Upcoming Events
Celebrating American’s 250th: Boston, 1776/Virtual
Monday, June 22, 2026
TIME: 7pm - 8pm LOCATION: Virtual CONTACT: Reference Desk, 617.698.5757**PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A VIRTUAL PROGRAM THAT WILL TAKE PLACE VIA ZOOM. Registrants will receive a link to access the Zoom Webinar via email. Due to limited space, if you know you cannot make it live do not register with zoom but please fill out THIS FORM to receive the video link.**
Celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with J.D. Dickey, who will discuss his book, “Boston, 1776: A Rogue Tour of Revolution City”. Relive the chaos, courage, and color of the American Revolution’s capital city while meeting those who led the fight in the nation’s War of Independence. We hope you can join us for this fascinating conversation!
Register directly on Zoom HERE. Due to limited space, if you know you cannot make it live do not register with zoom but please fill out THIS FORM to receive the video link.
RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.
About the book:
In Boston, 1776, author J. D. Dickey leads us through the turbulent streets, tub-thumping taverns, and radical strongholds of a town at war with an empire. Far from the powdered wigs and genteel debates of history textbooks, this book guides us through the real Boston of the American Revolution: frenzied, dangerous, and fiercely alive.
Join the crowds in taprooms where rebel plots were hatched. Witness mobs rise up over the price of bread. Stand with patriots as they sharpen bayonets on Bunker Hill, and watch as Loyalists get tarred and feathered. Drink the rum made on the town docks, sample the sinful in the city’s back alleys, and gaze at John Hancock’s mansion gleaming above gritty streets filled with the almshouse, workhouse, and jail.
From the harbor wharves and seedy brothels to renowned assembly halls like Old South Meetinghouse and Faneuil Hall, Boston, 1776 leads us on a vivid tour of the vital hub of the Revolutionary War. At every stop along the way, we encounter iconic names like Revere and Adams, but also the forgotten men and women who bled and brawled for freedom in every corner of Boston.
Upon America’s 250th anniversary, Boston, 1776 portrays the Cradle of Liberty and the American Revolution as never before: raw, radical, and roaring with life.
J.D. Dickey is a writer of narrative nonfiction about American history, society and culture. Of his book, Rising in Flames, Harold Holzer in the Wall Street Journal wrote, “No one interested in Sherman’s March should be deprived of his lively narrative. Absolutely spellbinding.” His earlier book, Empire of Mud, was a New York Times bestseller and described the troubled landscape of Washington, D.C., in the nineteenth century. He has also written articles on a broad range of historical, political and travel-related topics for newspapers and magazines, and appeared in media from C-SPAN’s Book TV to PBS NewsHour to Public Radio International’s program The Takeaway. In support of his work, he has lectured for the New York Historical Society, the Pritzker Military Museum and Library, the Atlanta History Center, and the U.S. Army War College, among other organizations.
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This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library in collaboration with a multitude of MA Libraries, including the Milton Public Library.
Please register for this event and you’ll receive the link in the confirmation and reminder emails – make sure to check your spam folder for them, the email will be coming from Zoom. Due to limited space, if you know you cannot make it live, do not register with zoom but please fill out THIS FORM to receive the video link.
