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.

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Check out the 150 Years of “Paul Revere’s Ride” website for information about Henry W. Longfellow’s famous poem. First published at the end of 1860, that poem had a profound impact on how Americans remember the start of the Revolutionary War.
J. L. Bell was a panelist in the discussion of “A Knock at the Door: Three Centuries of Governmental Search and Seizure” at the Old State House in Boston on 4 Nov 2009. View this event through the WGBH Forum Network.
Hear J. L. Bell “Gossiping About the Gores” at Old South Meeting House, archived by the WBGH Forum Network. (And follow along with the handout.) This talk from January 2009 follows one Boston family from the 1760s through the 1820s—striving in society, divided by politics, and occasionally star-crossed by love.
Read the transcript of J. L. Bell’s discussion of John Adams with Mike Pesca, host of N.P.R.’s The Bryant Park Project, in April 2008.
Check out the online exhibit about the 5th of November in Boston that J. L. Bell assembled for the Bostonian Society. People in Britain celebrated that date as Guy Fawkes’ Day, but in Boston it was “Pope-Night”—a riot of bigotry, violence, and giant puppets!
J. L. Bell’s article “A Bankruptcy in Boston, 1765” appears in the fourth-quarter 2008 issue of Massachusetts Banker. Download a copy of the entire magazine for free from this page.
J. L. Bell’s article “‘I Never Used to Go Out with a Weapon’: Law Enforcement on the Streets of Prerevolutionary Boston,” about town watchmen, army officers, and the Boston Massacre, is available in the Dublin Seminar volume Life on the Streets and Commons.
Children in Colonial America, edited by Prof. James Marten and published by N.Y.U. Press, features J. L. Bell’s chapter “From Saucy Boys to Sons of Liberty: Politicizing Youth in Pre-Revolutionary Boston.”

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Freedom’s First Finale

In the imaginary Revolutionary Massachusetts that Seamus Heffernan depicts in the Freedom comic, the boys trade stories about a masked hero called the Liberty Eagle. The first issue even comes with copies of an underground broadside showing the Liberty Eagle conquering King George. The story offers glimpses of a mysterious feathered figure. All of which brings up the all-important final question of my interview:

B75: Who would win in a fight, Batman or the Liberty Eagle?

SH: Man, I’ve been agonizing over this question… but as much as I hate to say it, I think Batman would probably win. While the Liberty Eagle has mysterious and superhuman strength and speed, Batman has technological gadgets that would boggle the LE’s colonial mind. He would certainly give Batman a run for his money, though, most likely leaving him cut and bruised to near death by the end of the fight. It is a truly a battle I would love to witness.

B75: Indeed. Plus, even in the eighteenth century, Batman has allies.
(This panel comes from Detective Comics Annual, #7 [1994], script by Chuck Dixon and art principally by Enrique Alcatena.)

Thanks for the conversation, Seamus! And a happy holiday season to all!

PERMANENT LINK: 09:10

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