Events are funded in part through generous support from the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati, the Lowell Institute, Hub Town Tours, the Revere Hotel, and Ruby W. and LaVon P. Linn Foundation.
- This event has passed.
“Lost and Legendary Riders” Lecture with JL Bell
Beyond Paul Revere and his companions, Americans have passed along stories of other notable riders on April 19, 1775. Historian J. L. Bell investigates the facts and fiction behind such figures as Hezekiah Wyman, the dreaded “White Horseman;” Abel Benson and Abigail Smith, children said to have helped raise the alarm in Middlesex County; and Israel Bissell, the post rider credited with carrying news of the fight all the way to Philadelphia.
J. L. Bell is the author of The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War and many articles about Massachusetts in the 1760s and 1770s. He maintains the Boston 1775 blog, offering daily updates of history, analysis, and unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England.
This lecture is presented as a part of our 2025 Lowell Lecture series, “Whose Midnight Ride? Reflections on the 250th Anniversary of the Famous Ride.” On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes set out from Boston with information to convey to key Patriot leaders and to local Patriot militiamen. The story of the “Midnight Ride,” on the eve of the Revolutionary War, has been told and retold over the past two and a half centuries, both as a historical event and as a national legend. The 2025 Lowell Lecture Series will share perspectives on the events of April 18, the various participants, and on what it means to people looking back on the ride today.
Lectures take place on Tuesdays, September 16 and 30 and October 21 and 28 at 6:30-7:45 pm. Lectures are free to the public and can be watched online or in person at Smith Commons (5th floor), Sargent Hall, Suffolk University, 120 Tremont Street. The lectures will be recorded and available after the fact.
Presented in partnership with GBH, the Suffolk University History Department, Old North Illuminated, Lexington History Museums, Evanston History Center at the Charles Gates Dawes House (Evanston, IL), and Made by Us, with funding from the Lowell Institute.
The in-person location is fully wheelchair accessible and has accessible restrooms. Seating is in free-standing chairs which may be moved. The live-stream and recording will have auto-generated closed captions only. Please contact the Paul Revere House with any questions about accessibility.