Expulsion of Negroes and Abolitionists from Tremont Temple on December 3, 1860, Harper's Weekly, December 15, 1860. [Courtesy of Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Boston Public Library]
About the Collaboration
The City of Boston has an incredible history of independence, resistance, and freedom. The Revolutionary War and other major battles made the question of freedom a burning topic for all its citizens, both black and white. From the early 1800s through the Civil War, Boston was the center of the radical abolition movement in the United States and home to the nation's largest free black community. Activists, both men and women, both black and white, founded anti-slavery movements, held conferences, wrote and spoke vigorously, and raised funds for the cause. Here, recruiters formed all-black platoons and William Lloyd Garrison published The Liberator. The Liberator became the country's dominant newspaper promoting the abolition of slavery, providing access to information about the activities of free blacks and whites working together for the emancipation of enslaved people.
Words of Thunder — a three-year partnership between the Boston Public Library and the Museum of Afro-American History, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services — is a collaboration designed to present this history of the power and agency of a community in the fight for emancipation and the abolition of slavery. Through education, exhibits, and programs, we invite the public to become engaged with one of the most inspiring American stories about people working together to achieve something great.
Funder Information
This project is made possible thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
IMLS is an independent federal grant-making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities.
National Leadership Grants for Library-Museum Collaboration provide an opportunity for libraries and museums to develop collaborative approaches for addressing the needs of a learning society. With the ultimate goal of enhancing public services in support of learning, libraries and museums are encouraged with the grant program to jointly develop model projects in research, technology, preservation, professional development, and community-based partnerships.
"At IMLS we recognize that museums and libraries share a fundamental educational mission. They exist to support learning," said Robert Martin, director of the Institute. "When museums and libraries join forces, their partnerships can be more powerful, and their projects can reflect the best thinking in the realm of lifelong, informal learning. It is our hope that this grant will provide a model for the best practices of tomorrow's museums and libraries."