Drawn from MHS collections, our primary source sets promote learning in U.S. history and civics and are supported by teaching activities and guiding questions.

primary source sets
 

 

Time Period
Glass bottle full of dry tea leaves positioned on its side so the handwritten label is visible
Boston 1773: The Destruction of the Tea
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Painting of violent altercation between red-wearing British soldiers holding rifles and unarmed civilians. A black man is shot in the center.
The Evolving Legacy of Crispus Attucks, 1770-1863
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Colored drawing depicting the King Street massacre; a group of British soldiers wearing red coats (right) face off against an unruly crowd an unruly crowd (left) wearing blue coats
Investigating Multiple Perspectives on the Boston Massacre
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Carved wooden sign with red, blue, and gold leaf accents
Massachusetts Loyalists: Revolution and Exile
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a piece of blue and white checked cloth arranged in folds with the cursive intials "LD"
Women and Nonimportation
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faint cursive writing on aged, yellowed paper
Emancipation in 18th century Massachusetts
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A map of Boston in its earlier shape as a peninsula, with streets and buildings marked
Mapping Colonial Boston
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A framed portrait of a Black woman wearing a blue dress with drawstrings at the neck and waist, a white fichu tucked into her dress at the neck, a white cap, and a gold beaded necklace.
Portraits of enslavement and freedom
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Funding from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Mass Cultural Council, the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, and an anonymous grant supported this project.

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