HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Doctor Thomas Young was a native of New York’s Hudson Valley who seemed to be present at all of Boston’s revolutionary events, from the creation of the committee of correspondence, to the Boston Massacre, to the Tea Party. He had been an early and influential friend of Ethan Allen, and he was a critic of established religious practice at the time. Though he died early in the Revolutionary War, he was instrumental to the revolutionary movements in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Strategy consultant and independent researcher Scott Nadler will explain who Thomas Young was and why he is a forgotten revolutionary today.

Please check out the transcript and full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/179/

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• The bicentennial year of 1976 generated lots of interest in and articles about the founding generation, including these profiles of Thomas Young from Pauline Maier and Bruce Henry.
• Scott Nadler recommends William Hogeland’s Declaration: Nine Tumultuous Weeks when America Became Independent for more on the semi-coup in Pennsylvania.
• Thomas Young surfaces in Boston with this list of Sons of Liberty who dined in Dorchester in 1769, a meal that was also described in detail in John Adams’ diary.
• In the Boston Massacre trial notes kept by John Adams, Thomas Young stands in Exchange Place with a sword, warning people to stay away from the rumpus.
• Thomas Young is listed as a founding member of the Committee of Correspondence in 1772.
• Thomas Young’s letter to schoolmaster Hugh Hughes, saying that Bostonians will be the saviors of America.

Fifty years ago, Eastern Airways flight 1320 was hijacked on on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1970. The commuter flight from Newark to Boston was beginning its final approach to Logan airport when a scruffy looking passenger pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and demanded access to the cockpit. An article that ran in the Boston Globe this past month under the title “You Don’t Understand Captain, He Has a Gun.” points out that after a series of hijackings in the 60s, they were considered routine, almost a fun adventure for passengers and crew. A political radical would demand passage to Cuba, the crew would give the passengers unlimited free drinks to keep them calm, and then everyone would dine out on the stories for years, after they returned home safely.

This time, it was different. Not long after the hijacker got access to the cockpit, shots rang out. Within moments, the copilot was dead, the pilot was badly wounded, and the hijacker had been shot, beaten, and subdued. It was the first time an American flight had been hijacked with deadly results. The injured pilot managed to turn the plane toward boston, call for help, and land the plane safely at Logan airport. This piece reveals what happened in the air and after the fateful flight landed in Boston. It also profiles everyone from the flight attendants, to the pilot and first officer, to the investigating officers, to a number of passengers.

Despite our recent episode about the crash landing of world flight 30, this story had completely escaped my attention. I hope you find it as interesting as I did. If you don’t subscribe to the Globe, there’s also a slightly less detailed version from 2009 that’s not behind a paywall.

We were happy to find two different virtual events coming up for you to be part of. First up, the USS Constitution Museum has begun offering virtual tours of the ship, since they had to close their doors due to the pandemic on March 14. You may see even more than you would on a normal public tour by following the active duty sailors who give tours on Facebook Live every weekday at 1pm. The museum explains by saying,

The active-duty Sailors stationed aboard USS Constitution normally provide free tours and offer public visitation to more than 600,000 people each year as they support the ship’s mission of promoting the Navy’s history, maritime heritage, and raising awareness of the importance of a sustained naval presence.

USS Constitution is following all preventative guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Department of the Defense and Navy leadership. The ship’s active-duty Sailors will take viewers through the ship, to include several areas normally closed to the public, and provide an opportunity to ask live questions.

The ship’s commanding officer, Commander John Benda, adds,

“Our mission is to represent and promote the U.S. Navy, USS Constitution and our nation’s rich maritime history, and through this crisis, we will use our digital presence to continue that mission. We’re committed to provide an engaging, educational experience for our supporters, as we collectively follow the restrictions in place to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.”

Our second event is organized through Plimoth Plantation. If you’ve visited the plantation, you know that along with the English settlement, there’s also a recreated Wampanoag village. When I’ve been there in recent years, I’ve enjoyed the Wampanoag homesite more than the plantation itself, but it took me a long time to realize why. The “Pilgrims” are all reenacting 17th century settlers, only speaking as their characters would have and pretending not to know anything about modern events and inventions. The Wampanoag, on the other hand, take a different approach, as described on the Plantation website:

Unlike the people you’ll meet in the 17th-Century English Village, the staff in the Wampanoag Homesite are not role players. They are all Native People – either Wampanoag or from other Native Nations – and they will be dressed in historically accurate clothing, mostly made of deerskin. They speak from a modern perspective about Wampanoag history and culture. They are happy to see you and will invite you inside a wetu, or tell you what they are growing in the garden, or show you how to play hubbub, a traditional game still enjoyed by many Wampanoag today. The staff in the Wampanoag Homesite are very proud of their Native heritage, and knowledgeable of the traditions, stories, technology, pastimes, music and dance of the people who have lived in this region for more than 10,000 years.

Their ability to bring a modern perspective to traditional folkways is much more helpful to me in understanding the past than the feigned ignorance of the English reenactors. Now, the Wampanoag interpreters are bringing their knowledge to a series of virtual tours. On Monday, April 6 and April 13, you can sign up for a session called History At Home: People of the Dawn. Here’s how they describe it:

Learn about the daily life of the Wampanoag in the 17th century. In this one-hour program, students will explore the connection the Wampanoag and other Native People have to their seasonal way of life, their respect for all living beings, and the ways they continue to carry on their traditions today.

This virtual tour is $10 and requires advanced registration.