J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. He is particularly interested in the experiences of children in 1765-75. He has published scholarly papers and popular articles for both children and adults. He was consultant for an episode of History Detectives, and contributed to a display at Minute Man National Historic Park.
Hear J. L. Bell discuss John Adams with Mike Pesca, host of N.P.R.’s The Bryant Park Project, in April 2008.
Please check out the online exhibit about the 5th of November in Boston that I assembled for the Bostonian Society. People in Britain celebrated that date as Guy Fawkes’ Day, but in Boston it was “Pope-Night”—a literal riot of bigotry, violence, and giant puppets of the Pope!
Now available from NYU Press, Children in Colonial America, edited by Prof. James Marten, features J. L. Bell’s chapter “From Saucy Boys to Sons of Liberty: Politicizing Youth in Pre-Revolutionary Boston.”