The Paul Revere House

02/18/2020

Happy to join our friends from @Mass Cultural Council, Boston Gay Men's Chorus, & New England Aquarium to advocate for cultural funding - thanks to our local State Representative Aaron Michlewitz for his support! #mapoli #powerofculture

We kicked off our FY21 state budget advocacy season today with a meeting with HWM Chair State Representative Aaron Michlewitz. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for being a #PowerOfCulture champion!

Our executive director Anita Walker was joined by representatives of three cultural partners & grantees: New England Aquarium, Boston Gay Men's Chorus and The Paul Revere House.

#mapoli

02/14/2020

'Beyond Midnight' exhibit shows Paul Revere's flexibility

Take your Valentine out to see the new American Antiquarian Society Paul Revere exhibit "Beyond Midnight" this weekend! It is a split venue show so be sure to see both parts - one at the Worcester Art Museum & the other at the Concord Museum while they are here locally until June.

We all learn in grade school that Paul Revere hopped on his horse one night in 1775 for a legendary ride through the countryside to warn all within

02/14/2020

Yesterday’s scant snow reminded us of our exciting brush with (faux) movie snow last week! Did you know we may have a cameo in the Disney+ movie #godmothered that filmed in North Square last week? Our little corner of the North End was transformed into a winter market scene and even included signage from one of our local Boston Public Market vendors, Red Apple Farm! See if you can spot the real snow that mingled with the movie stuff post-filming! #fbf

02/13/2020

Our snow drops saw a teeny tiny bit of snow today!

02/06/2020

We love seeing Jacob Lawrence’s interpretation of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride - looking forward to seeing it in person while it is on display up in Salem at the Peabody Essex Museum.

“I alarmed almost every house till I got to Lexington.
—Paul Revere”

The title caption for Panel 4 of Jacob Lawrence’s series ‘Struggle: From the History of the American People’ derives from Paul Revere’s 1798 letter to the clergyman and historian Jeremy Belknap recalling the harrowing midnight ride through enemy lines on April 18, 1775, dodging sentries along the way, just ahead of the deployment of British troops. Based upon this account, Lawrence imagines the moment when Revere rushes into Medford, Massachusetts, on horseback pausing only to whisper the military intelligence to the captain of the Minutemen amid a swirl of arms and muskets before galloping off to alert, as he said, “almost every house” until reaching Lexington.

For a deep dive into the complexities of this painting, continue reading here. Throughout Black History Month, PEM will be posting one panel of Lawrence’s series per day, and taking a long look at its significance:
https://www.pem.org/jacob-lawrence-the-american-struggle-panels/panel-4
#AmericanStruggle

01/27/2020

We can’t wait to visit both venues for “Beyond Midnight” - the Concord Museum & Worcester Art Museum!

We were busy all last week preparing the Society’s upcoming Revere exhibition at the Concord Museum. A reproduction of a large obelisk based on a print by Revere (also shown here) will be featured at this venue. The print is the only surviving depiction of an obelisk that was constructed in Boston in 1766 to celebrate the repeal of the Stamp Act. Come visit the show starting February 14, 2020! #curatoratwork #aaspaulrevere #paulrevere #stampact #obelisk

01/16/2020

We're so pleased that the Stop & Shop at 540 Squire Road in Revere, MA selected us to be the recipient of their Community Bag donation program in January! If you are shopping there and buy one of these reusable bags this month the Paul Revere House will receive $1.00/bag. If you are in the neighborhood, we really appreciate your support!

12/03/2019

What a winter wonderland Boston became today! From all rain yesterday to this bounty of white stuff ❄️ today - it feels like a whole new world. Some creative visitors even left us a gift made from snow this afternoon. ⛄️

11/30/2019

Through his descendants, the legacy of Paul Revere gallops on - The Boston Globe

Reflecting on the incredible service of our long time (53 years!) Board President, Paul Revere, Jr., as he is memorialized this afternoon in Barnstable. He is deeply missed but we are so lucky that his legacy, along with that of his Patriot ancestor (his 3rd great-grandfather) lives on in the following generations. http://bit.ly/2R6ln4N

Being Paul Revere immortalized for a midnight ride in 1775 is one thing. Being Paul Revere in 21st-century Massachusetts is quite another.

11/17/2019

Learning To Swim With 7'5" Celtic Tacko Fall

Loved this story about our neighbors helping each other! Boston Celtics & Charlestown Boys & Girls Club!

Tacko Fall grew up on the ocean in Dakar, Senegal. But unlike his friends, he never learned to swim. But now with the Celtics, Tacko Fall is getting in the pool.

11/12/2019

New-York Historical Society | Paul Revere's Ride

We encourage anyone in the vicinity of NYC tomorrow to catch our fabulous Executive Director & Research Director speaking about Revere at the New-York Historical Society on the current American Antiquarian Society traveling exhibit "Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere" - the rest of us are looking forward to seeing the show when it comes to Concord Museum & Worcester Art Museum this winter! https://www.nyhistory.org/programs/paul-reveres-ride

Paul Revere and his midnight ride—immortalized as the harbinger of the dramatic escalation of the American colonial rebellion against the British Empire—has been celebrated in tales and songs throughout the centuries. But what really happened on April 18, 1775? Experts shed light on the legendar...

11/05/2019

Our friends at Lexington Historical Society are marking a cool anniversary today!

Did you know that President George Washington visited Munroe Tavern EXACTLY 230 years ago today? Washington was on his initial tour of the Northeast as this brand new country’s first President, and he came to see where “…the first blood was spil’t.”*

He was served on at least some of the dishes on the table shown here (in what's known as the Washington Room) and he sat in the ladderback armchair on the right. It's a unique experience to be in this room - have it for yourself when the tavern is open for Thanksgiving tours on November 29 and 30!

*Quote is from Washington's diary entry for November 5, 1789. 🖋️📖

10/31/2019

We couldn’t love this costume idea any more. Perhaps next year we’ll have to dress up as pottery found on our site! 🤓

We're getting into the spirit of Halloween at the City of Boston Archaeology Laboratory! This year, our team is dressed as our favorite historic ceramics: 18th century Staffordshire slipware,18th century Jackfield, early 19th century English porcelain, and 17th century Rhenish bellarmine stoneware. Check out the descriptions of each photo and their comparable ceramic examples for more info on each costume and ceramic. #archaeology #boston #nerd #ceramics #halloween

10/27/2019

One of our favorite authors, Stephen Puleo, will be speaking just down the street at North Bennet Street School next week. Highly recommend hearing him and checking out his books! This looks to be a great event put on by @North End Historical Society, Inc.

Come see Stephen Puleo, author of Dark Tide and The Boston Italians, in a special presentation on November 6!
https://northendboston.org/steve

10/23/2019

Anthony Martignetti And That Famous Prince Spaghetti Ad, 50 Years Later

We enjoyed this little piece of #northend history on the radio today.

How a little ad for a local pasta company became a national phenomenon that's endured for 50 years.

10/02/2019

Water main issue in the neighborhood is not affecting us. We're still open! Water is running brown, though.

09/24/2019

Historic Square Gets New Look

In case you missed the exciting Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in North Square today here’s a taste, featuring our own Executive Dir., Nina Zannieri! http://bit.ly/2laC01P City of Boston

Improvements, including new cobblestones and public art, are completed by the city at North Square in Boston's North End. Report for BNN News. Aired Septembe...

09/21/2019

Unfortuately, today's paper marbling event is cancelled. Feel better soon, R.P.!!

09/13/2019

INSIDER SCOOP: the new public art in North Square was installed today and it is AMAZING!

If you have been here before, now you have to come again to see it for yourself because our pictures don’t do the textures and incredible details justice!

North Enders of all ages have already been finding themselves and their #northendstories in it. A and J Art+Design did such a beautiful job. We can’t wait for all of you to enjoy it too!

09/12/2019

Whitemanism and the West: the Missouri Compromise to the Dred Scott Decision

September brings our annual lecture series sponsored by the The Lowell Institute and held at Old South Meeting House on Tuesday nights. If you missed the first, never fear! It was filmed by WGBH Forum Network (thank you!) and is ALREADY available on their site and youtube. Harvard University Professor Walter Johnson gave an insightful and timely reflection on the last impacts of slavery in Missouri from 1819 onward to the present day. http://bit.ly/JohnsonOnWhitemanism

Presented by the Paul Revere Memorial Association at Old South Meeting House. Lecture by Walter Johnson, Winthrop Professor of History and Professor of Afric...

08/31/2019

Still time to catch Rachel Revere’s dramatic story (portrayed by History At Play) at 2:30 pm - included with admission.

08/29/2019

The Inclusive Historian's Handbook

Fellow Historians! Take note of the #InclusiveHistorian's Handbook - launched today at #AASLH2019 - our Executive Director, Nina Zannieri, contributed to it along with a former PRH staffer, Ken Turino (now of Historic New England) and the whole project has been spearheaded by another PRH alum, Will Walker now of the Cooperstown Graduate Program. http://bit.ly/2PCwWlt

08/20/2019

'Boy Meets World' cast members reunite on streets of Boston

Oh wow! That’s definitely North Square at night - wish they had stopped by while we were open! http://bit.ly/2NkFXfT

Can you imagine being the one who was asked to take a photo of this group?

08/20/2019

Local friends - look for us (and one of our Program Assistants, Hi Alex!) on a small screen 📺 near you some time soon repping the Freedom Trail Foundation for WGBH. #TheFreedomTrail #WGBH

08/16/2019

If you are fans of ours you probably know that we are BIG fans of our Bartlett Pears... As you can see, this year’s crop is growing nicely! But we are also long time fans of Concord Grapes, which grew successfully for decades in our previous garden iteration. This year is the first time since our new garden was planted in 2016 that our new vines have fruited! Keeping our fingers crossed that they will ripen later in the fall.

07/03/2019

It sure feels like Nature is celebrating summer, Independence, #BostonHarborfest, everything with us at our site this week! Come see for yourself on July 4th! We are open our normal hours all day (9:30-5:15) everyday. And special thanks to all of you for making us feel so loved! We recently reached over 8,000 likes on our page and we want to say thanks with these beautiful garden shots. 🥰🌹🌿🍐🍇🇺🇸

07/03/2019

#BostonHarborfest (and the Hammered Dulcimer) makes us want to dance too!

07/03/2019

Dave Neiman is here and already hard at work delighting our visitors of all ages with his hammered dulcimer until 3:00. #BostonHarborfest Boston Harborfest

07/01/2019

In case you missed Patriot Fife and Drum Duo in person - enjoy this clip of their Yankee Doodle rendition sung by visitors to the Revere House from all over the county and around the world!

07/01/2019

Happy Boston Harborfest!! Patriot Fife and Drum are kicking off our events right now by educating and entertaining our visitors in the Courtyard. Stop by until 3:00 to see/hear them live.

06/29/2019

Enjoy lively colonial dance tunes and love songs played on the flute, fife, and Penny whistle by Al Petty and Deirdre Sweeney today until 3:00!

06/27/2019

We were estimating 60 pounds for this shockingly heavy small mortar! Love the professional photos. 🙂 Thanks American Antiquarian Society for taking such good care of our object and making it look so good!

What did you do at work yesterday? Us? Oh, nothing much, really. We just helped our photographer create this image of a small mortar made from bronze by Paul Revere around 1805 (check out the action shot!). Weighing in at a hefty and dense 60 pounds, this small cannon was likely used for testing gun powder. Revere cast various sizes of cannons and church bells from the 1790s through the War of 1812. Thanks for lending this object to our upcoming exhibition, The Paul Revere House! #aaspaulrevere #paulrevere

06/19/2019

Our curator is hard at work this week preparing a selection of our Paul Revere objects for use in the American Antiquarian Society's upcoming traveling exhibit, "Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere."

06/12/2019

The Legacy of Paul Revere

Hey, Hey! Look who was interviewed recently by Comcast Newsmakers on the legacy of Paul Revere! http://bit.ly/2R8fG4y

From the man to the legend, Paul Revere Memorial Association Executive Director, Nina Zannieri, shares about the life of Paul Revere; including the creation of a Visitor Center behind the Revere House that allows visitors to learn even more about Revere’s life and legacy.    

06/03/2019

Schedule | Boston Harborfest

Anyone planning to be in Boston for Independence Day (week) should check out the MANY great events collected here as part of Boston Harborfest #BostonHarborfest2019
https://www.bostonharborfest.com/schedule/

The official schedule for Boston Harborfest, the country’s largest Fourth of July festival.

05/10/2019

Congratulations to the Paul Revere Chapter, NSDAR who began celebrating their 125th anniversary last weekend! Our Executive Dir., Nina, was honored to help mark the occasion.

05/10/2019

May 10th is always both a celebratory and a somber day for us as we mark the anniversary of Paul Revere's death, 201 years ago today!

04/18/2019

Celebrating the 244th anniversary of Paul Revere’s #MidnightRide in our #KTRA2019 shirts thanks to the Dilenschneider Clan. Extra excited to have Rachel Revere join us this year care of History At Play’s Judith Kalaora!

You can get your own #KeepTheRideAlive shirts in our gift shop while supplies last!

04/17/2019

If you needed an excuse to visit the Royall House & Slave Quarters (you shouldn’t, it’s amazing) here is a great tie into the Midnight Ride anniversary we are marking this week.

Paul Revere wrote in 1798 about his ride on the night of April 18, 1775, "In Medford, I awaked the Captain of the Minute men." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described it like this:

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

Built in 1637, the Cradock Bridge across the Mystic River, just north of the Royall estate, brought traffic and travelers, and taverns sprang up as stopping places for these travelers, the first as early as 1690.

The Royal Oak tavern at the corner of Main Street and Riverside Avenue in Medford Square opened in 1720. Its swinging sign, naming Jonathan Porter as the current landlord, displayed the British royal coat of arms. Tradition says the bullet hole at the center was made by a shot fired from the "musket of one of the Minute Men on the return of the Medford Company from Lexington" on April 19, 1775. You can see the hole about 1/4 of the way down from the top, between the faces of the lion and the unicorn.

The sign hung in the kitchen of the Royall House until the 2010 restoration of the mansion's service corridor. With grants from the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Mass Cultural Council, we have restored Porter's tavern sign to public display as part of our "Meanings of Freedom" exhibit, which explores the intertwined movements for independence from Britain and an end to slavery in Massachusetts, and their effects on the Royall estate.

04/15/2019

Notre-Dame Basilica rings bells to honour Notre-Dame Cathedral (VIDEO)

We join the world community in expressing our utter sadness at today’s devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

One gesture of good will and solidarity we are finding very moving is the other churches around the world ringing their own bells in Notre-Dame’s honor. We think Paul Revere, caster of bells, would also find those peals most fitting.

Here we offer a link to the bells being rung in the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal:

http://bit.ly/2KUcvOz

Twitter user Simon Plourde captured the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal ringing its bells in honour of the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire in Paris today.