Celebration of 1774 in Worcester, 7 Sept.

Worcester will celebrate the county’s uprising against the royal courts in September 1774 this Sunday, the 7th. Here’s the complete schedule as of early last month.

ALL DAY
Games and Crafts for Children — The Oaks
Big Bear Trading Company — Institute Park
Food and Beverage — Institute Park
Militia Musters, Firings, Colonial Life — Institute Park
Quilting, Rug Braiding, Spinning, Weaving — The Oaks
Genealogy Society of Worcester Information Booth — Institute Park
Lineage Society Booths and Demonstrations — Institute Park
1774 Historical Documents on Display — American Antiquarian Society
Colonial Cart and Staging — North Main Street
Presentations on Colonial History — Institute Park
Self-guided Audio Tours of Historic Worcester — Main Street and Surrounds
Worcester Women’s History Project - Quilling — Institute Park

10:00 A.M.
Grave marking for Revolutionary Soldiers — Rural Cemetery

11:00 A.M.
Interpreter: Isaiah Thomas — American Antiquarian Society
Revolutionary Worcester Bus Tour (90 Minutes) — Humboldt & Salisbury Street
Sir Jeremy Bell - Comedy and Music — Tuckerman Hall

12:00 P.M.
Worcester in 1774 Presentation — Salisbury Mansion
Historical Society Presentation — American Antiquarian Society
Sir Jeremy Bell - Comedy and Music — Tuckerman Hall
Self-guided Audio Tour of Historical Worcester — Main Street & Surrounds

1:00 P.M.
Interpreters: Mr. & Mrs. Bigelow — Salisbury Mansion
Presentations by Historical Society — American Antiquarian Society
Salisbury Singers — Tuckerman Hall
Revolutionary Worcester Bus Tour (90 Minutes) — Humboldt & Salisbury Street
“Chains of Liberty” (play premiere) — First Congregational Church

2:00 P.M.
Discussion with Robert Bachelder — First Congregational Church
Jolly Rogues Quartet — Institute Park
Presentations by Historical Societies — Salisbury Mansion
Self-guided Audio Tour of Historical Worcester — Main Street & Surrounds
Salisbury Singers — Tuckerman Hall

3:00 P.M.
Self-guided Audio Tour of Historical Worcester — Main Street & Surrounds
Jolly Rogues Quartet — Institute Park
“Chains of Liberty” (play premiere) — First Congregational Church

4:00 P.M.
Reenactment - Walking the Gauntlet — North Main Street

Now you see that line I put in boldface, the talk at the Salisbury Mansion at noon? Originally Ray Raphael was going to deliver that. As author of The First American Revolution, he wrote the book on what went down in Worcester in September 1774.

But Ray had to bow out of this trip on doctor’s orders, so as of last week I’m going to speak in his place. My approach will be to put the Worcester event in the context of all that was going on in Massachusetts that month. I’m thinking of calling that talk “The Near-Total Breakdown of Royal Rule in Massachusetts, September 1774.”

ADDENDUM: There have been some tweaks to this schedule. Download a final version and map here.