Boston Homage Walk –
Part 1 - by Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
My
husband Laurent and I visited Boston for a convention and spent one weekend day
touring Boston.
We
began our tour at the port to see the USS Constitution. This small ship is most famous for its part
in the War of 1812 where it earned the nickname “Old Ironsides.”
The
USS Constitution is still commissioned as a Navy ship. It is a tiny ship that is perfect for maneuvering
around Boston Harbor and its islands despite the harbor having been filled in
substantially since the founding of Boston.
From
the USS Constitution, we set out on Boston’s Freedom Trail, which is 2.7 miles
long and has 16 official stops. The USS
Constitution is stop 15. We started at
the Freedom Trail’s end and worked our way backwards to stops teachers and
writers would especially want to see.
Stop
Number 6 is the Boston Latin School, the first public school in America. One of my erudite classmates at the
University of Chicago attended this venerable institution and is now a TV show
host in Texas.
Other
notable alumni of Boston Latin from the Revolutionary period include:
-Samuel
Adams (1722-1803), who organized the Boston Tea Party to protest English taxes
on imported items sold in the US
-Benjamin
Franklin (1706 – 1790), a non-graduate who was an author, printer, postmaster,
and diplomat among other trades
-John
Hancock (1737 – 1793), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, whose
beautiful signature still elicits comments such as “Put your John Hancock on
this.”
-Robert
Treat Paine (1731 – 1814), signer of the Declaration of Independence
When
Boston Latin was founded, students had to master knowledge of the Bible. When Harvard University was founded in 1636,
Boston Latin became a feeder school for Harvard University.
An
alumnus of both schools was the second US president John Adams (1735 – 1826).
Girls
were tutored at home during the colonial period.
End
of Part 1.
To
be continued…
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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