Good evening, everyone. Im the director of outreach here. I want to welcome you to this talk. First nurseries of spring programs. You can find out more about these programs by picking up more at the front desk. You can fill out the information evaluation sheet. You can also pick one up at the front desk. We are a National Research library Whose Mission is to preserve and share the printed record of the United States, portions of canada, before the 21st century. We collect anything and everything in these parameters. From graphic prints to newspapers and periodicals and pamphlets and books. We use these collections as the basis for all of these programs. Together to it is death participate in a workshop, performances, and other things. Tonights lecture is part of a program we are operating connecting it is beyond midnight, paul revere. It is an two parts. The Wooster Art Museum and other at the museum in massachusetts. It will be on display from july 4 to october 26, 2020. I highly encourage you to see it if you can. Lauren, the chief curator, and director of fellowship here. The exhibition and its programming offer perspective on the legendary Midnight Rider by showcasing paul reveres Midnight Rider. We know him for his revolutionary activity. He was known as a canon maker and producer of copper sheets. We would like to thank the sponsor. Of this exhibition. The most complete collection, the most famous of these, is the bloody massacre, rendering of events that came to be known as the boston massacre, which marked its 250th anniversary last week. Tonights speaker will tell us about the shifting role attucks has played. Of the story of the american thelution and the story of nation. Mitch kachun is professor of history at western michigan university. Specializing in africanAmerican History, collective memory, and historical writing. He has received awards and fellowships from the National Endowment for the humanities, the institute for the study of United States history of the United States department of education, among others. His publications include first martyr of liberty Crispus Attucks in american memory. Freedom. Of coeditor of and the slave bride, every discovered africanamerican novel, named an outstanding academic for 2007. Kachun has published numerous articles and book chapters such africanamerican played narrative. As 19thcentury black nationalism, and Michelle Obamas treatment in american media, among others. Please join me in welcoming mitch kachun. [applause] prof. Kachun thank you. Good evening, everyone. I want to thank you all for coming out tonight. This is an interesting time were living in. I am pleased to talk to you this evening about my book, first martyr of liberty Crispus Attucks in american memory. I want to thank all of the staff and Board Members here. I am truly honored to have been invited to make this presentation. One of the premier cultural and historical institutions in the nation. It is worth noting that over the next several years, we will all hear a lot about various events commemorating the American Revolution, perhaps especially in massachusetts where many of those events took place. The boston massacre is considered by many to be one of the early events link at the beginning of true revolutionary thinking. I have been participating in some of the regions around boston. I put in a plug for one of the exhibits i saw at a steakhouse i was consulted for, which deals with addicts in american memory. Please check it out. It will be there for a year. Is that better . Sorry about that. At the 250th anniversary commemoration, where does the american experiment brought us . We will hear a lot of different versions like the tea party, paul reveres ride, the writing of the declaration, and the intent of the founders, and so on. Part of what intrigued me as a historian was the way in which different versions of our shared history are constructed to disparate political, cultural, or ideological agendas. Everyone has their own take on events asked if her narratives resonate with different times. We all have our favorite stories. Something that tells members of that nation and others who they are as people. Stories americans like to tell themselves about their nation is one of freedom loving people seeking religious liberty. They grew and extended their request for freedom by throwing off the chains of british rule based on the ideals of individualism, equality, and upward mobility. Solely based on their efforts. The american nation is a unique nation, which grew at attracting immigrants across the globe. The american nation has become a melt where all who share the ideals and abide by the rules of the nation are welcome to share in the dream. There is some truth to the story but it leaves a lot out. It has been especially important for africanamericans to create their own story because mainstream american story has always ignored them and excluded them. Understanding how ive can americans have developed their own story of who they are and where they fit in the larger american story, it is one of the central questions that hit me. One of the main things i have tried to understand over the course of my career, it is one of the main themes and liberty. Members of society arrived at some shared understanding. How stories of the past constructed and who does this the constructing . Why do certain stories gain widespread credibility and familiarity and why do other stories get overlooked or forgotten. Why are certain stories honored as heroes and others are ignored completely . I tried to examine the many ways that attucks and African Americans in general, either made a part of were excluded from americas understanding of the story of the American Revolution. I want to read from the books opening pages. Some of the questions, i explored. From the introduction, the election of barack obama began march 5, 1717, with the death of attucks. Viewers are left to wonder how race, former slave during the first revolutionary clash between american colonist british soldiers. Led to the election of the first africanamerican president over two centuries later. While the connection between and attucks are at best, each man occupied that and emotional juncture which americans understand how race affected our it meansstanding what to be a patriot, a citizen and an american. These questions challenge us first, to recognize the continuous black presence in in American History and culture from the 18th century 21st. Then, to consider how americans think about africanamericans in the nations story and finally to ponder the process heroes which national and myths are constructed. Whatines how a crispusally know about and his role in the boston massacre. He was born around 1723 near massachusetts, a praying town of west of boston. He was likely mixed african a ancestry. Can he was a slave owned by William Brown until he liberated himself around 1750. As a sailor in docks elsewhere. Began march 5, 1770 at the boston massacre with the death of Crispus Attucks. This provocative opening line from the 2009 documentary we the people is never fully explained. In single grave in boston ground. Patrick carr was placed in the grave with the others. Months after that the soldiers were tried for murder. All were acquitted in only two of them acquitted of manslaughter, lightly punished and sent home. Thousands of american colonists and hundreds of bostonians were direct participants in mob actions between the 1760s and the 1775 start of the revolution. Crispus attucks was one of those and he was no more important or significant that arrest. They all lead a role in moving disgruntled colonists toward a new struggle for independence. It is understandable the first person to be killed by british soldiers might hold a memorable place. But the fact that he was Crispus Attucks is happenstance. Had it been another part or some other confrontation, with that person be would that personally remembered . Person be remembered . It makes sense to consider these questions because his incorporation into the story of the revolution was not a foregone conclusion. It was a Conscious Campaign to construct an american hero, the first martyr of liberty. Just a bit from chapter one. When asked the famous question in his letters from the American Farmer what is the american, this new man . He was not thinking about people of color. Explain to a to european audience. The new man he saw coming into being was either a european or the descendent of a european. In other words, he was white. Yet during the era of the American Revolution, approximately 20 , one in every five people was of african birth or descent. Multiethnic people like Crispus Attucks were very much a part of 18thcentury america and embodied what was new and distinctive in the revolutionary nation. Attucks life experiences, as best can be surmised, allowed him to see the best and worst of 18thcentury america. The economic and social vitality of growing colonies, the oppression of slavery, the intermingling of peoples and languages, opportunities of life at sea, fluidity of identity. So, in looking at stories, the stories that have grown around Crispus Attucks over 250 years, ive looked into scholarly histories, juvenile literature, public monuments, works of drama in literature, visual arts, tv, movies, the internet, and so on. Because there is so little clear evidence about who he was, people have tended to make things up about him, details about his family, his education, his religion, politics and his patriotism, things of which we have no evidence. Excuse me. So, there are a lot of distorted stories about attucks floating around people have constructed to suit their own purposes. The construction of different meetings around him started almost immediately. Future United States president john adams, in his role as defense attorney for the british soldiers, succeeded in pretraining and as an outsider, a threat to the social order who led the riotous mob. Attucks claims he appears to have undertaken to be the hero of the night and to lead the army with banners and move them up to king street with clubs. Attucks cried, do not be afraid of them. They dont fire. Knock them over. He tried to knock their brains out. To have this reinforcement under the command of a mulatto fellow whose looks were able to terrify any person, what had the soldiers not to fear . He, with one hand, took a bayonet and knocked the man down. The dreadful carnage of that night is chiefly to be ascribed. Adams did his best to characterize the entire mob as a rabble that did not represent the people of boston. Identifying attucks, a racially mixed outsider, as the ringleader. Boston sees the memory to serve political agendas by portraying the victims as respectable, innocent citizens struck down by a tyrannical military power. The paul revere engraving, of course, is perhaps the best known piece of propaganda in this activity, showing respectable and apparently white colonists being mowed down by the abusive military. There are also annual march 5 commemorations from 17711783. With speeches. These speeches pay little attention to individuals. So, no mention of attucks, no mention of the racial makeup of the martyrs. They were referred to as our brethren, slaughtered innocents, and fellow citizens. The implication, of course, was that they were white. Between 1771 and 1850, the boston massacre remained a part of the nations collective memory. Some characterized it as a key event in forging colonial unity while others preferred to distance the revolution from what they considered a disorderly riot. In either case, attucks role in racial identity remained largely ignored, even among africanamericans. Only a few scattered references to attucks appeared in the 19th century, casting him not as a hero or a patriot like adams, but a ruffian. Samuel goodrich was of the most popular and prolific historians in the middle 19th century. In his first book of history for children and youth, which was published in numerous additions editions between 1831 and 1859, he described the boston mob led by a giant of a negro named attucks. They shouted and abuse them to fire. At the troops not fired, the had the troops not fired, the irritated and unreasonable populace would have torn the soldiers to pieces. It appears from this text and others that identified attucks racially, brought him to the first time to the attention of africanamerican abolitionists. Once they learned about attucks, they made him into a usable symbol. William cooper nells colored patriots of the revolution in 1855 showed attucks as the first martyr of the American Revolution, who was of and with the people and never regarded as otherwise. He was the most responsible for Crispus Attucks bursting onto the american scene in the 1860s as the fundamental example of black patriotism and citizenship. In mythology, black activists ignored his native american ancestry and presented him as a unequivocally black man who the first to sacrifice his life on the altar of American Freedom. His identification with the nations founding and mythic image as the first martyr of liberty was a careful historical reconstruction and intended to bolster morale. Virtually unknown to black activists before the 1840s, by the 1850s, he had become one of the most widely recognized symbols of the black patriotism and citizenship. Attucks prominence among black and white abolitionists grew as black men donned blue uniforms and risked their lives for the union and dismantle american slavery. So hes widely known in the 18th century and received attention through the reconstruction era. The errection of the attucks monument on Boston Common in 1888, also sometimes referred to as the boston massacre monument, was the most publicly visible honor attucks received up to that time. It was also a turning point. It was erected with black and white support but drew a lot of criticism from conservative bostonians. The leader of the Boston Historical Society declared the proposed monument was a waste of the publics money and these men were rioters, not patriots. Attucks, in particular, was a rowdy person, killed while engaged in defiance of the law. A few years later, one long time bostonian referred to him as i a half indian, half negro rowdy who shouldve been strangled the day he was born. As jim crow segregation took over, africanamericans faced a new and troubling reality. This next reading is from the start of chapter four, which is titled Crispus Attucks meets jim crow. On a chill january day in 1879, william h palmer, an africanamerican revenue inspector awaited the birth of his fourth child. We cannot know the conversations he and his wife and family may have had about naming the child. But when the baby boy came into the world, he became known as Crispus Attucks palmer. At the age of 21, crispus still lived in norfolk with his mother and his siblings. 10 years later, he was on his own and they have three young daughters. He had a son named Crispus Attucks palmer jr. A few years later, he registered for the world war i draft, although he did not serve. Then he was a widower and lived with his children to norfolk city, where he owned his home free and clear, and worked as a clerk at the post office. Later, crispus married again. He and his second wife provided for their family. The home was worth 3500. They purchased a radio and placed a high priority on education. Crispus still held his post Office Position and rose and his oldest daughter were schoolteachers. Crispus jr. Was soon off on his own achievements. He completed four years of college, an impressive achievement for a black man. He was working as a film editor in the Motion Picture industry until may 1942 when he enlisted in the army to help defend the country. He earned the rank of technician fifth grade and give his life. He never married or had children so we can only speculate whether he carried on tributes to the first martyr of the revolution. The Palmer Family personifies a culture of racial uplift among middleclass africanamericans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They placed a high value on family, education and economic advancement. William palmer was very likely a slave prior to 1865. In 1870, he was a domestic servant. While he could read and write, his wife annie could not. By 1880, annie was literate and he was a county revenue inspector. There is the post bellum black middle class, removed from the subservience of slavery and able to parent households in which the childrens education was a priority. They became homeowners and had the expectations the next generation would exceed their own accompaniments. In naming a male black child after a hero, two generations of palmers claimed their place as american citizens while illustrating and attention of pride of Crispus Attucks status in black communities across the nation. Despite the upward mobility of families like the palmers, black americans generally saw their stock decline after the civil war. Their hopes for equality, acceptance in American Society expanded briefly with because additional amendments and 18 six to five and 1870, abolishings a abolishing slavery and guaranteeing equal Citizenship Rights. But those hopes and eroded after the 1870s. When Crispus Attucks palmer was born, only 2000 black men have held Political Office in sout