PARTNERSHIP OF THE HISTORIC BOSTONS

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UPCOMING EVENT
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         PRELIMINARY PROGRAM  




BOSTON CHARTER DAY
A celebration of the naming of Boston & Dorchester & Watertown - September 7, 1630

 SEPTEMBER 23 – 26, 2010

 EDUCATION
Enduring Legacies from Massachusetts

 PRESENTED BY
The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc.

 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Roots of American Education from The Massachusetts Bay Colony
Boston Public Library
6:00 p.m., Reception and Exhibit – Rabb Lecture Hall Foyer

7:00 - 8:00 p.m., Program – Rabb Lecture Hall
Welcome: Amy E. Ryan, President, Boston Public Library
Presentation
:
Dr. Francis J. Bremer, Chair, History Department, Millersville University of PA and
Editor, The Winthrop Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
    “The Role of Learning in the New Jerusalems of Seventeenth Century New England”

 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Evolution of Education in The Commonwealth
The Commonwealth Museum
6:00 p.m., Reception and History Exhibit Tours
View the new exhibit of the Commonwealth’s History

7:00 p.m., Presentation
Welcome:Stephen Kenney, Director, Commonwealth Museum
Introduction: S. Paul Reville, Massachusetts Secretary of Education
Panelists:
Judith S. Graham, Series Editor, Louisa Catherine Adams Diary, The Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA
    “One Family's Experience: The Education of Samuel Sewall's Children.”
Barbara Beatty, Professor and Chair, Department of Education, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA
    “The Devil in Public Education: From the Ould Deluder Satan Law of 1647 to
Horace Mann's 1848 Twelfth
Annual Report”

 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Place & Time:   TBA


 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
Charter Day Sabbath Gathering
The First Church in Boston
11:00 a.m. - Noon
Nondenominational service held at Boston's oldest religious institution, established in 1630.
The Reverend Stephen Kendrick, Senior Minister
   “A Great Legacy: The Puritan’s Hunger for God Required Education”

 


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PAST EVENTS:  - BOSTON CHARTER DAY -  SEPTEMBER 10-13, 2009

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BOSTON CHARTER DAY


WHAT:
         Breaking Away:
Evolution of Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
 
The ninth consecutive year of cultural and educational events in celebration of the 379th anniversary of the September 7, 1630 naming of Boston, Dorchester and Watertown, the first towns in the colony. 
All events are free unless otherwise noted.

WHEN:         September 10 – 13, 2009

WHO:           An informal coalition of participating organizations led by:
The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc.,
in coordination with
The Dorchester Historical Society, and
The Historical Society of Watertown

WHERE:      Various locations in Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown. 

PARTICIPATING ORGANZATIONS:
Boston Public Library
The Bostonian Society
The Commonwealth Museum
 
The First Church in Boston
 
The First Parish, Dorchester
The First Parish, Watertown
 
New England Historic Genealogical Society
 Watertown Free Public Library
 The Winthrop Society
 

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Featured Events
:
 

Thursday, September 10:

British Roots of Governance


6:00 p.m., Opening Reception – Foyer, Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Boston.

7:00 – 8:00 p.m. Presentations – Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Boston.
Dr.Timothy Harris, Brown University,
17th Century Governance in England
Robert Charles Anderson, Director, Great Migration Study Project,
17th Century Governance in
the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Featured Events:

Friday, September 11: 
City on a Hill

A program featuring John Winthrop’s vision of a “City on a Hill.”

Co-Sponsored by Representative Michael Rush.

1:00 p.m., – Great Hall, Massachusetts State House, Beacon Street, Boston.
Recitation of excerpts from John Winthrop’s “City on a Hill” speech and its later uses. Steven Busby, Boston Tour Guide and Member of the Board of Trustees, The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc.
Comments: Historical context and other speeches: Edward Widmer, Director, John Carter Brown Library, Brown University.  


Friday, September 11, (continued)
:
Early Dorchester

The Dorchester Historical Society. Guided Tours, all start at The Elder James Blake House, 735 Columbia Road, Dorchester.

3:00 – 5:00 p.m. Elder James Blake House (1661), Boston’s oldest existing house will be open for tours.

3:30 p.m. – Walking tour to Dorchester’s Old North Burial Ground led by Ellen Berkland, Archeologist, City of Boston.

3:30 p.m. – Walking tour to Lemuel Clap House (1765) and William Clapp House (1806) led by Earl Taylor, President , Dorchester Historical Society.

4:30 – 5:30 p.m. – Informal Reception at the William Clapp House.

Friday, September 11 (continued):
Enduring Freedoms & Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Commonwealth Museum, 230 Morrissey Blvd, Boston

6:00 p.m. – Reception and Tour of the Commonwealth Museum’s new permanent exhibit: “Our Common Wealth: the Massachusetts Experiment in Democracy.”
7:00 p.m. – Program: Speaker: Dr. Francis J. Bremer, Associate Professor of History, Millersville University, Author, and Editor of the Winthrop Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, From English Roots to American Democracy: Shaping Colonial New England Government.
 
Featured Events:
 

Saturday, September 12:
Early Watertown
The Historical Society of Watertown

10:00 a.m. – Waking Tour from the Old Burial Ground and neighborhood led by Clare Murphy, Watertown Historian/ Genealogist. Starting from the Old Burial Ground, corner of Mt. Auburn (Route 16) and Arlington Streets, Watertown. 

 
Early Town Governance:
Boston, Dorchester, Watertown
Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main Street (Route 20), Watertown
1:00 p.m. – Panel Presentation:

Boston: Professor Robert J. Alison, Suffolk University,

Dorchester: Mr. Earl Taylor, President, Dorchester Historical Society

Watertown: The Reverend Mark Harris, First Parish, Watertown

3:00 p.m. – Walking tour of various historic sites near Watertown Square led by Pamela Pinsky, Past Vice President, Historical Society of Watertown. Starting at Watertown Free Public Library

 
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Sunday, September 13:

Charter Day Sabbath Gathering
11:00 a.m. – The First Church in Boston, 66 Marlborough Street, Corner of Berkeley and Marlborough Streets           

Nondenominational service held in Bostons’ oldest religious institution, established in 1630.The Reverend Stephen Kendrick, Senior Minister: The Great Paradox: How the Puritan’s Hunger for God Created Democracy. Broadcast live on WERS, 88.9 FM and online at www.wers.org/listen.



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More ........                                 More ........                                  More ........ 
 
 Thursday, September 10:
British Roots of Governance


Two speakers will trace the evolution of governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in a unique presentation of special importance to understanding the history of the Greater Boston and Massachusetts Bay Colony area. 
It will be the opening event of the 2009 celebration of the historic naming of Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown. The program, “British Roots of Governance”, will be in the Rabb Lecture Hall of the Boston Public Library at 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 10, following an informal reception. All events are free and open to the public. Further information on the annual celebrations and more complete details are available at: www.bostoncharterday.org.
 

Dr. Tim Harris, Munro-Goodwin Wilkinson Professor in European History, Brown University will speak on “17th –Century Governance in England” and Robert Charles Anderson, Director, Great Migration Study Project, New England Historic and Genealogical Society, will discuss “17th-Century Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.”

 

In an advance summary of his presentation, Mr. Anderson points out that, “When Englishmen settled Massachusetts Bay in the 1630s, they did not represent all elements of English society and they could not bring with them their entire culture. The framework they built for governing themselves, at the town, county and colony level, was a new structure, a new arrangement employing a limited selection of the customs and institutions they had left behind.”

 
This will be one of the events in the four days of programs, September 10 – 13, focusing on this  year’s theme, “Breaking Away: Evolution of Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.” Programs will take place in the first three towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be named – Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown. All were named on the same day, September 7, 1630, a date that has been celebrated as Boston Charter Day for the past 9 consecutive years. The lectures, tours, and other events are being presented by The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc. in cooperation with The Dorchester Historical Society and The Historical Society of Watertown.

Friday, September 11:
City on a Hill


John Winthrop’s famous reference to Boston as “a city upon a hill” may be 379 years old but “it has reverberatedthroughout American history,” according to Edward Widmer, Director of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, Providence, RI. It “Still bears considerable relevance to a time and place that could not be more different from Winthrop’s,” adds the former speech writer for President Bill Clinton.

 

Mr. Widmer will be the principal speaker at a special program in celebration of the 1630 founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the Puritan settlers. He will “Explore the ways in which we still are trying to scale that hill.” He will be joined by Steven Busby, well-known and knowledgeable Boston tour guide and a Trustee of The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, who will recite excerpts from Winthrop’s often-quoted vision to set the stage for Widmer’s comments.

 

The presentation, co-sponsored by Representative Michael F. Rush, 10th Suffolk District, will be in the Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House at 1:00 PM, on Friday, September 11. This will be one of the events in the four days of programs, September 10 – 13, focusing on this  year’s theme, “Breaking Away: Evolution of Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.” All events are free and open to the public. Further information on the annual celebrations and more complete details about this year’s events are available on www.bostoncharterday.org.
Programs will take place in the first three towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be named – Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown. All were named on the same day, September 7, 1630, a date that has been celebrated as Boston Charter Day for the past 9 consecutive years. The lectures, tours, and other events are being presented by The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc. in cooperation with The Dorchester Historical Society and The Historical Society of Watertown. The opening program will be “British Roots of Governance” in the Rabb Lecture Hall of the Boston Public Library on Thursday, September 10 at 7:00 PM following a one-hour informal reception.


Friday, September 11:
Enduring Freedoms & Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Dr. Francis J. Bremer, Editor of the Winthrop Papers for the Massachusetts Historical Society says,
“John Winthrop and the Puritan leaders of early Massachusetts crafted a commonwealth that was more stable than that of any other English colony.” He will discuss how the Puritans “drew on the best elements of English local government and their experience of lay involvement in the search for spiritual truth” to achieve their vision of a form of utopia. Although that was not fully realized, he will argue that “The influence of that system is still evident in today’s Massachusetts.”  
  Dr. Bremer, author of John Winthrop, America’s Forgotten Founding Father, one of the most authoritative histories of the 17th century settlers of our region, is Chairman, of the History Department, Millersville University, Millersville, PA.  His talk at 7:30 pm on Friday evening, September 11, at the Commonwealth Museum, Columbia Point, Boston, will follow an informal reception and a tour of the Museum’s exciting new state-of-the art permanent exhibit “Our Common Wealth: the Massachusetts Experiment in Democracy.” The program is free and open to the public, as are all the events in the four days of programs in observance of Boston Charter Day, September 10 – 13.  Programs focusing on this year’s theme, “Breaking Away: Evolution of Governance in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.” will take place in the first three towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be named – Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown. All were named on the same day, September 7, 1630, a date that has been celebrated as Boston Charter Day for the past 9 consecutive years. The lectures, tours, and other events are being presented by The Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc. in cooperation with The Dorchester Historical Society and The Historical Society of Watertown. The opening program will be “British Roots of Governance” in the Rabb Lecture Hall of the Boston Public Library on Thursday, September 10 at 7:00 PM following a one-hour informal reception. Further information on the annual celebrations and more complete details about this year’s events are available on www.bostoncharterday.org.


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CONNECTING THE TWO BOSTONS


 

Mission Statement


The mission of the Partnership of the Historic Bostons, Inc. is twofold: to foster public understanding of the contributions of the 17th-century founders of Boston and the Massachusetts Bay Colony whose enduring legacies shaped the principles upon which the United States of America was established; and to preserve the historical links with Boston, Lincolnshire, England, for which our Boston was named.                                            ........approved January 16, 2009


 

In 1630, Boston, Lincolnshire provided Boston, Massachusetts with its name and 10% of its population. In 1999, a partnership was established to celebrate and promote the unique and important historical connections existing between Boston, Lincolnshire and Boston, Massachusetts. Our Partnership was approved in Lincolnshire by the Boston Borough Council in February 1999 and was endorsed by Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston, Massachusetts in October 1999.

Our Partnership is a non-political/non-profit organization. Our mission is to enrich the lives of those in the Greater Boston Area (and USA) by creating and presenting educational and cultural programs and events to develop a greater understanding and appreciation of the common, enduring legacies of the two Bostons. We plan, initiate and complete projects that support our Partnership's objectives.

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OBJECTIVES of the PARTNERSHIP:

- to celebrate and promote historical connections existing between the two Bostons.
- to promote active "people to people" exchanges between the two Bostons.
- to promote visitor activity between the two Bostons.

We are supported by gifts from individuals; grants from corporations, foundations and trusts; and donations from participants at specially arranged events.


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