Mayor Michelle Wu and the City of Boston invite you to join us for a milestone in our Boston 250 celebration: the anniversary of Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery. Two hundred and fifty years ago, Henry Knox and his diverse artillery corps transported 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Roxbury, a feat of engineering and endurance that changed the course of history. Today, Roxbury remains a vibrant beacon of thought and action in Boston. Join us for a celebration of Roxbury’s role in the American Revolution for an afternoon of history and storytelling:

• 2:00 PM | The Procession: Starting at Fenway High School and meandering up the hill to First Church Roxbury, join us with a traditional horse and cannon procession through the heart of Roxbury, featuring partners and residents, reenactors from across the northeast, and local musicians. 
• 3:00 PM | The Program: Keynote remarks at First Church in Roxbury on our city’s revolutionary past and present.
• 4:15 PM | The Boston Beacon: Experience the debut of a large-scale light projection show co-curated by Roxbury artists and historians.

• Procession: Begins at Fenway High School - 67 Allegheny Street, Boston, MA 
• Speaking Program and Boston Beacon: First Church, 10 Putnam Street, Roxbury, MA. Light food and beverage will be provided.

RSVP HERE

Boston Busing in Chinatown, 1975 is a photo exhibition highlighting the mothers, students, and teachers who organized for educational equity during Boston’s court-ordered school desegregation. In 1975, when Boston Public Schools began busing elementary students to other neighborhoods, Chinese immigrant families faced a critical challenge: while desegregation aimed to provide equal access to quality education, the district had not addressed concerns about safety, communication barriers, and representation for Chinese children being bused into predominantly white neighborhoods.

In response, Chinese immigrant mothers organized to demand safety and educational rights for their children, culminating in a highly successful school boycott that brought the Boston School Committee to the negotiating table. Their victory was an early example of working-class immigrant women wielding collective power within Chinatown and at the city level—a story that has been largely absent from mainstream narratives about Boston’s busing crisis.

In July 2025, the Immigrant History Trail team gathered former teachers, parents, and students involved in this historic moment for a reunion picnic at Posner Hall, where Chinese parents issued their nine demands fifty years earlier. The gathering created a living, photographic “un-monument”—an opportunity for reflection, conversation, and intergenerational connection.

Boston Busing in Chinatown, 1975 juxtaposes photographs from the July 2025 reunion with rare archival images from 1975, celebrating the resilience of this community while inviting broader reconsideration of busing’s legacies across Boston

Join us for a two-hour Evacuation Day Cruise through Boston Harbor to explore the story of the Siege of Boston from the water (June 1775 to March 1776). As we navigate the same channels used by the British fleet to evacuate the town, Park Rangers will provide historical narration highlighting the key events, people, landmarks, and moments that led to the evacuation.

Departing from Long Wharf, the cruise passes by the Charlestown Navy Yard with views of the Bunker Hill Monument, Fort Independence (known as Fortress William in 1776) and Dorchester Heights, as well as several harbor islands including Little Brewster, home to Boston Light. As the ship swings around Little Brewster back towards Boston, enjoy musical entertainment by the duo Tobias Tripp and Prudence Merriweather, returning to Long Wharf at 3:00 p.m.

Join the Boston Public Library and Revolutionary Spaces for a Living Room Conversation on history and society in the historic Old South Meeting House.

History is not a fixed truth, but a tapestry of stories - each shaped by the storyteller's viewpoint. What happens to our understanding of the historical record when some of those stories are amplified and others are silenced? This conversation gives us a chance to explore the relationship between history and society and how narratives influence our collective identity, values, and understanding of the world we live in.

What is a Living Room Conversation?

In Living Room Conversations, participants will take turns talking and listening to share and learn about the topic being discussed. Facilitated by library staff members, these conversations offer a simple, sociable, and structured way to practice communicating across differences while building understanding and relationships.

This program is free to attend. Registration is required.

This event is part of the Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness program series hosted by BPL Community History Dept and Revolutionary Spaces. Learn more about the series at bpl.org.

In conjunction with the end of the year celebration of the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC), the National Center of Afro-American Artists (NCAAA) presents Finding Ourselves in Public Spaces as its culminating event. The event consists of the premier documentary screening of Cancel Violence: Artists Speak, a public conversation and a first ever video projection onto the museum's prized sculpture Eternal Presence by John Wilson.

During this year end celebration and culminating event, music will be provided by Zack Wilson, grandson of famed artist John Wilson who also created Eternal Presence, and Jamila Gordon on percussion. The premier documentary screening of Cancel Violence: Artists Speak was created by FPoint Productions will showcase artists including Paul Goodnight, Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs, L’Merchie Frazier, and others talking about causes of violence and possible correctives that can guide the community toward social healing. A special feature of the discussion will be a conversation between Alexis Smith, a homicide survivor, and Laurence "Larry" Pierce, an artist and retired teacher,  moderated by Edmund Barry Gaither, director emeritus of NCAAA. Lastly, in collaboration with ILLUMINUS and FPoint Productions, images and video interviews of Roxbury community members will be projected onto  the monumental sculpture Eternal Presence at dusk thus providing another grand scale, artistic screening on the historical Roxburian grounds.

Finding Ourselves in Public Spaces was convened by the Un-monument project and Cancel Violence: Artists Speak under the auspices of the National Center of Afro-American Artists with funds from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture through a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

We cannot wait to see you there!