The American Revolution, often viewed through the lens of soldiers and statesmen, holds a lesser-known narrative: the experiences of its civilian children. These young witnesses provide a unique, albeit often overlooked, perspective on the war’s impact. However, authentic contemporary accounts written by children are scarce. Most of these stories emerged decades later, passed down through generations, and were documented in the 19th century or beyond. Here are four such narratives, starting with those from the Battles of Lexington and Concord and concluding with the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Last fall, the Town of Concord and Concord250 were proud to be among the 37 selected recipients of a Massachusetts250 Grant provided by the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The grant funded the project “A Fight for Freedom: Honoring Patriots of Color.”
For many months, scholars, interpreters, and artists collaborated to create this signature event. The program launched in March at The Umbrella Center for the Arts with a two-hour live event dedicated to uncovering and honoring the often-overlooked contributions of Black and Indigenous Patriots during the American Revolution and the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality over the past 250 years.
On April 19, 1775, an estimated twenty to forty colonists of African or Native American descent fought in the first battle of the American Revolution. On that historic day, those men, often termed “Patriots of Color,” joined approximately 4,000 other men fighting British Regular soldiers along the “Battle Road” from Concord to Boston. Over the last 250 years, racism and historical bias have effectively ignored or trivialized the contributions of those men and many other people of color in the historic struggle that produced the United States. To understand who the Patriots of Color were, how they contributed to the American Revolution, and why they chose to do so, we must examine their social context.
On the list of Concord’s notable 19th century women about whom few people know is Lidian Emerson Jackson; so little is written of her many talents, quiet fortitude, and unwavering support of her famous husband, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
She was Waldo’s second wife, succeeding his marriage to Ellen Tucker in 1829.
They say a person’s home is their castle.
But what do you do if that castle is stolen from you?
In May of 2024, such a theft reportedly occurred in Concord, Massachusetts, when an unknown entity badly, but effectively, stole the identity of a Concord landowner and sold her land out from under her. Located on the corner of Mattison Drive and Ayrshire Lane (near Alford Circle), the sloping 1.8-acre plot of land had been purchased for the woman (who we shall call “the True Concord Lady”) in 1991 before circumstances moved her out of state.
When we think of Concord’s history, images of Walden Pond, the Old North Bridge, Transcendentalists, and Little Women might come to mind. We don’t always think about a remarkable, diverse group of women from Concord’s past dedicated to eradicating slavery. We might not even know their fascinating story. The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society worked diligently across three decades, becoming important players in the abolitionist cause, and helping to more widely promote its messages.
Like the greased loops on a hangman’s dropped noose, the lives of Concord writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Louisa May Alcott are forever tightly bound together by a tale of witchcraft that began as follows:
In 1883, Lidian Emerson, widow of Ralph Waldo Emerson, hosted a gathering in her Concord home for Sarah Winnemucca, a Native American woman whose book Life Among the Piutes, Their Wrongs and Claims had recently been published. Mrs. Emerson and her friends were stalwart campaigners for human rights, and Sarah was on a mission to win justice for her people. This was just the kind of gathering that might help Sarah’s cause.
When history and inspiration collide, great things happen. And so, when Jennifer Burton and Julie Dobrow, founders of the “Half the History” project at Tufts University, heard the amazing story of Concord’s Ellen Garrison, they knew they had found the perfect subject for their project series, which places a spotlight on the incredible achievements of women and their important contributions to society.
This year, for the first time in 160 years, the town paused to honor and celebrate the story of its Black native son, George Washington Dugan. Dubbed “GLORY for George,” this celebration engaged visitors and locals alike to honor the legacy of George Washington Dugan on the 160th anniversary of his heroic sacrifice as a member of the 54th Massachusetts, the first all-Black regiment of the Civil War.
