TRAVERSE HISTORY AROUND BOSTON

[LALF...@aol.com]

--------> COME TO BOSTON <------- number 13 in the series

#13 Traverse history around Boston

History buffs can travel through history, all in Eastern Massachusetts.
You'll need some time off before or after the Seminar, and for sites outside
of Boston, a car. Innumerable museums, historical sites, period houses are
everywhere. Some depict a specific event, some a period. Here's a short
selection. (Note: Many sites on Boston's walking Freedom Trail are excluded
from this list.)

These are in historical order. Pick your era!

c. 3000 BCE Mesopotamia: Semitic Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge
617-495-4631.
Cuneiform tablets, stelae, pottery, and exhibits of materials studied by
scholars in ancient Hebrew, Assyriology, hieroglyphics. Current exhibit:
"Pyramids and the Sphinx: 100 Years of American Archeaology at Giza."

c. 2500 BCE Old Kingdom Egypt: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 617-267-9300.
Also Classical Greece and Rome, and all other eras for that matter! World-
renowned for collection of Asian, Classical, Impressionist, and American
paintings, decorative arts, etc. Current exhibit: "Gaugin and the School of
Pont-Aren," among others.

c. 1400 Venice: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 617-566-1401.
Fine art collection housed in a 15th-century Venetian-style palazzo.
Rembrandt, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, Matisse.

c. 1500 Europe: The Medieval Manor, Boston, 617-423-4900.
A theatre-restaurant where a court jester, an oaf in tattered clothing, and
wenches will serve you--well, they'll serve you old food--and lots of fun.
"The best of the Dark Ages."

From here on, these are real historic sites and museums...

1620's Plymouth Landing: Plymouth Rock (1620), Mayflower II (1620)
508-746-1622, and Plimouth Plantation (1627) 508-746-1622.

1646 early ironworking: Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, Saugus
617-233-0050.
Original and reproduced ironworks. They really work.

1692 Salem witch trials: Misc. sites, Salem.
The Salem Witch Museum (508-744-1692) presents a complete look at one of the
most emotional and tragic events in American history. The innocent victims
come alive and plead to a deaf justice system caught up in the hysteria of
the time. Religious persecution. Other sites in this quaint and scenic
harbor town include: House of the Seven Gables (1668), Hawthorne's
birthplace (1804), Peabody Essex Museum (nation's oldest continuously
operating museum, since 1799), Salem Pioneer Village (1630).

1680 Boston: Paul Revere House, Boston 617-523-2338.
Only surviving building from 17th-century Boston. Revere moved in in 1770.

1700 Sudbury: Wayside Inn, Sudbury 508-443-8846.
Built in 1686, restored to 1700. Washington, Lafayette stayed here;
Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn" made famous. Plus, a great restaurant.

1773 Boston Tea Party: Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum 617-338-1773.
Full-scale working replica of the Brig Beaver; much throwing of tea crates
into the harbor.

1775 beginning of the American Revolution: Minuteman National Historic Park
in Concord and Lexington.
The North Bridge in Concord (508-369-6993)--site of the "shot heard round the
world;" Battle Road in Lexington (617-862-7753)--exhibits regarding the
American Revolution.

1812 War of 1812: USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown 617-426-1812.
"Old Ironsides," the oldest commisioned warship afloat in the world.

1835 rural New England: Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge 800-733-1830.

1850 New England whaling: Whaling Museum, New Bedford 508-997-0046.
History of the world's most famous whaling port. (Another whaling museum may
be found in Sharon.)

1840's-1880's Transcendentalists and other Concord Authors: various sites.
The Old Manse, home to Hawthorne and Emerson 508-396-3909; Orchard House,
home of Louisa May Alcott 508-369-4118; Thoreau Lyceum 508-369-5912; Emerson
House 508-369-2236; The Wayside, home of Alcotts and Hawthorne 508-369-6975;
Concord Museum 508-369-9609. Also see and swim in Walden Pond.

1890's birth of the automobile: Museum of Transportation, Brookline
617-5220-6140.
Many, many old automobiles on a fine estate.

1917 birth of JFK: John F. Kennedy Birthplace National Historic Site,
Brookline 617-566-7937.

1943 WWII: Battleship Cove, Fall River 508-678-1100.
On display: battleship, destroyer, submarine, two PT boats.

1962 President Kennedy: John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Boston
617-929-4523.
Life and times of JFK and the Kennedy family.

If these don't quench your historical thirst, there are a hundred others to
choose from. Happy historical hunting, and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Sincerely,
Fred Davis
LALF...@aol.com
President, Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston
*************************************************

Registration for the Summer Seminar is $150; it's not too late. The
Registration Form was printed in the Fall 1995 issue of "Avotaynu", and in
other JGS publications.

To receive a copy of the registration form, write to Carol Baker, 7
Wiswall Circle, Wellesley, MA 02181. Phone (617) 237-6369, FAX (617)
237-1039, or e-mail 73663...@compuserve.com.

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This is one of a series promoting the 15th annual Summer Seminar on Jewish
Genealogy, to be held in Boston, July 14-19th, 1996. These occasional
messages cover a wide range of reasons why YOU should attend: unique
research opportunities, speakers presenting the latest and greatest, people
to meet, places to visit!

COME TO BOSTON.

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