Weekend at the Museum: Concord Museum and the Shot Heard 'Round the World

On April 19, 1775 colonists and British troops skirmished at the North Bridge.  It was the "shot heard 'round the world."  The momentous events of that day are taught to school children across the United States.  The details of what is known called Patriot's Day seem like dusty national memory until you visit the Concord Museum's new exhibit. The real bits of history are on display in a chronological accounting of events.
 Among the items you can see:

• Paul Revere's Lantern
• William Diamond’s drum that summoned the Lexington militia to the Common 
•  James Hayward’s powder horn, pierced by the bullet that killed him
• a mirror broken by the British and passed down in a family with a handwritten note until given to a museum. 

History is comprised of the actions of ordinary people and viewed through the articles they've left behind. 


An ancillary exhibit of images from my Last Muster Project shows viewers the faces of the men and women who lived in Revolutionary times. Museum visitors were struck by the intensity of the portraits and the life stories of these individuals. Thank you to Carol Haines and Sara Lundberg for their support of this project.

I hope you'll take your children and grandchildren on a field trip to see these exhibits. They are on display until September 21, 2014.