The Congregational Library & Archives is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts 250 Grant Program to support a new in-person exhibition at 14 Beacon, Congregationalists in the American Revolution: Treasures from the Congregational Library & Archives.
“Our administration is thrilled to support the Congregational Library & Archives with an award through the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism’s Massachusetts 250 grant program,” said Massachusetts Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao. “This grant will help preserve key historical collections and boost tourism to Massachusetts. We look forward to the upcoming exhibition that will share the untold stories of our founding fathers.”
Opening in April 2025, Congregationalists in the American Revolution will explore how Massachusetts Congregationalists embraced the American Revolution’s promise of liberty and freedom while wrestling with the implications of these lofty ideals for the many different communities across the Commonwealth.
During the Revolutionary era, when two-thirds of all churches in New England were Congregational, the town church served as a community space for political meetings and debates about liberty, and churches even became sites of protest and military targets during the war. The CLA holds rare and rich material in its physical and digital collections from these churches which tell the story of the war from many perspectives.
Objects on display will include records featuring patriot Samuel Adams, founding father Benjamin Franklin, and poet Phillis Wheatley, and objects as diverse as a ticket from the first United States lottery in 1776, an original poem about the Boston Massacre written in a young woman’s diary in 1770, and rare books and sermons printed in Boston that shaped the war.
“The Congregational churches of Massachusetts and many individual Congregationalists cared deeply about the cause and progress of the American Revolution,” explained Maxwell Grant, Chair of the Congregational Library & Archives Board of Directors. “We are delighted to introduce some of their voices the public as part of MA 250, and we are so grateful to the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism for making that possible.”
Visitors will have the opportunity to explore a different perspective on Boston’s Revolutionary history through learning about the role of religion in early America; the promises and challenges of the ideals of liberty, and the tensions between slavery and freedom.
“Many of the objects in the exhibition have not been on public view,” notes Kyle Roberts, Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives. “We are excited to open our doors at 14 Beacon Street to share these treasures as our nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of its independence.”
Information about the exhibition’s opening dates/times and how to book your free ticket will be available on the Congregational Library & Archives website, congregationallibrary.org, in early 2025.
Related Events
This in-person exhibition is a companion to our 2024 digital exhibition, Religion of Revolution: Congregational Voices on Liberty. This exhibition highlights the stories of New England Congregationalists through important and rarely seen print works of the period as well as church records, letters, and sermon literature from the CLA’s collections and the New England’s Hidden Histories project.
Congregationalists interpreted the American Revolution’s lofty ideals of liberty and freedom through their own religious framework, which included principles of autonomy, fellowship, and consensus. Guided by their faith, Congregationalists raised voices for liberty during a turbulent and uncertain period in American history. Along the way, they often confronted the inherent tensions between the idea of liberty and the reality of it.