Teaching History While Walking in My Ancestors’ Footsteps

October 14, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

captbenedwardsFor the past six years, I’ve had the opportunity to teach Colonial American history to grade school students while walking in the footsteps of my early Boston ancestors. During my field trips of Historic Boston, students walk the same streets my Edwards ancestors once strode with well known Bostonians like John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Paul Revere. As a tour guide and a teacher, I find this personal connection to history — and the stories I’m able to convey about it — to be a wonderful way to engage students. What makes it even more interesting for them is that these stories continue well after the tour is over. They come to life in my children’s book One April in Boston, and every student participating in a Boston field trip or any of my school programs receives the downloadable MP3 audio version for free.

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.

Filed under: Audio, Primary Sources, Tours
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Revere House Offers “Paul Revere’s Ride” MP3 Audio

October 9, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

RevPostcardA special recording of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride” is available now from the Paul Revere House. The audio was created for the museum’s 100th anniversary celebration last year and the MP3 download version is being offered through the Revere House website as a special “thank you” to those making a donation as small as $10 to the Revere Call to Action Capital Campaign. Donors receive instant access to download the 7-minute MP3 audio plus an educational document in PDF format that discusses the poem in detail, helps separate fact from fiction, and contains a map of the ride and photos.

Your donation will enable the Paul Revere Memorial Association to convert an 1835 two-family home that abuts their property and sits on land once owned by Paul Revere into a 3,600-square-foot Education and Visitor Orientation Center. This will enhance the visitor experience with modern facilities and amenities, expanded interpretation, and an enlarged museum shop. It will result in increased educational offerings for schoolchildren, teachers, and families and allow for a reprogramming of the space in the Hichborn House (ca. 1711) enabling this National Landmark to achieve its full potential as an interpretive site. The Association will also be funding other projects that will ensure the long-term preservation of the Paul Revere House (ca. 1680).

A sample of the special recording of “Paul Revere’s Ride” can be heard below. Make a donation today and receive instant access to the full version.

Students participating in Walking Tours of Historic Boston school programs receive this recording for free.

LISTEN TO SAMPLE NOW:

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Exclusive Access to Children’s Book MP3 Audio

October 4, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

oaibcoverThe events that lead up to the American Revolution come to life in my children’s book One April in Boston. The book is written for students in grades 3-6. The audio book version narrated by Phil Rosenthal is 3 hours long. Readers of the Teach History blog receive exclusive access to download a 30-minute sample of this product – see link below. The chapters contained in this download cover the lantern signal from the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride and the battle on Lexington Green.

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:

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Filed under: Audio, Books, Colonial Newspapers, Primary Sources, Tours
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New Product: Paul Revere in Primary Sources

October 3, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

educational5_COVER_lgTeachers across the country are incorporating more primary sources – period documents and objects – into history lessons today. Students of all ages enjoy examining these items and discovering how they can help tell our nation’s story. A new publication from the Paul Revere House called Paul Revere in Primary Sources is something that will be of real interest to teachers in grades 5-12. The curriculum packet contains beautiful facsimiles of nine primary sources related to Paul Revere plus ten transcriptions (one of the originals has been lost). It includes many items available for the first time ever for classroom use. For each document, there is a background essay which sets the source in context, a glossary, focusing questions to help students analyze the document, suggestions for further research, and ideas for creative writing assignments.

With this resource from the Paul Revere House, you can introduce Colonial Boston, the Revolution, and the history of the early American republic to your students in a unique and fun way. Primary source documents include an intriguing newspaper ad for Revere’s services as a dentist, waste book entries from 1769 noting orders for silver work from his silversmith shop, and a loving letter Revere wrote to his wife while fighting in the Revolution. The packet also includes full color copies of portraits of Paul and Rachel Revere and a view of Boston, a black-and-white period map, a timeline of Revere’s life, bibliography, and Revere family genealogy. It is 76 pages, three-hole punched and shrink wrapped and can be ordered from the Educational Materials section of the Revere House Museum Shop.

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Behind the Scenes Tours at Old North Church

October 1, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

oldnorthThe Old North Church or Christ Church in the City of Boston (its official name) was built in 1723 and is the oldest standing church building in Boston today. It is the famous spot where sexton Robert Newman held two lanterns in the steeple window as a signal that the British troops had left Boston by the water (and not the land) route and were making their way to Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere came up with the idea for the lantern signal and it will be forever associated with his Midnight Ride.

Today visitors to Old North can sit in the high box pews that bear the names of their original owners and learn about the history of this wonderful site from an excellent staff of guides. Their 7-10 minute talks occur constantly throughout the day and are just one way to discover the history of Old North Church. A Behind the Scenes tour offers a unique perspective and provides new and in-depth information about the Church’s history. Visitors are taken into the Church’s second-floor gallery, up into the bell ringing chamber where a 15-year-old Paul Revere and his friends worked as bell ringers in 1750, and down into the crypt beneath the church where 37 tombs and about 1,100 bodies lie.

Behind the Scenes tours for school groups are available with advance reservations. This special tour is offered to families and small groups hourly on weekends in June, daily from July 1st through October 12th and the week between Christmas and New Year’s. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students/seniors/military and $5 for children 16 and under. Tickets may be purchased at the Old North Gift Shop. Large groups of 8 or more are encouraged to schedule tours in advance. To schedule your Behind the Scenes tour for a group of 8 or more contact Old North Church at (617) 523-6676 or by email at tours@oldnorth.com.

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