Bunker Hill: Changing Memories

This article is part of the online feature "Bunker Hill Memory."

The dedication of Bunker Hill Monument took place on June 17, 1843, 68 years after the Battle. By this time, many of the Revolutionary generation had died, and with their passing went the living memory of the war. A new generation of Americans began to forge their own meanings and memories of the Monument and the battle which it commemorates.

Meanwhile, the United States experienced new social strains and political divisions. Tensions over the institution of slavery ultimately led to the US Civil War (1861-1865). Immigrants arrived in growing numbers and struggled to define their place in the nation. Women fought for increased rights, including their right to vote. Across the country, people began to consider what it means to be American.

In the midst of these tumultuous changes, the nation prepared to observe its centennial in 1876. This anniversary brought a renewed debate over the memory and meaning of the Revolution. The Bunker Hill Monument became a vehicle for these ongoing conversations.

Explore the voices of people who reimagined the meaning of the Bunker Hill Monument during the first fifty years of its completion. As you read, consider the tensions between different interpretations of the Battle and Monument. Whose perspectives do you see reflected in your own understanding of the Bunker Hill Monument?

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The Liberator

• Changing Memories: The Liberator Quote

  
  

  Quote by G.B. Stebbins, from The Liberator, 1846.
  Audio Transcript

  As we drew near to Boston, there stood Bunker Hill monument, towering up towards the heavens, as if in silent, bitter mockery of the millions of slaves guarded by the professed lovers of Liberty, who reared its lofty column. I remember how a slave stood beneath its very shadow, while it was being dedicated to Freedom; and it seemed that chains should hang around its base, gags and thumb-screws ornament its sides, and iron collars crown its top, as fit emblems of the liberty of this blessed land.

  G.B. Stebbins, The Liberator, 1846.

Through his fiery abolitionist paper The Liberator, William Lloyd Garrison called for an immediate end to slavery and for racial equality. Garrison, as well as other writers, referenced the founding ideals of the nation and other symbols of the Revolution to argue their points. For example, one writer referred to the Bunker Hill Monument in his denunciation of slavery.

Learn more about The Liberator

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Irish Bostonians

• Changing Memories: Irish Bostonians Quote

  
  

  Quote from a Contributor to "The Pilot," "To Our Irish Societies," May 8, 1875.
  Audio Transcript

  We hope to see the Irish societies well represented in the procession—not that we doubt their devotion to Republicanism, but that their presence may be a formal reproof to Geo. Wm, Curtis and his Know nothing supporters. It is to be deplored that at a time like this such [bitter] feelings should be stirred; but, now that a public orator has declared that foreign born men have no association with the men of the Revolution, it is our duty to show that in love of freedom and loyalty to the Republic, the citizens of foreign birth take no second place, while in veneration for bravery they are not bounded by race or nationality.

  Contributor to The Pilot, "To Our Irish Societies," May 8, 1875. Voiced by: Patrick Joseph McGarrity, Irish Immigrant from Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland.

As the centenial of the American Revolution aproached, the memory of the Revolution became locked in a struggle between Boston's elite and its immigrant, largely Irish, populations. The Irish community used the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill as a moment of action, claiming the legacy of the battle for their cause.

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The Woman's Journal

• Changing Memories: The Woman's Journal Quote

  
  

  Quote from "Editorial Notes," The Woman's Journal, June 22, 1889.
  Audio Transcript

  Massachusetts always celebrates the Battle of Bunker Hill. Bells are rung; cannon fired; there are speeches, parades, music, and a general holiday. But in that battle the Americans were defeated. All the same the battle is celebrated for the justice of the cause, which, because it was just, was triumphant. The woman suffrage battle is like that of Bunker Hill—not won to-day, but sure to be later. Meantime Bunker Hill monument is our monument.

  "Editorial Notes," The Woman's Journal, June 22, 1889. Voiced by: Jess Meyer, Boston theater artist and co-producer with Plays in Place.

Women's suffragists, particularly those in Massachusetts, often evoked the language, principles, and memory of the American Revolution. They argued for the rights promised in the founding of the country to be expanded to include women. In doing so, suffragists claimed the Bunker Hill Monument as a symbol for their continued fight for full political and social rights. Editors of the Boston-published and internationally recognized suffrage publication, The Woman's Journal, often recognized the anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Learn more about The Woman's Journal

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Lucy Stone

• Changing Memories: Lucy Stone Quote

  
  

  Quote from Lucy Stone, "Our Bunker Hill Battle," The Woman's Journal, June 21, 1890.
  Audio Transcript

  The heroes of Bunker Hill stood for the principle that taxation and representation should go together; that 'the consent of the governed' was necessary to a just government...The movement for the equal rights of women is in defence of the same principle for which the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought.

  Lucy Stone, "Our Bunker Hill Battle," Woman's Journal, June 21, 1890.

As a leader of the women's suffrage movement and a longtime Boston resident, Lucy Stone saw the opportunity to draw connections between the fight for liberty and independence during the American Revolution and the fight for women's rights. She wrote these thoughts in the Woman's Journal.

Learn more about Lucy Stone

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