Partnership of Historic Bostons

10/06/2026

📣 Don’t miss this powerful conversation!

This Wednesday, October 7, from 7–8:30pm online, historian Linford Fisher moderates an extraordinary panel exploring Stolen Relations a groundbreaking intertribal project documenting the lives of enslaved Native people.

Joining the conversation are:
🌿 Cheryll Toney Holley, Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band
🌿 Paula Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
🌿 Lorén Spears, Narragansett Indian Tribe

Together, they’ll discuss the history, collaboration, and significance of this remarkable project—and the Stolen Relations website, a powerful resource that makes this research accessible to everyone.

Don’t miss this important conversation. Sign up now!

🔗: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stolen-relations-uncovering-enslaved-native-peoples-untold-stories-tickets-1986849207464

09/30/2026

📣 Programming connected with the 350th anniversary of King Philip's War continues!

King Phillip's War: 350 Years Later
What We Remembered. What We Missed. What Comes Next.
Thursday, October 8 | 7:00PM | Online

Join Dr. David W**d, author of the KPW350.org website, as he interviews five panelists - historians, authors, educators, and genealogists - who spent the anniversary year creating events and interpreting the conflict for modern audiences.

Learn more and find the link to register here: https://sowamsearlyhistory.org/?s=Webinar

09/29/2026

📚🍂 History nerds, this one’s for you!

Our fall line-up is packed with walking tours, online programs, book discussions, and in-person events. We’d love to have you join us!

➡️ TOMORROW! | Wednesday, September 30 | 7-8:30pm | Online
"Land Hath Been the Idol": English Expropriation of Native Land
Join Aquinnah Wampanoag educator Brad Lopes and historian Daniel Richter for a conversation about the English seizure of Native lands.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/land-hath-been-the-idol-english-expropriation-of-native-land-tickets-1990590257044

➡️ Thursday, October 1 | 3-5pm | In-person
The Landscape of Slavery at Harvard
Join a free walking tour presented by the Harvard Legacy of Slavery Project.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-landscape-of-slavery-at-harvard-guided-tour-fall-2026-tickets-1994594643271

➡️ Sunday, October 4 | 2-3:30pm | In-person
Smallpox in Boston
Join us for our own free walking tour exploring the history of smallpox in Boston.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/smallpox-in-early-boston-a-free-walking-tour-tickets-2000774412126

➡️ Wednesday, October 7 | 7-8:30pm | Online
Stolen Relations: Uncovering Enslaved Native People's Stories
A brilliant panel featuring Lin Fisher, Brown University; Cheryll Holley Toney, Hassanamisco Nipmuc; Paula Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag; and Lorén Spears, Narragansett.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stolen-relations-uncovering-enslaved-native-peoples-untold-stories-tickets-1986849207464

➡️ Saturday, October 17 | 11am-12:30pm | Online
PHB book club
We’ll be discussing Lin Fisher’s award-winning Stealing America, an important history of Indigenous enslavement.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/uncover-history-with-our-phb-book-club-saturday-oct-17-tickets-2002394420615

➡️ Saturday, November 7 | 9am-5pm | Hybrid
Puritans in the 21st Century, a day-long symposium of leading Puritan scholars, including Holly Brewer, John Coffey, David Hall and more.
🔗 https://www.americanancestors.org/events/puritans-21st-century-politics-myths-and-future

➡️ Thursday, December 3 | 7-8:30pm | Online
There and Not Yet There: Recovering the Life of Zipporah Potter Atkins
Join us as Dorothy Clark explores the life and history of the first Black woman believed to have owned her own home in Boston.
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/there-and-not-yet-there-recovering-the-life-of-zipporah-potter-atkins-tickets-1994071700134

🍁 Save the dates, bring your curiosity, and join us this fall!

📸: PHB Photo | Maryann Zujewski

09/28/2026

📣 LAST CALL! Happening this Wednesday! Find out how the Puritans justified their seizure of Native land, with Dan Richter and Brad Lopes!

In the 17th century, they had several arguments at hand: the Doctrine of Discovery, ideas of European superiority, and terra nullius—the notion that “vacant” land could be claimed.

But Increase Mather offered another explanation: the Puritans had worshipped land itself as an idol.

Join historian Daniel K. Richter and Aquinnah Wampanoag educator Brad Lopes for:

📜 “Land Hath Been the Idol”: English Expropriation of Native Land
📅 Wednesday, September 30
⏰ 7–8:30 PM ET
💻 Online

This is a topic that comes up again and again in conversations about colonial New England. Don’t miss this fascinating discussion!

🔗 Register now: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/land-hath-been-the-idol-english-expropriation-of-native-land-tickets-1990590257044

09/27/2026

Throughout our Metacom’s Resistance series, one question came up again and again:

“What can non-Native people do to support Indigenous communities?”

Here’s one way Massachusetts residents can take action: sign the petition by Tuesday, September 29th supporting the return of Lampson Brook Farm to the Nipmuc people, the original inhabitants of much of what is now Massachusetts.

The Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band is a state-recognized Indigenous tribe in the Commonwealth. The Nipmuc, “People of the Fresh Water”, have lived in central and western Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island and Connecticut for thousands of years, cultivating deep relationships with the rivers, forests, and lands of their homelands.

Today, the Nipmuc manage several sustainable agriculture projects across the state. Adding Lampson Brook Farm to these efforts would help advance the tribe’s vision for "greater food security, community health, and sustainable stewardship."

🌱 Help the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band become the next stewards of Lampson Brook Farm.

⏰ Please sign and share today!

➡️ Sign the petition:

Return Lampson Brook Farm to the Nipmuc People

09/24/2026

Another wonderful program from our friends at the Congregational Library & Archives and this one is connected to the 350th anniversary of Metacom's Resistance!

Join a virtual program that brings together scholars from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head Aquinnah, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the CLA, to talk about newly released resources to make accessible the documents they hold and provide new ways into understanding the past.

📣 New Resources for Understanding King Philip’s War / Metacom’s Resistance – A Virtual Conversation
👉 Brad Lopes, Tricia Peone, and Heather Wilson
📆 Monday, October 7
🕐 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT

🔗 Learn more and register:

To mark the 350th anniversary of King Philip’s War, local institutions have created online resources for audiences to explore the meaning and legacy of this

09/23/2026

Join our friends at the Congregational Library & Archives, for a tour exploring puritan beliefs about witchcraft.

📜 Early New England Witchcraft Collections Tour
👉 Dr. Tricia Peone
📅 Friday, October 23
🕛 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT

Get into the spooky season mood by viewing rare books and manuscripts from the Congregational Library & Archives’ collections, including seventeenth-century works on ghosts and witchcraft, books connected to the Salem witch trials, sermons about witchcraft, and Cotton Mather’s diary. The tour will also consider why this subject continues to fascinate us today.

🔗 Learn more and register:

Join Dr. Tricia Peone, New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director, at 14 Beacon for a tour exploring puritan beliefs about witchcraft.

09/16/2026

Please join us in congratulating Brown University and PHB advisor Linford D. Fisher whose book, Stealing America: The Hidden History of Indigenous Slavery in US History, has been short listed for this year’s The Cundill History Prize.

Lori Rogers-Stokes wrote that, “Fisher has a powerful ability to shift our perspective by re-describing events hailed as American stories of greatness from an Indigenous point of view.” Read her full review of Stealing America on our website: https://historicbostons.org/read.

Especially for our supporters we have a limited number of hardcover copies of the book available for purchase for just $20 plus $6.25 postage and handling. See the link in the comments to make a purchase through PayPal or send a check (made to Partnership of Historic Bostons, 66 Marlborough St, Boston MA 02116).

Whether you buy the book now, or you have already read it, we would love for you to join one of our two upcoming Stealing America Book Club discussions taking place via Zoom this Fall. Registration links coming soon!

Lastly, if you missed Professor Fisher’s talk with us earlier this year, you can find the recording on PHB's website under "Past Events" or on PHB's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/