Panel in Honor of Warren’s First Oration in Charlestown, 5 Mar.

Here’s another in the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation’s series of events commemorating the Boston Massacre and the people who died from that violence on the 5th of March.

Saturday, 5 March, 6:00–8:00 P.M.
The 250th Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Warren’s Famous Boston Massacre Oration
Charlestown Historical Society
Memorial Hall, 14 Green Street, Charlestown

As at the preceding two events, Katie Turner Getty will analyze the testimony of women who witnessed the Boston Massacre. Christian Di Spigna will discuss Dr. Joseph Warren’s role in how the Whigs memorialized the Massacre victims. Artifacts related to Dr. Warren will be in display in the hall, a short distance from where he died on the slope of Bunker’s Hill.

For this evening’s discussion, Robert J. Allison will join the panel with a talk titled “Trial by Massacre”:

When remembering his defense of the British soldiers, John Adams declared that it was “one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested Actions of my whole life, and one of the best Pieces of Service I ever rendered my country.” What happened to the British soldiers who fired into the crowd on March 5, 1770? Why did John Adams, a high Son of Liberty, agree to defend them at the trial…was he a traitor to the “Cause?” 

Allison is a professor of history at Suffolk University and also teaches at the Harvard Extension School. In addition to writing a number of books on American history, including The Boston Massacre, he produced “Before 1776: Life in the American Colonies” and “The Age of Benjamin Franklin” for The Teaching Company’s Great Courses. He is president of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, a Life Trustee of the U.S.S. Constitution Museum, a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society, and an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Bob Allison is also the head of Revolution 250, one of the organizations co-sponsoring this series of discussions. Other partners include the Massachusetts Freemasons and the Massachusetts Society Sons of the American Revolution.

Admission is $15 with proceeds to benefit the Charlestown Historical Society. Register in advance through this site.