HUB History - Our Favorite Stories from Boston History

Where two history buffs go far beyond the Freedom Trail to share our favorite stories from the history of Boston, the hub of the universe.

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Launching the USS Constitution (episode 207)


The USS Constitution is the most famous ship in Boston history, and perhaps in the history of the US Navy. When the Navy was reborn in 1794, the Constitution was among the first fleet of frigates that made up its backbone. A decade later, the USS Constitution would earn a brilliant, nearly flawless record of naval combat against the British in the war of 1812, and today it stands as the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world and the last American ship to sink an enemy in a ship-to-ship duel. However, the Constitution’s origins were far from flawless. It was part of a procurement program that was nearly cancelled, and the famous frigate was almost scrapped before it was even completed. After it was rescued and completed, the USS Constitution took not one, not two, but three attempts to successfully launch.

Please check out the transcript and full show notes at: http://HUBhistory.com/207/

And support the show on Patreon.

\ Launching the USS Constitution
  • Our header image is from this book of sketches
  • A 1931 biographical profile of George Claghorn
  • An 1890 letter to the Bostonian Society about the USS Constitution including some references to primary sources
  • Rear Admiral Elliott Snow’s book about the USS Constitution
  • Description of the launching ways from the USS Constitution Museum
  • Rachel Bradford’s letter after witnessing the first two launch attempts
  • Reverend William Bentley’s diary after witnessing the first two launch attempts
  • Diary entries in an almanac by someone who witnessed all three launch attempts
  • A letter to President Washington suggesting names for the six frigates
  • 1794 Act to Provide a Naval Armament
  • Claghorn announces the upcoming launch and provides instructions to those who want to attend
  • Ira N Hollis’ book about the USS Constitution
via USS Constitution Museum via USS Constitution Museum Boston Book Club

We recently added a copy of the Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys by Doris Kearns Goodwin to our HUB History library, after it was recently recommended to co-host emerita Nikki for its descriptions of life in the North End and the role that St. Stephen’s and other churches played as a quiet in the storm of tenement life. Since much of the drama in our main story takes place in Edmund Hartt’s North End shipyard, it only made sense to feature a book that would also highlight North End stories. In a narrow street off of North Square, a small plaque on an unassuming doorway announces the birthplace of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Here’s how the publisher describes the book:

In its drama and scope, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys is one of the richest works of biography in the last decade (that decade being the 80s as the book was published in 1991). From the wintry day in 1863 when John Francis Fitzgerald was baptized, through the memorable moment ninety-eight years later when his grandson and namesake John Fitzgerald Kennedy was inaugurated as President of the United States, the author brings us every colorful inch of this unique American tapestry. Each character emerges unmistakenly, with the clarity and complexity of personal recollection: “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston and founder of his dynasty; his independent and shrewdly political daughter, Rose, and her husband, the cunning, manipulative Joseph P. Kennedy; finally, the “Golden trio” of Kennedy children–Joe Jr., Kathleen, and Jack–whose promise was eclipsed by the greater power of fate. With unprecedented access to the Kennedy family and to decades of private papers, Doris Kearns Goodwin has crafted a singular work of American history: It is at once the story of an era, of the immigrant experience, and–most of all–of two families, whose ambitions propelled them to unrivaled power and whose passions nearly destroyed them.

Upcoming Events

If you miss traveling as much as I do, you might enjoy an upcoming event from the Boston Athenaeum. Eye of the Expert: Views of Boston invites us to see our own city through the eyes of an outsider. Here’s how they describe it:

Miss traveling? Join “tour guides” Assistant Curator Christina Michelon, Rare Materials Catalog Librarian Graham Skinner, and Director of Education Hannah Weisman for an evening of armchair travel through our own extraordinary city, focused on the work of three twentieth-century artists.

Michelon will explore how historic architecture was perceived in the 1930s as well as today by examining Berenice Abbott’s sharply-focused and high-contrast views of Boston’s built environment. Shifting from a documentarian to tourist perspective, Skinner will take us to some of Boston’s iconic destinations depicted in poet, travel writer, and artist Chiang Yee’s original illustrations for his 1959 book, The Silent Traveller in Boston. And Weisman will lead us into the South End to experience the neighborhood as painter and illustrator Allan Rohan Crite knew it in 1977 when he created An Artist’s Sketchbook of the South End during his residency at the Museum of African American History.

The virtual tour is free to the public with registration required. It will be held on Wednesday, October 21st from 6-7pm. Real-time captions for the event can be requested.

If you miss that talk, we have a bonus event on October 27, with Marta Crilly of the Boston City Archives. She’ll be giving a talk for the Boston Public Library about using the Archives to research local and family history in Boston. Here’s how the library describes the event:

Are you a local historian? Neighborhood history enthusiast? Genealogist? Boston City Archives holds millions of public records, spanning over 300 years of city government, and documenting Boston’s residents, schools, parks, buildings, and governance. Archivist Marta Crilly will give an overview of the records available to researchers and offer tips on how to navigate the Archives’ vast collections.

Marta has been a great help to me personally in researching local history, tracking down city documents that were pivotal in writing our episodes about perambulating Boston’s bounds and resisting the KKK in Boston, so I can vouch that she knows what she’s talking about.


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 October 19, 2020  48m