The Revere Express
Our blog content is provided by past and present staff, outside researchers, and interns. We try to provide a wide variety of content and add new articles often! Browse below to find areas that interest you.Â
Summer Weather In Colonial Boston
By: Mehitabel Glenhaber In the summer months, especially on a 95-degree day like we’ve been having a lot of this year, visitors to the Revere house often ask, “Wouldn’t they have been hot?” How did people in colonial Massachusetts actually feel about wearing...
Mourning, Mementos and the Marketplace: Paul Revere and the New England Funeral
By: Jay Shanahan If you were to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston today, just across from Gilbert Stuart's portrait depicting Revere in his old age is a small gold ring. Known as a “mourning ring,” this piece of jewelry was one of the more common gifts...
Paul Revere’s “Other” Rides
By: Tegan Kehoe Listen, our readers, and you shall hearof the lesser-known rides of Paul Revere. While Revere is famous for his midnight ride on the eve of the Revolutionary War, he actually made a number of rides as a messenger for patriot groups. These...
Interactive Map: The Midnight Rides
Interactive Map:The Midnight Rides of April 18 & 19, 1775 The Midnight Rides of April 18-19, 1775 Get Started Map goes here. Enabling JavaScript will give you the best experience.
“There is all that is left of our Kilby Street store” – Key, 19th Century (PR. 2004. 24)
By: Mandy Tuttle149 years ago on November 9-10th 1872, a great fire raged through downtown Boston. The fire originated at a hoop skirt factory on Summer Street and destroyed 776 buildings before it was snuffed out at the intersection of Washington Street and Milk...
The “Boston Marriage” of Edith Guerrier and Edith Brown
By: Tirzah FrankEdith Guerrier begins her autobiography “It is good to be alive! That is how I feel today, and that is how I felt seventy-seven years ago when, at the age of three, I ran away, taking as baggage my toothbrush.” She goes on to describe this early trip...
“Mark Hung in Chains:” Slavery & Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride
By: Nina RodwinWhen visitors to the Paul Revere House learn about the Midnight Ride, they are often surprised that Revere was not celebrated for that mission during his lifetime. Although Revere did not become famous overnight, he did have a sense that his...
Whose Common: 1750-1850
While COVID-19 has forced many operational shifts at the Paul Revere House, I am happy to report that our internship program still continues on strong, albeit in a virtual format. What follows is the tremendous work done by Fahim Rahim, our spring 2021 intern. Fahim...
Nancy Caruso’s North End Legacy
By: Nina ZannieriOver the course of the North End’s deep and rich history, women have played a key role in shaping or, in many ways, changing its history. While some of the names are familiar, most are less well known than their male counterparts. At the very least,...
Illuminating the Past: Create Your Own Historic Window Display!
By: Kristin PeszkaBefore electricity, nights were long and dark. While Boston was early to employ rudimentary lighting at main thoroughfares from fire baskets on poles lit by the night watchman, widespread use of gas street lights did not occur until about a half...