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.
http://HUBhistory.com
The Last Women Jailed for Suffrage (episode 173)
On February 24, 1919, President Woodrow Wilson visited Boston on his way home from the peace conference that ended World War I, expecting to find adoring supporters. Instead, he was greeted by members of the National Women’s Party. After a long camp ...
The Red Scare in Park Square (episode 172)
Draft riots are nothing new in Boston. A 1970 protest at Northeastern University over the draft and the Vietnam War devolved into a riot. In 1863, the North End was torn by a draft riot that ended with the militia firing a cannon at a crowd of mostly ...
Little Women in Boston (episode 171)
You don’t grow up to walk two steps behind your husband when you’ve met Jo March. The same could be said of Louisa May Alcott, in which case you may not take a husband at all, choosing instead to paddle your own canoe. It has been said that, with the ...
The Millen Gang Machine Gun Murders (episode 170)
86 years ago today, on February 2, 1934, the first murders were committed in Massachusetts using a fully automatic weapon. Sadly, the victims were the first police officers to be killed in the line of duty in the sleepy Boston suburb of Needham. At ...
Trunk Tragedy in the City of Shoes (episode 169)
In February 1879, Jennie Clarke’s body was found jammed into a leather trunk on the bank of the Saugus river on her 20th birthday. Every detail of the case reveals yet another tragedy in the life of Jennie Clarke, who died after attempting to termina ...
Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement, with Barbara Berenson (episode 168)
Author Barbara F. Berenson joins us this week to discuss her book Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers. She’s also the author of Boston in the Civil War: Hub of the Second Revolution, and Walking Tours of Civil War B ...
The Hub of the Gay Universe, with Russ Lopez (episode 167)
Dr. Russ Lopez joins us this week to discuss his recent book, The Hub of the Gay Universe: An LGBTQ History of Boston, Provincetown, and Beyond. Russ called in from a vacation in California to talk about Puritan attitudes toward sin and sodomy, the ...
John Brown’s Body (episode 166)
The most popular song of the Union Army during the Civil War was inspired by the most hated man in America, it borrowed the tune from an old church hymn, and it was first sung right here in the Boston Harbor Islands. In this week’s episode, learn ab ...
The 1689 Uprising in Boston, revisited (episode 165)
Early one April morning, the people of Boston rose up in revolt against the royal government of Massachusetts. Militia marched in the streets, while an alarm brought more armed men from towns all over the area. Soon, the rebels controlled the mainla ...
Classic Tales from Early Boston (episode 164)
In lieu of a brand new story, this week we are sharing two classic tales from the earliest years of Puritan Boston. One of them might be considered comedy, while the other is high drama. First, we’ll visit the diaries of Boston founder John Winthrop ...