Are you looking for a memorable way to see the historic sites at your own pace with a knowledgeable guide?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes” then the six-minute video below on my private tours of Historic Boston will be of great interest to you. As a children’s book author, Boston historian and tour guide, I’ve had the opportunity to introduce thousands of individuals from all over the country and all over the world to Boston’s remarkable history since 2004. Families, civic and corporate groups, and school groups have participated in my Walking Tours of Historic Boston. Read some of their testimonials.

What makes the private tours I offer the obvious choice for your group or family?

This is not your “typical” walking tour. You’ll walk from Boston Common to the North End and see 14 historic sites plus 4 hidden/secret spots as I share photographs, engravings, maps, artifacts, and original colonial newspapers from my personal collection.

Your private tour is truly “private”. Only your group or family will participate and the tour will go at a pace that’s comfortable for you. This personalized approach ensures that you get the most out of your tour experience – plenty of time for questions and the flexibility to stay longer at many of the sites.

Tours are customized to meet your specific needs. Additional tour options are available (see details and pricing below) that allow time for a lunch break at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market; a visit inside the Paul Revere House; and a trip to Charlestown to tour USS Constitution and see the Bunker Hill Monument and Museum.

Private tour participants receive a free copy of the audio version of my children’s book One April in Boston on 3 CDs. One CD set is given per group while individuals receive free access to download the MP3 audio version. The book tells the tale of my early Boston ancestors and their connection to the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere.

Along the tour route, you’ll appreciate my genuine passion and enthusiasm for Boston history. This stems in part from the fact that four generations of my Edwards ancestors lived in Boston from 1700 to 1852 and during the tour I truly walk in their footsteps. I also reveal fascinating, little-known stories about early Boston life passed down in my family for over 200 years.

Children in particular enjoy learning about my family’s connection to Paul Revere. My fourth great grandfather Benjamin Edwards was a 10-year-old orphan in April 1775 living right down the street from the Old North Church when the signal lanterns were shown from its steeple and Paul Revere made his Midnight Ride. Ben lived with his uncle, a member of the Sons of Liberty, and toward the end of the American Revolution his older sister Sally Edwards married silversmith Paul Revere Jr., firstborn son of the famous patriot.

Private Tour Options and Pricing

Regular Tour

• Includes: 14 historic sites; the 3 CD set of One April in Boston plus unlimited downloads of the MP3 audio version. The tour lasts 2.5 hours.
• Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $160 – additional adults are $15 each and additional children (12 & under) are $12 each.
• Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.
• Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
• View a map of the tour route as it appeared in 1775.

Extended Tour Option 1

• Includes: 14 historic sites; the 3 CD set of One April in Boston plus unlimited downloads of the MP3 audio version; time for a lunch break at Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market; time to tour inside the Paul Revere House (a small admission fee); and a wonderful audio download of Longfellow’s famous poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”. The tour lasts 3.5 hours including lunch.
• Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $200 – additional adults are $16 each and additional children (12 & under) are $13 each.
• Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
• Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Extended Tour Option 2

• Includes: 16 historic sites; all of the items listed in Option 1 plus a visit to Charlestown to tour the USS Constitution and see the Bunker Hill Monument and Museum. The tour lasts 5 hours including lunch.
• Pricing: 10 people or less for a total fee of $260 – additional adults are $18 each and additional children (12 & under) are $15 each.
• Tours begin at 10 am on Boston Common – corner of Park and Tremont streets.
• Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Tours/Field Trips and Pricing for School Groups – See the Innovative School Programs post below.

Learn more about your tour guide Ben Edwards.

Email your family and friends this link to my business card.

The video for private tours will be added soon. For now, you can get an excellent sense of what it’s like to work with me by viewing the six-minute video embedded below in the Innovative School Programs post.

Innovative School Programs Your Students will Love

March 16, 2010 by Ben Edwards

Are you a grade school social studies teacher looking for programs and tools that can help you move far beyond traditional textbooks to truly excite, motivate and inspire your Colonial American history students?

Are you interested in accomplishing this even if you have little or no budget?

If the answer to these questions is “Yes” then the six-minute video below will be of great interest to you. It introduces some of the innovative school programs and tools for teachers I’ve developed over the past six years including Boston field trips, school author visits and a blog dedicated to educators of Colonial American history. As a children’s book author, Boston historian and tour guide, I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers in Grades 3-6 throughout New England since 2004. During Boston field trips, I walk in the footsteps of my early Boston ancestors and introduce students to Revolutionary Boston with the aid of photographs, engravings, maps and original colonial newspapers from my personal collection. During school author visits, I discuss my book One April in Boston; teach students about the events that led up to the American Revolution; and discuss the book’s underlying theme of goal setting for children. Every student participating in these programs receives the MP3 audio version of my book for free. Those taking the Combination Tour or attending a school author visit also get a bonus audio download of Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” – both mentioned in the video.

Perhaps the greatest tool I’ve created for teachers is one that’s absolutely Free – the Teach History blog. This resource, which has proven tremendously popular with technology loving students, contains interactive articles, audio podcasts, and YouTube videos that focus on Colonial American history and Boston history. Many of the articles contain links to rare primary source materials I’ve collected over the past 15 years.

Tours/Field Trips and Pricing for School Groups

Sons of Liberty Tour

On this tour you will be introduced to early Boston and walk in the footsteps of some of its most distinguished citizens including Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. You’ll learn more about the patriot cause, the story of their secret organization, and the events that led up to the American Revolution.

Along the route, you will see the Massachusetts State House, Boston Common, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, Old Corner Bookstore Building, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall and 3 hidden/secret spots. Learn more about these sites.

Tour length: 90 minutes (10 am-11:30 am)

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $9
Adults $11
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

Paul Revere’s North End Tour

On this tour you will retrace the footsteps of 10-year-old Ben Edwards, my direct ancestor, and many of the other people in One April in Boston. Young Ben lived right down the street from the Old North Church in April 1775. You will learn more about the events of April 18-19, 1775 including the lantern signal from the steeple of Old North and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. Longfellow’s poem that made Revere famous will also be discussed.

You will see the Old State House, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground and 2 hidden/secret spots. Learn more about these sites.

Tour length: 90 minutes (10 am-11:30 am or 12:30 pm-2 pm)

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $9
Adults $11
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

The Combination Tour

This economical tour is our most popular. It combines the Sons of Liberty Tour and Paul Revere’s North End Tour with a lunch break in between at historic Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market.

Tour length: 3 hours with a break for lunch (10 am-2 pm)

View a map of the tour route as it appeared in 1775.

Pricing:

Children (12 & under) $11
Adults $13
(One free chaperone for every 10 students)

Book your tour today by calling 617-670-1888 or use this form.

School Author Visits

My classroom presentations, highly praised by teachers, are interactive, educational, inspirational and fun! I discuss my book One April in Boston and share a copy of the print version with every student. Students meet the characters in the story including 10-year-old Ben Edwards, my direct ancestor, learn about their lives and the events that led up to the American Revolution. Special focus is given to the Sons of Liberty and their fight against British taxation, and Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride.

One April in Boston is the story of an American family and a very special gift that was passed down from generation to generation. This “gift of the spyglass” is given to each child who reads the book and listens to the presentation. Through the story, children learn the value of setting a goal for the future, developing a plan, working hard and never giving up on their dreams. Just like the main character in the book, each child realizes that by utilizing this strategy they can truly be “anything they set their minds to be.”

Students learn about the goals I had when I was their age and read the first book I wrote about Boston history at age 10. They see how taking small steps, even at a young age, can move them closer to their own goals.

Pricing:

$175 for a one-hour classroom presentation
Minimum of 4 classroom presentations per school visit
Travel fees (40 cents per mile) apply to schools outside a 30-mile radius of Boston

Video link: Innovative School Programs on History (embedded above)

Picture what it would be like if you could teach Colonial American history by transporting your students back in time so they might experience a particular event with all of their senses precisely as it takes place. If this were possible, one of the first locations and dates I would select would be: Boston, Massachusetts – July 18, 1776. On this Back to the Future field trip of sorts, the students and I would land our DeLorean in Dock Square near Faneuil Hall. From there we’d walk down the cobblestone streets of Shrimpton’s Lane to King Street and join a large crowd gathered near the Town House (today’s Old State House). We would speak to people to get their thoughts on what we were about to witness. My students would utilize all of their senses to process and learn from the experience. Some would be moved by what they see; others would be affected by what they hear; while the remainder might mention how they were impacted by a broadside they held in their grasp that connected them to the event. Then, as our history lesson continued, from the second floor of the Town House a door would swing open and we would see Colonel Thomas Crafts step out onto the balcony. With a voice strong and loud we’d hear him say:

“Fellow citizens of Boston, I now read the recent declaration adopted by Congress in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776.” Over the cheers of the crowd he’d continue, “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America – When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” We’d soon hear “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Now THAT would be a remarkable way to teach history – but perhaps a little tough to get parents to sign permission slips for! So, how can you bring history to life for your students and ensure that no matter what their primary learning style, they are fully engaged? Field trips might seem like an obvious answer – but when was the last time you felt a field trip was successful for ALL of your students? I recommend that teachers look for field trips that offer added value like guides with a personal connection to or real passion for the history; free MP3 audio or CDs that support what the students will learn; and access to original primary sources. For the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers in grade schools throughout New England during my Boston field trips and school author visits. As a fellow educator, I am keenly aware that children learn in different ways – some are auditory learners (hearing and speaking); some are visual learners (seeing and perceiving); and some are kinesthetic learners (touch and movement). When you plug into a student’s primary learning style the light bulb goes on, things become clear, learning becomes fun, and the odds are greater that they will retain the material being presented to them. I accomplish that through storytelling (including tales from my ancestors); free downloadable MP3 audio of my children’s book One April in Boston; and allowing students to hold history in their hands by sharing historically relevant items from my collection of original colonial newspapers (PDF).

Students can hold and read these historic newspapers without fear of damaging them as they are protected in rigid acid free holders. Teachers enjoy reading them too! Let me share three of these papers with you now. The first item is a copy of the August 3, 1776 issue of the Pennsylvania Evening Post. It contains a historic single line report (pictured in this post) from Massachusetts about the reading of the Declaration of Independence in Boston. For auditory style learners (like me), there is a brief MP3 audio featuring this report at the end of the post. I share this paper with the students as we stand overlooking the spot where the Declaration was read on July 18, 1776. The second item is a copy of the Massachusetts Centinel from June 13, 1787. It contains an ad by Paul Revere announcing the relocation of his hardware store and silversmith shop and listing the items he made at his new location. What makes this item fun for the students is they read it in the exact spot where Revere’s shop once stood – marked today by this often overlooked plaque. The third item is a copy of the April 10, 1775 issue of the Boston Gazette – the second to last issue printed by Edes and Gill before the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The masthead was engraved by Paul Revere. I share this paper near the site of the print shop of Benjamin Edes and John Gill which also served as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty. In the Gazette office on December 16, 1773, Benjamin Edes and several other members of the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians before helping dump 342 chests of British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.

LISTEN NOW:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AUDIO

Through the tour and the book, students learn that my Edwards ancestors arrived in Boston around 1700. My sixth great grandfather Captain Benjamin Edwards (pictured in this post) was 19 years old and living in the North End of Boston in 1706 – the same year Benjamin Franklin was born on Milk Street! That year he was married by Cotton Mather according to an entry in the 1708 Edwards Family Bible which still exists today. Benjamin Edwards was a sea captain and I discovered records of his many voyages including a battle with pirates in the Caribbean in 1722. His son Dolling Edwards, my fifth great grandfather, was a mastmaker at a shipyard in the North End and his son Benjamin was a cooper.

My fourth great grandfather, cooper Benjamin Edwards was an orphan by the time he was eight. Ben lived with his Aunt Sarah and his Uncle Alexander Edwards, a cabinetmaker and member of the Sons of Liberty. The family lived a few blocks down the street from the Old North Church and Ben was 10 when the signal lanterns were shown from its steeple and Paul Revere made his Midnight Ride. Toward the end of the Revolution, Ben’s older sister Sally Edwards married silversmith Paul Revere Jr., firstborn son of the famous patriot.

Ben’s son Joseph Edwards, my third great grandfather, was born in 1799. He was my last Edwards ancestor to live in Boston his entire life. Joseph was a paver who set granite paving stones in the city streets. He was also an innkeeper. Joseph lived in the West End not far from Boston Common, where most days you can spot me surrounded by enthusiastic schoolchildren and teachers heading off on my one-of-a-kind walking tour of Historic Boston.

The Colonial Edwards Family Tree (PDF)

Teachers: If you are interested in integrating family stories or genealogy into your history curriculum, the following genealogy resources will prove very helpful.

J.L. Bell is more than a writer who is passionate about history; he’s also a bit of a detective. Since 2006, the content on Boston 1775 has grown to over 1,300 posts, with many being the result of his exhaustive research into primary sources. Educators and all those passionate about history can truly spend hours on this blog learning information that will make them think about historical events in a different way. You’ll find numerous posts on Lexington and Concord, the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill and so much more.

Two posts I found particularly fascinating were on the myths and realities of the Quartering Act. Back in grade school I was taught that the Quartering Act forced Boston families to provide food and shelter for the King’s troops occupying the town. I had pictured colonists being required to open up their homes to soldiers without any payment in return or say in the matter. By reading posts at Boston 1775, I realized this was not the case. The Act only referred to shelter in “unoccupied” buildings and not inhabited ones.

Some Boston families did house British soldiers in their homes before the war but most did so due to economic necessity and were compensated for it in the form of rent. One example of this is the family of Old North Church sexton Robert Newman. Knowledge of the true nature of the Quartering Act came too late for me to catch a small Act related error on page 31 of my children’s book One April in Boston – but I guess that’s what second editions are for! It’s an example of what one can gain from reading Boston 1775, and ensures that today I’m conveying the correct information to the students I work with both on field trips and in the classroom. Thanks J.L. for all the time and effort you’ve invested in creating this important resource for educators and history buffs alike.

One April in Boston is the story of several generations of an American family and a special gift that was passed down from one generation to the next. It revisits the life of 10-year-old Ben Edwards, my direct ancestor. We follow young Ben and his family, learn of their connection to the Sons of Liberty and Paul Revere and witness historic events through their eyes. We also learn about Ben’s goals, the process he sets in motion to help achieve them and the special spyglass he uses to glimpse the future.

The story passes through a timeline of American history, traveling from Revolutionary Boston to the present. On the journey, readers discover what happens to Ben’s spyglass and learn where it can be found today. They leave with a newfound appreciation for the choices and sacrifices made by patriotic Americans from the time of the American Revolution to the present day. The book teaches children about the value of goal setting in a creative and memorable fashion.

I hope you enjoy listening to the audio sample below. I offer author visits annually to schools located throughout New England. Presentations for grades 3-6 are highly praised by teachers, interactive, educational, inspirational and fun! I discuss One April in Boston and introduce students to Colonial Boston with the aid of photos, engravings, maps and original colonial newspapers from my personal collection. For more information, or to book a school visit, contact me (Ben Edwards) in Boston at 617-670-1888.

LISTEN NOW:

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOWNLOAD OPTION