Encountering John Adams:
Braintree and Boston

A One-Week NEH Landmarks Workshop for Community College Teachers

First Session July 8-14, 2007; Second Session, July 15-21, 2007

The workshop is devoted to studying John Adams’ life and thought as revealed in the letters, essays and documents he wrote, the marginal notes he made in the books he read, the homes he lived in and the artifacts he collected. Reading his words and considering his deeds in his very own physical surroundings helps us to understand his frame of mind and recognize the great difficulties and challenges he faced. We read the Massachusetts Constitution in the room in which he drafted it; climb Penns Hill and look out at Boston harbor from the same spot where Abigail Adams watched the battle of Bunker Hill and described it in letters to him; sit in the small kitchen in which John hosted meetings of revolutionary leaders; and inspect the art works he acquired abroad and treat them as clues regarding the impact that European culture had upon his thoughts and feelings.

In addition to intensive work at the Adams National Historical Park, participants do hands-on research activities at the Massachusetts Historical Society which houses the Adams Papers, the Massachusetts Archives which houses the Massachusetts Constitution and documents relating to its ratification, and the Boston Public Library which houses his personal library. Four seminar meetings provide a thread of analytic and chronological continuity and integrate the specific lessons learned at the landmarks.

Each participant has his or her own room in a modern and well maintained dormitory suite at Boston College. The campus is close to several trolley lines that provide good access to downtown Boston and Cambridge. Each participant receives a $500 stipend to help cover housing and meal expenses and a travel subsidy to help meet transportation expenses.

For more information please check our website www.bc.edu/sites/johnadams or email us at adams.landmarks@gmail.com.