I’ve visited the home of only one author, poet Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow, but it wasn’t on purpose.
I didn’t go there on a pilgrimage for Longfellow. I went there to do research on George and
Martha Washington. The National Park
Service operates the Longfellow House Washington’s Headquarters, a magnificent
house in Cambridge, MA that has been home to both families.
Just down the block from Harvard University, General George
Washington used the house as his headquarters during the siege of Boston in the
early days of the American Revolution.
He arrived there not long after the “midnight ride of Paul Revere”
and skirmishes in Lexington and Concord.
Many years later, Longfellow, moved into the historic house
that had once been Washington’s war headquarters and home. About 85 years after the first shots echoed
in Massachusetts that began the Revolution, Longfellow wrote the poem “Paul
Revere’s Ride” with the familiar opening line, “Listen my children and you
shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere” and the equally famous line
later “one if by land, two if by sea.”
 |
| The beautiful historic Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters in Cambridge, MA. |
 |
| These tiles surround the fireplace in the master bedroom of the house. George and Martha Washington would have warmed themselves here. |
 |
| I can imagine General Washington climbing up these stairs after a long day of war plans. |
Longfellow singlehandedly made Paul Revere famous to every
school child in America. But there are
many historical inaccuracies in Longfellow’s poem. Probably the biggest one is that the poem
gives Revere alone all the credit for the warning ride. But in fact, he was one of three riders that
night. Longfellow ignores the equally
historic rides of William Dawes and Samuel Prescott. Revere did not make it all the way to Concord
because the British stopped him for interrogation. Prescott made it all the way to Concord-but
didn’t make the cut in Longfellow’s poem.
This poem is a good example of the power of the written
word. Longfellow was less concerned with
historic accuracy than he was with creating an American hero on the eve of the
Civil War. The problem is that the
general public believes Longfellow’s version is an accurate retelling of
history. It isn’t.
Carla Killough McClafferty
Thanks for these great photos, Carla, and for the links/info about Longfellow's poem.
ReplyDeleteRecently a group of 6th grade girls researched women of the American Revolution and found Sybil Ludington, the female Paul Revere. Women have been overlooked in most history book. http://mentalfloss.com/article/67905/9-women-who-helped-win-american-revolution
ReplyDeleteDear Margaret, thank you for your comment. There are many, many stories from history that have been overlooked. And they are many-like Paul Revere and Betsy Ross- whose stories have become more important than they should have. It is doubtful that the Betsy Ross story is even true-yet she is remembered as a pillar of American History -more important than Martha Washington or Abigail Adams or the many "regular" women who actually fought in battle.
ReplyDelete