Revisiting the “Powder Alarm” in Cambridge, 8 and 15 August

At 2:00 P.M. on the next two Saturdays, 8 and 15 August, I’ll lead a walking tour in Cambridge titled “The Powder Alarm of 1774 and the End of British Government in Massachusetts.” This is just one of the tours and events of the 2009 Cambridge Discovery Days.

I’ve led this tour along Brattle Street before, but this year’s excursion will include:

• a new site (well, it’s been there for over two hundred years, but I haven’t had anything to say about it before).
• Lt. Gov. Thomas Oliver’s anguished description of confronting the crowd at his house.
• what that day meant to the previously unpolitical John Vassall and his young sons.

I’ll have to talk fast and walk fast, and the route is about a mile and a half, so please wear comfortable shoes if you come along. Our starting point is the Cambridge Center for Adult Education building at 42 Brattle Street.