Author Terry Lee Marzell stands in front of the museum and gift shop erected near the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Summer vacation has arrived! What are your plans for your time off? Many teachers would agree that one of the best ways to spend summer vacation is travel. It’s a great way to expand personal horizons, improve teaching practices, and engage in experiential learning. And one of the most rewarding destinations to achieve these goals is Boston, Massachusetts. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites related to our Colonial past available for touring in the city, and one of the most interesting of them is the site of the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

The Boston Tea Party, which took place on Dec. 16, 1773, in Boston, was an act of protest organized by the patriotic group known as the Sons of Liberty. The action physicalized an objection to the Tea Tax imposed on the Colonials by the English Parliament. During the protest, the Americans, some dressed as Indigenous Americans, destroyed an entire shipment of tea waiting to be unloaded off ships anchored in the bay at Griffin’s Wharf. Chests of tea, which belonged to the East India Company, was thrown overboard into the brackish water, ruining the entire shipment. The action, which resulted in a loss that would equate to $4 million today, was declared treason by the British government, and their response was swift and harsh. The episode escalated hostilities that resulted in the American Revolution, which eventually resulted in the birth of our nation.

If visited in person, the Tea Party site offers a museum, a brief documentary about the Boston Tea Party, a gift shop, a tea house offering brews just like those that were thrown overboard, and a recreation of a period sailing vessel complete with a re-enactment of the original Boston Tea Party, conducted in an environmentally safe way, of course. The facility is open every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a fee to experience the re-enactment, and I would recommend reservations.

Recreation of a Colonial-era ship involved in the Boston Tea Party is available for examination by teachers, in person or by virtual tour, who wish to improve their instructional practices. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

To explore the official Boston Tea Party website, click here. To share with your students an eyewitness account of the Boston Tea Party by participant George Hewes, click here. For access to virtual field trips related to the Boston Tea Party, as well as other related Revolutionary War events, click on this link for virtual field trips.

Whether you visit Boston’s Colonial sites in person on online, I bid you happy learning!

Hal Marzell stands in front of the colonial home once owned by Revolutionary War patriot Paul Revere. He is famous for his legendary midnight ride to warn the colonial troops about the arrival of British troops in 1775. The structure is located in North Square in downtown Boston. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

During their summer vacations, many teachers enjoy expanding their horizons and improving their teaching practices through traveling. One of the most interesting places to do this is the city of Boston, where many historical places of interested related to US History, particularly the Colonial Period and the Revolutionary War, are located.

While on a recent vacation there, my husband Hal and I visited the house museum belonging to the Colonial patriot Paul Revere. Revere was an American silversmith, engraver, and bell manufacturer who was also a member of the group known as the Sons of Liberty. He is best remembered for the legendary midnight ride he made to alert Colonial troops about the arrival of British soldiers on April 18, 1775. What school child hasn’t heard poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous lines, “Listen, my children and you shall hear/Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere”?

Author Terry Lee Marzell stands in the interior courtyard of the Paul Revere house museum on her recent vacation to Boston, Massachusetts. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Paul Revere owned the home at 19 North Square on the North End of Boston from 1770 to 1800. He lived in the home, which was built in 1680, with his wife and the younger children of his brood of 16. The house is downtown Boston’s oldest building and one of the few remaining 17th-century dwellings still extant in the city.

When touring the two-story home, visitors can view the colonial kitchen and family room with its warming hearth downstairs, and upstairs a master bedroom with an additional fireplace and a second bedroom. Much of the furnishings are period pieces, but there are five pieces that were once owned by the Revere family. Docents explain details about the history of the house and are available to answer questions. In the courtyard outside, one of the bronze bells cast by Paul Revere stands in an enclosed case for easy viewing.

Today, the Revere house is recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Teachers who wish to visit the site during their summer vacation will find it open every day from 10:00 am to 5:15 pm. There is a small fee to enter. For those who unable to travel to Boston soon, more can be learned about Paul Revere, his midnight ride, and the house museum, by clicking on this link to The Paul Revere House. To read the entire poem about Paul Revere’s ride written by Longfellow, click on this link to poets.org.

Wherever you go and whatever you do, I wish you a joyful, fun-filled, restorative summer vacation!

Hal Marzell stands in front of the Boston National Historic Landmark known as the Old State House on the spot where the Boston Massacre occurred in 1770. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

I’m sure many teachers would agree that one of the best methods of experiential learning is travel. And one of the most rewarding destinations for travel is Boston, Massachusetts. My husband, Hal, and I just returned from a history-packed visit to this beautiful city, which preserves many landmarks that date back to our nation’s earliest beginnings. There are many worthwhile museums and historical sites to visit in the city, and one of the most interesting of these is the Old State House.

An administrative building has stood on the site of the Old State House since 1657. The current incarnation originally served as the seat of British rule in the colony. One of the most notable features of the building is the pair of seven-foot tall wooden figures depicting the lion and the unicorn, traditional symbols of the British monarchy. Students of history will recall that here, on the night of March 5, 1770, a squadron of British soldiers opened fire in the square in front of the royal building, killing five Colonials and wounding many others. By the next morning, Bostonian leaders were calling the incident a “bloody massacre.” Six years later, on July 18, 1776, Bostonians gathered under the balcony of the Old State House to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud for the first time. The Declaration signaled the beginning of the Revolutionary War, and the eventual emergence of the American colonies as a new nation.

Author Terry Lee Marzell explores the American Revolutionary War exhibits housed at the Old State House located on the Freedom Trail in Boston. Photo credit: Hal Marzell

Today, the Old State House, recognized as a Revolutionary Space and designated as a National Historic Landmark, is administered by the National Park Service. The structure can be found on a self-conducted tour of the Freedom Trail. The structure and museum inside, located at 206 Washington St., is open to the public for self-tours every day (except some holidays) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a small entrance fee.

Students and teachers who are unable to travel to Boston could learn more about this important historical place by examining the website at the Old State House. Here is a link to a 9-minute virtual tour of the building. For more information about the Freedom Trail, click on this link to Freedom Trail.

Whether you visit Boston’s Old State House in person or online, I bid you happy learning!