Congregationalists and the American Revolution: A Virtual Collections Tour

Congregational churches could be found in nearly every town across New England in the 1770s. The stories of Patriot ministers who inspired their congregations to Revolution have long been told. Increasingly we are learning more about the experience of the people sitting in the pews and how being part of a Congregational church community shaped their experience of the celebrated ideals–and the sometimes harsh realities–of the revolutionary cause. Printed sermons, pamphlets, and histories; manuscript church and association records; and even paintings in the CLA’s collection help tell a story that is both familiar and not.

This December we reprise our popular tour of original materials related to the American Revolution with Executive Director Dr. Kyle Roberts and New England’s Hidden Histories Project Director Dr. Tricia Peone. Recognizing that not everyone can make it to 14 Beacon Street for an in-person viewing, this tour will be hosted on Zoom, and registration will be limited to small group of attendees.

See Revolutionary-era treasures from the collections, hear stories about how Congregationalists experienced the period leading up to, during, and immediately following the war, and reflect on what this pivotal event means 250 years later.

For more information, please email programs@14beacon.org.

This program is part of Revolutionary Stories, New England’s Hidden Histories’ ongoing series on the American Revolution and the Congregational experience.

SPEAKER BIOS

Dr. Kyle Roberts was appointed the Executive Director of the Congregational Library & Archives in 2022. He received his BA in American Studies from Williams College and his PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to the CLA, he was Associate Director of Library & Museum Programming at the American Philosophical Society and Associate Professor of Public History and New Media and Director of the Center for Textual Studies and Digital Humanities at Loyola University Chicago.

A scholar of Atlantic World religion, print, and library history, he is the author of Evangelical Gotham: Religion and the Making of New York City, 1783-1860 (Chicago, 2016), the co-editor, with Stephen Schloesser, of Crossings and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits, Women Religious, American Experience 1814-2014 (Brill, 2017) and, with Mark Towsey, of Before the Public Library: Reading, Community, and Identity in the Atlantic World, 1650-1850 (Brill, 2017).

Kyle is an accomplished public historian and digital humanist whose collaborative projects include the Jesuit Libraries Provenance Project, the Maryland Loyalism Project, and Dissenting Academies Online: Virtual Library System. In addition to being the consultant for numerous digital and public history projects, he sits on the executive committees of the American Catholic Historical Association, the New England Historical Association, the Urban History Association He is on the editorial and advisory boards for American Catholic Studies, Early American Studies, and portal.

Dr. Tricia Peone joined the CLA in 2022 as the Project Director for New England’s Hidden Histories. Prior to joining the CLA, she was a research scholar at Historic New England for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as the public programs director at New Hampshire Humanities, a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials, early New England, and public history, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science.