Old South Meeting House

06/14/2019

On June 14 (Flag Day), 1876, Old South Meeting House was threatened with demolition. The 1766 tower clock had been removed 5 days earlier, and on Flag Day a crowd gathered to protest the plan to bring the historic building down. On this day at Old South Meeting House, Wendell Phillips delivered a speech that has been preserved as an "Old South Leaflet," telling the crowd: "Scholars have grown old and blind striving to put their hands on the very spot where bold men spoke or brave men died: shall we tear in pieces the roof that actually trembled to the words which made us a nation?"

06/05/2019

Over several weeks earlier this year, we welcomed students from Walnut Hill School for the Arts into our space. They created films about their experiences in and reactions to our building, and they returned last night to share their work publicly. Amazed by their talent, we can't wait to see what these students do next!

05/16/2019

Old South Church celebrates its 350th anniversary

Congratulations to our friends at Old South Church. Our shared history is a source of pride and inspiration.

The Old South Church hit a major milestone that not many organizations can say they’ve reached: 350 years of existence.

05/11/2019

Old South Meeting House's cover photo

05/11/2019

On its 350th Birthday, 10 Things You Didn't Know about Boston's Old South Church

Fun facts here about Old South Meeting House, a museum and venue for events and weddings and the one-time home of the congregation now at Old South Church.

Including a Salem Witch Trials apology, the most expensive book ever sold, and "The Leaning Tower of Boston."

05/03/2019

Boards of Old State House, Old South Meeting House eye merger

Carl Sciortino, president of the Old South Association’s board of managers, called the prospective partnership “an ideal fit . . . that will improve our ability to serve the public and, with an inspiring long-term vision, we know a merged organization will have greater reach and impact for both local residents and out-of-town visitors,” he said.

The boards of the nonprofit Bostonian Society and the Old South Association of Boston voted last week to support a proposed merger after nine months of discussions.

04/29/2019

We're still feeling excited about last Friday's big news that Old South Association and the Bostonian Society are pursuing a merger. The votes by both boards allow the nonprofits to work toward a formal agreement, which is expected later this year.

04/27/2019

Our board and the board governing the Old State House voted this week to pursue a merger that will strengthen our shared commitment to maintaining and enhancing visitor experiences in and around the two historic sites for generations to come.

Improving the public experience along the Freedom Trail is at the very heart of this decision. We believe that joining forces will enhance our ability to tell the interwoven stories of these historic buildings long into the future.

04/26/2019

We have big news to share: The Old South Association board has voted to pursue a merger with the Bostonian Society, which is the primary steward of the Old State House. We believe this combination will strengthen our shared commitment to maintain and enhance visitor experiences in and around the two historic Freedom Trail sites long into the future.

After nine months of thoughtful and detailed discussions among staff and board members of the two organizations, the votes by both boards allow us to work toward a formal agreement, which is expected later this year.

03/25/2019

Thanks to the Museum of African American History, we have access to a notice that previews the 1858 commemorative meeting in Faneuil Hall, which brought attention to the martyrdom of Crispus Attucks, the Boston Massacre's first victim. This meeting included performances such as "Parody on 'Red, White and Blue'" by Charlotte Forten, and display of relics including a powder horn and cup belonging to Crispus Attucks. Join this Wednesday's public program at 6pm to learn more about this memorial event, as well as the 1770s memorials to the Massacre's victims, held at Old South Meeting House. It's not too late to choose a passage to read aloud, or just listen and learn! Register at www.osmh.org/visit-us/events (Image courtesy of thedreamercomic.com)

03/25/2019

Old South Meeting House

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/commemorative-meeting-in-faneuil-hall/ZQGDxYsXvioQRA
Thanks to the Museum of African American History, we have access to this detailed preview of the 1858 commemorative meeting in Faneuil Hall, which brought attention to the martyrdom of Crispus Attucks, the Boston Massacre's first victim, and included "Parody on 'Red, White and Blue'" by Charlotte Forten, and display of relics including a powder horn and cup belonging to Crispus Attucks. Join this Wednesday's public program at 6pm to learn more about this memorial event, as well as the 1770s memorials to the Massacre's victims, held at Old South Meeting House. It's not too late to choose a passage to read aloud, or just listen and learn!

Each year from 1772 to 1775, massive gatherings of men, women, and children here held at Old South Meeting House to commemorate the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, with rousing speeches by John Hancock, Benjamin Church, and Dr. Joseph Warren. Join us to hear excerpts of these speeches, performed...

03/04/2019

We are OPEN today. Come in, visit, and warm up! We're open until 4:00 pm. Whether you venture out, or cozy up inside, please stay safe and warm! Check out this Mass Humanities' story about how an 1888 blizzard lead to the country's first subway system. https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/blizzard-shuts-down-massachusetts.html

02/26/2019

#TransformationTuesday from covered in ivy to crowded and busy!

02/25/2019

"To be able to voice your opinion, speak up for the truth (or speak you mind about policies, rules, events), and in hopes, use this as a platform for a better world."
- Ryan O. #VisitorVoices

02/22/2019

What are the roles and responsibilities of businesses within a community? Using the #GreatMolassesFlood as a historical backdrop, this panel will explore questions around labor rights and safety, government regulations, and the relationship between the public and big business interests. Moderated by Karilyn Crocket, author of "People Before Highways" on the Boston Anti-Highway Movement. Panelists include Carlos Aramayo and Courtney Leonard of UNITE HERE Local 26 who will discuss issues that still resonate today as Bostonians grapple with shifting corporate landscapes and city-wide gentrification. Greater Boston Labor Council History, Archives & Public History at UMass Bostonc MIT DUSP @umlowell FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, registration required https://www.masshist.org/calendar/event?event=2767

02/20/2019

Wedding DRAMA - in all the right ways :) This veil swept us off our feet! #WeddingWednesday

02/18/2019

Bostonians Respond to Irish Famine

#OTD in 1847: As the relentless "Great Hunger" swept through Ireland, Bostonians met at Faneuil Hall to organize a relief effort. Boston, which was already home to a large Irish community, established the Boston Relief Committee to send aid overseas. By 1855 50,000 Irish-Americans would call Boston home, influencing the cultural landscape of the city for generations to come. Check out the full story here:
https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/bostonians-respond-to-irish-famine.html

On this day in 1847, Boston's leading citizens held a meeting at Fanueil Hall in response to news of the famine devastating Ireland. With the failure of the …

02/15/2019

Huzzah and happy Friday! In a week and a day we'll be sipping cocktails and learning about the social role that rum played in historical New England and the history of trade routes that linked molasses and rum production to the slave economy. Hosted by TheMerchant's Bar Director, Bryan Ames. OSMH Members and their guests.

02/12/2019

#TransformationTuesday @OSMHBoston from two different angles and two different eras.

02/06/2019

#WeddingWednesday Let OSMH be a part of your history, by booking your wedding or special event with us! @ElizabethLaDucaPhotography

02/04/2019

These doors will open again on Wednesday. We will be closed tomorrow (and a couple of other Tuesdays in February) for a scrub and spruce! #TreatYoSelf #TransformationTuesday

01/30/2019

#WeddingWednesday Our hall looks awfully pretty for a #WinterWedding! Mazel tov to this couple and all those who share their special day with us!
Lindsay Hite Photography

01/28/2019

If you're joining us this Thursday for the first in our series 100 Years Later: The Great Molasses Flood Revisited, you can also pick up a copy of Stephen Puleo 's Dark Tide! We'll be selling them at 20% off for OSMH and MHS members, and 15% off of our regular pricing!

01/25/2019

Part of our exhibit poses the question: "Is there a cause that you feel strongly enough about that you would risk arrest to support it? Why?" #VisitorVoices #daca

01/20/2019

January's Member Tour took us to Mass General Hospital! We explored the campus’s blend of historic and modern buildings, which have housed medical innovations since the hospital’s founding in 1811. The oldest building on campus is home to the where the first successful public surgery using ether as an anesthetic was performed in 1846. Then we stopped by the Russell Museum at MGH!

01/18/2019

(5th grader leaving OSMH) "This was way more fun than I thought it'd be!" Phew.

01/16/2019

Benjamin Franklin, The Writer | Forum Network

#HBD (one day early) to Ben Franklin! Printer, writer, statesman, diplomat, inventor - the list goes on...and on. Last week, historian Rob Martello visited to us to discuss Ben Franklin, the writer. Thanks WGBH Forum Network for capturing! If you missed the talk - check it out here: http://forum-network.org/lectures/benjamin-franklin-writer/

Scientist, inventor, diplomat, statesman, philanthropist - Benjamin Franklin’s long list of contributions to American history demonstrates the brilliance and public spirit that made him an enduring legend.

01/15/2019

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919: The day Boston was swamped by a deadly wave - The Boston Globe

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Great Molasses Flood. We're partnering with Massachusetts Historical Society to host a panel series that investigates this disaster from many angles - Why has this tragedy taken on a whimsical air? How was the local Italian immigrant community impacted? And what implications did this event hold for big business vs. public interest? Join us for one - or more! - of these discussions. Here's a little reading to spark your interest in the meantime!

With support from The Lowell Institute and Mass Humanities. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2019/01/09/the-great-molasses-flood-was-boston-strangest-disaster/VawySumFUf5vKCibM9PLtJ/story.html

100 years ago this month an enormous steel tank ruptured, sending a torrent of brown syrup on a deadly path through the North End.

01/09/2019

Get your fill of #WednesdayWidsom with this talk from science and technology historian, Robert Martello, who spoke about wordsmith, statesman, and printer Ben Franklin. Martello visits us again this Friday, Jan. 11 at 1:00 for Part 2 of his Franklin discussion: Ben Franklin, Writer.

http://forum-network.org/lectures/benjamin-franklin-tradesman/

12/31/2018

Do you recognize these cheery stars? Each November since 1978, these 13 "Stellar Snowflakes" are installed around Downtown Crossing to illuminate the night skies. They are the creation of environmental artist, Ross Miller. Today, each star is a little more stellar - they have all been converted to environmentally-friendly LED lights! If you're out and about for tonight's festivities, see if you can spot them all!
#HappyNewYear #FirstNightBoston https://www.rossmiller.com/

12/24/2018

We are closed December 24 and 25 in observance of Christmas. We re-open at 10 am on Wednesday, December 26.

12/23/2018

The federal government may be partially shut down but Old South Meeting House is fully open today. Come see us! And, we’re a great place to do some last minute holiday shopping.

12/16/2018

#OTD December 16, 1773: Midnight tonight is the deadline by which the tax on the tea aboard the three ships in the harbor must be paid. After Francis Rotch’s tells the assembled "Body of the People" his request they be allowed to return to England without unloading their cargo or paying the tax is denied, Samuel Adams announces “This meeting can do nothing more to save our country!”

That historic destruction of the tea, which we know today as the Boston Tea Party, begins.

Tonight is the 245th Anniversary Boston Tea Party Reenactment! In 1773, 2,000 people massed outside Old South Meeting House for news from the debate, while a further 5,000 (five thousand!) people crowded inside the building. Join the Body of the People tonight as we celebrate with Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum and #tossthattea!

12/15/2018

#OTD December 15 1773: All three tea ships are assembled at Griffin’s Wharf and waiting to be unloaded.

Will the tea be landed? Will the taxes be paid? Find out the fate of Rotch’s tea and the colonials' resolve TOMORROW at our annual Boston Tea Party Reenactment! https://www.osmh.org/boston-tea-party/boston-tea-party-reenactment
#tossthattea!

12/14/2018

#OTD December 14th 1773: As a result of the third meeting of the "Body of the People" at Old South Meeting House, owner of the tea-carrying ship The Dartmouth, Francis Rotch, is sent to request clearance from customs officials to have his ship leave
the harbor without unloading the tea. #tossthattea

12/13/2018

#OTD December 13th 1773: Boston learns that the tea consignees (who are the agents authorized by the government to sell tea) in New York and Philadelphia have resigned due to protests over the tea tax.

In this letter from Philadelphia to the Boston Gazette, New York and Philadelphia had begun to doubt Boston’s resolve to stand firm against the tea and taxes as the Boston consignees have not resigned. [Image: Massachusetts Historical Society]

12/11/2018

‘Huzzah!’ Lexington celebrates tea burning before the Boston Tea Party - The Boston Globe

Hey Lexington Historical Society we heard you fired up a tea-burning! Huzzah, fellow patriots! We're brewing up a rebellion over here with Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum on December 16th. Join us? https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/09/huzzah-lexington-celebrates-tea-burning-before-boston-tea-party/uzSqY1RUNZjEUggXcDmctO/story.html

Men, women, and children, some in Colonial garb and others in modern dress, gathered around a blazing bonfire to burn tea leaves and proclaim anyone who used the product a traitor. A strange sight in 2018, but in Lexington it’s all about history.

12/10/2018

Artist January O’Neil wrote the beautiful poem “Old South Meeting House,” in 2016 (excerpt here). You can hear more of January's work together with the work of other contemporary and historic poets on December 11 at "Rebels and Admirers - Poets of Old South, 1700s to Today." Check out the event link for details on this FREE event! https://www.facebook.com/events/303839863744841/

12/08/2018

We will be sure to update our Facebook Event Page with will-call information on December 16th. But even if you can't get a ticket to the Boston Tea Party Reenactment, you can still shout your support with reenactors and rebels alike! The performance in the plaza, the parade to Griffin's Wharf, and the thrilling tossing of the tea are all free and open to the public - no ticket required! https://www.osmh.org/boston-tea-party/boston-tea-party-reenactment

12/07/2018

John Greenleaf Whittier was one of six poets who banded together to publish a book of their work as a fundraiser to "Save Old South." The last stanza from his poem "In the Old South Church" is particularly powerful! You can learn more about the poets of our past AND present on December 11th at "Rebels and Admirers - Poets of Old South, 1700s to Today." https://www.facebook.com/events/303839863744841/

12/06/2018

Just 10 days until we #tossthattea with Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum and tickets are officially SOLD OUT! But don't despair- you can join the Patriots in the plaza as the Townswomen of Boston hold their own debate, with the Town Crier bringing regular updates! Best of all, the plaza, parade, and destruction of the tea are all FREE events! https://www.osmh.org/boston-tea-party/boston-tea-party-reenactment

12/05/2018

Old South Meeting House's cover photo

12/05/2018

Old South Meeting House

12/04/2018

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Old South likes poetry,
We bet you do too! We're only one week away from our literary salon, Rebels and Admirers. Join us, Boston Literary District, GrubStreet, and a group of esteemed local poets as we steep in the literary history of Old South Meeting House. FREE. Registration requested. https://www.osmh.org/event/rebels-and-admirers

12/01/2018

Although women weren’t allowed to attend the Tea Tax debates, they played important role in the resistance movement leading up to the Tea Party. As managers of the household, women were responsible for buying home goods. During the Patriot boycott of British products, many Daughters of Liberty created their own cloth and of course, tea! On Dec 16th we’ll have plenty of Daughters of Liberty in the plaza outside OSMH – be sure to ask them what they think of all this trouble over tea!
#TossThatTea Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum