift connecting their supply lines from Long Wharf to Newcastle and Plymouth in old England. We’ll also see how the tide of battle could turn on the back of the simple New England whaleboat, which proved itself to be the 18th century equivalent of a stealth fighter in these engagements. (Parts of this episode originally aired in 2021 as episode 227.) Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/332/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

A while back, my niece Sophie convinced me to watch the Disney live action musical Newsies. The 1992 film features an 18 year old Christian Bale as a homeless New York City newsboy who organizes an unauthorized strike against the biggest newspapers in the city. The story is peppered through with real names, like Joseph Pulitzer and Teddy Roosevelt, so I was pretty sure it was at least loosely based on a real story, and it made me wonder if Boston’s newsboys had ever gone on an equally adorable strike. I uncovered the story of a real-life newsboy strike in Boston in 1894, but it didn’t have that much in common with the movie. In the course of researching the 1894 strike, I learned a lot about newsboys as an emblem of child labor in Boston during the Progressive Era, at a time when reformers thought it better to provide protections that would legitimize child labor rather than eliminating it. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/3331/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week we celebrate another important anniversary in the lead up to America’s 250th birthday. On July 3, 1775, George Washington assumed command of the newly created Continental Army at their headquarters in Cambridge, and Mike Troy of the American Revolution podcast is going to tell us how it happened. Mike was our guest last week, but this week he’s allowing me to play clips from two of his classic shows. I’m going to play part of episode 64 of the American Revolution Podcast, which was titled “The Second Continental Congress Begins,” and all of episode 67, “Washington Takes Command.” Both these episodes originally aired on the American Revolution Podcast in the fall of 2018, and they will allow us to understand why the Continental Army was created, how George Washington was chosen as our first Commander in Chief, and the challenges Washington faced upon taking command in Cambridge 250 years ago this week. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/330/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

June 17th, 2025 will mark the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, which was the largest Revolutionary War battle to take place in the Boston area and the bloodiest battle of the war (at least on the British side). Following the outbreak of war in April, the siege of Boston soon became a stalemate, but until Bunker Hill, British officers expected the American provincial army to evaporate the first time they came face to face with the fearsome power of the King’s army. Fought over a year before America declared independence, Bunker Hill proved this assumption wrong, with the redcoats suffering devastating casualties, even though they defeated the Americans in a pyrrhic victory. In just a few minutes, I’m going to be joined by Mike Troy, host of the American Revolution Podcast. Together, we’re going to uncover where the battle was fought and how you can find traces of the battlefield in today’s Charlestown. We’ll look at the officers and men on both sides of the battle, and what the experience of battle was like for the untested American militia soldiers, as well as the lessons that both sides learned from the carnage of June 17, 1775. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/329/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Instead of the 250th anniversary of an event from the American Revolution in Boston, we’re rewinding the clock 392 years to the spring of 1633, when the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony was given the first fork in America. We’re going to explore why forks were unknown in Boston at that time, and indeed why they were unfamiliar in England until just a few years before. We’ll talk about why it took Boston over 100 years to fully embrace the idea of eating food with a fork, including changes to 17th century table manners and the belief that the fork was an inherently sinful utensil. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/328/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Over the past few episodes, we’ve seen how Massachusetts troops drove the British back from Concord and Lexington to Boston, then created elaborate siege lines that kept the redcoats bottled up in the city, while the Americans controlled the surrounding countryside. 250 years ago this week, the focus of the war shifted from land to sea, with the British leveraging the immense tactical advantage that their navy gave them in projecting power on the ocean and along the coast. To try to offset the hardship of the American siege, the British used their naval power to find food in the Boston Harbor Islands, first on Grape Island, near today’s Weymouth and Hingham, then at Noddles and Hog Islands, which form most of today’s East Boston. At Grape Island, the Americans put up a spirited but largely ineffective defense, but the skirmish we remember as the battle of Chelsea Creek became an important turning point for the Americans. This was the first operation where soldiers from different colonies worked together in a coordinated effort; the first time the rebellious New Englanders used artillery in battle; and the first time Americans engaged and actually captured a British warship. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/327/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Every Bostonian knows Fort Ticonderoga as the source of the cannons that Henry Knox brought to Boston, secretly hauled to the top of Dorchester Heights in the middle of the night, and used to drive the redcoats out of Boston forever. We’ll cover that story later in our 250th anniversary season, but this week I want to think about the other end of the chain. Before Henry Knox could bring his noble train of artillery to Boston, somebody had to take those cannons, and the fort they belonged to, from the redcoats. We usually give credit for the daring capture of Fort Ticonderoga to Ethan Allen, whose homestead you can visit outside Burlington, Vermont these days. The capture is actually at least as much a Boston story as it is a Vermont story, as the orders to capture the fort were issued by our local patriots. We forget about this part of the story because the officer who was chosen to lead the expedition to Fort Ti was one of the greatest heroes of the revolution, right up until the point when he became one of history’s greatest traitors. That’s right, Benedict Arnold. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/326/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

From the moment the April 19, 1775 battle of Lexington and Concord ended until the British gave up and evacuated the city in March 1776, Boston was the epicenter of the American War for Independence. After eleven months of under siege, Boston was effectively independent after the British evacuation, never being under serious threat of re-invasion after March 17, 1776. Unfortunately, the Siege of Boston started and ended before independence was declared in Philadelphia, so it’s usually forgotten in our retelling of our national origin story. For this week’s show, let’s linger on the siege to see how it came together 250 years ago this week, how colonial Bostonians decided whether they should stay in their homes or flee to the countryside, and where the battle lines were drawn upon the map of modern Boston. Over the course of the coming year, we’ll return to the siege of Boston several times to talk about battles and skirmishes, heroes and traitors, and generals and everyday Bostonians, but for now I want to set the stage with an episode about the early days of the siege in April and May of 1775. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/325/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere. This week marks the 250th anniversary of our American Revolution, with the first battles taking place in Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The night before, Paul Revere rode from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British regulars were coming out that night. Most Americans have a mental image of a lone rider in the night carrying the fate of the nation and the future of independence with him. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Landlord’s Tale, or Paul Revere’s Ride” is largely responsible for that image, but is it accurate? This week, we retell the story of Paul Revere’s ride by looking at Longfellow’s poem alongside two versions of the night’s events that were told by Paul Revere in his own words. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/324/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

222 years ago, on March 22, 1803, a teenaged sailor named John R Jewitt from Boston, Lincolnshire was onboard the ship Boston from Boston, Massachusetts when it was captured in Nootka Sound on the west coast of today’s Vancouver Island in Canada by a powerful king of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people. For almost three years, Jewitt and one other survivor from the Boston were enslaved by the king Maquinna, during which time Jewitt kept a journal that has become an important ethnographic study of indigenous life on the northwest coast of North America. Besides life among the Nuu-Chah-Nulth, this incident helps reveal the importance of Boston’s maritime economy in the years between independence and the war of 1812. It also joins our episodes on the ship Columbia and the Park Street missionaries to Hawaii in illustrating how Boston merchants and whalers had an outsized influence on the culture of the west coast, even before America laid claim to the region. How did John Jewitt ingratiate himself to his captors well enough to survive his ordeal, and how did he manage to concoct an escape long after it seemed that all hope was lost? Listen now! Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/323/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week, we're speaking with Elena Palladino, the author of the recent book Lost Towns of the Swift River Valley: Drowned by the Quabbin.  This book outlines the 20th century development of Boston’s modern water supply system through the eyes of the residents of the four towns in north central Massachusetts that were sacrificed to create the Quabbin reservoir: Greenwich, Enfield, Dana, and Prescott.  The story is bookended by the farewell ball, held on the night when the four towns legally ceased to exist, and largely told by following the lives of three prominent valley residents.  The book reaches back to the last ice age to describe the forces that shaped the Swift River valley into the ideal site for a reservoir, to English colonization to explain why the valley remained less populated and less developed into the 1930s, and thus easier to take through eminent domain, and forward to today to understand the immense benefits modern Bostonians enjoy thanks to the sacrifice of Swift River valley residents of a century ago. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/322/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

250 years ago this week, General Thomas Gage, the royal governor of Massachusetts and commander in chief of all British forces in North America, sent two British spies into the rural communities around Boston. He carefully selected two redcoats to go undercover, roaming highways and country lanes and taking painstaking notes about their terrain and relative military advantages. First they surveyed the western roads to Worcester, then the northern roads to Concord, anticipating a spring offensive against one town or the other. Unfortunately for them, however, their disguises weren’t as good as they hoped, and they were soon under nearly constant surveillance from patriot counterintelligence that left them in fear for their lives.   Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/321/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

This week, Dr. Imari Paris Jeffries joins us to talk about the years when Martin Luther King, Jr lived in Boston. As you’ll hear him say in just a few minutes, Dr. King is a figure that most of us only imagine as a grainy newsreel image or a voice crackling on an old recording, so it can be hard to imagine Dr. King as flesh and blood. With Dr. Paris Jeffries help, we’re going to imagine the Boston that Reverend King experienced: where he studied, where he fell in love with Coretta Scott, and where he would return over a decade later, when he had already become a legend in his own time. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/320/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

In this episode, Sara Fitzgerald joins us to discuss her new book The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T.S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime. It is the first book-length biography of Emily Hale, the longtime love and secret creative muse of poet T.S. Eliot, who wrote Emily Hale over 1100 letters over the decades of their complicated relationship. However, their relationship was mostly forgotten by history after their letters were locked away for 50 years after their deaths, to protect the innocent. By the time the archive was opened in January 2020, few scholars understood the depth of their relationship. This book reestablishes Hale, not only as a major influence on T.S. Eliot’s body of work, but also as her own woman. From Hale’s upbringing in Chestnut Hill to their first flirtation in a Harvard Square parlor, Fitzgerald traces the intertwining lives of Hale and Eliot over a half a century that revolves around the intellectual center of gravity that is Boston. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/319/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! This week, we’re talking about Boston’s first encounters with exotic animals. I will be talking about the very first lion to make an appearance in Boston, but instead of tigers and bears, we’ll take a look at Boston’s experiences with elephants and alligators. Our story will span almost 200 years, with the first lion being imported in the early 1700s, the first elephant in the late 1700s, and the first alligators that most Bostonians got acquainted with were installed in the Public Garden in 1901. Can you imagine proper late-Victorian Bostonians crowding around a pool of alligators to watch them tear live animals limb from limb? I couldn’t either before digging into this week’s episode. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/318/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

Thirty years ago this week, Brookline became the site of the most deadly anti-abortion violence in American history, at least up to that point. Sadly, right wing extremists and religious terrorists have since eclipsed the bloodshed on Beacon Street on December 30, 1994. On that day, two women’s health clinics were targeted by a radical with a gun because, along with pap smears, birth control, and STD screenings, they provided abortion care. His shooting spree left two people dead, five wounded, and fit into a national pattern of violence against abortion providers. This week, we’ll review that heartbreaking case, then we’ll revisit a classic episode that warns us what could happen to pregnant women in Boston before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in America through the tragic example of Jennie Clarke. Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/317/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/

For our third Christmas episode, we’re setting our clocks back to the year 1659. If you’d been alive in Boston back then, you would want to keep your Christmas celebration under wraps, because that was the year when Puritan Boston banned Christmas. Now, that may not fit with your mental image of the Puritans as a deeply religious group, but that’s exactly why they literally erased Christmas from their calendars and banned its celebration for decades. Puritans saw their road to salvation as paved with hard labor, careful study of scripture, and the denial of earthly pleasure, but at the time, Christmas was known as a season of misrule, mummery, mad mirth, and rude revelling. Original show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/212

Today's Christmas bonus is anything but merry. In the depths of the British occupation of Boston in 1774, British Private William Ferguson played hooky on a December day, got really drunk while his unit was on a routine patrol, and then he either tried to desert and start a new life here in America, or he went to see about getting some laundry done. Either way, he was convicted of deserting from his royal majesty’s army, and Boston was shocked to bear witness to an execution by firing squad in the middle of Boston Common, bright and early on Christmas Eve. Original show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/263/

This week, I'm sharing three past episodes to keep you warm on your Christmas travels. For the first one, let’s set the clock back to December 1917, when an ammunition ship blew up in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, causing the largest explosion before the invention of the atom bomb. The blast left thousands dead, injured, or homeless, in the teeth of a Canadian winter. 500 miles away, a private banker in Boston received a garbled telegram indicating that there was trouble to the north, and within hours Boston responded with manpower, supplies, and funds that forged an unbreakable bond between the two cities. Original show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/57/

Have you ever wondered where the tradition of sending Christmas cards every year came from?  While the first Christmas cards appeared in Britain back in the 1840s, it was a German immigrant named Louis Prang who made them popular in the United States and around the world.  Using a revolutionary new color printing technique that he called chromolithography, Prang’s Roxbury factory made the most popular greeting cards in the country from the 1870s until the turn of the century.  Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/316/ Support us: http://patreon.com/HUBhistory/