emerged from a conversation w/ @kawulf.bsky.social about spreading the word to register for this incredible event on the Friday of #SHEAR2025 www.simpletix.com/e/shear-ten-...

Third act driven by collector William Guthman, asking to buy the retrieved powder horn from the Putnam heirs. Sale in 1988. Finally sold/donated to Historic Deerfield in 21st century. #DubSem2025

Second act in the Putnam horn’s history was as a family heirloom. Subject of the earliest drawing of a powder horn design. Then displayed, including at Centennial Expo. Loaned to Ohio Historical Society in 1934, lost by 1970s. #DubSem2025

Falk analyzes a Mohawk Valley chest labeled Jacob Kniskern 1778—probably not the date of making, but a dire year being remembered. Two nieces born 1775 were likewise given chests marked 1778. Likewise, the Petrie sisters got chests marked 1775—not their birth or marriage years. #DubSem2025

Barbara Rimkunas reports that Revolutionary War veterans headed most black households in Exeter, NH, in the 1790s, but there was little first-hand information about them. Had to work through accounts from older white people. #DubSem2025

Next, David Naumec tells #DubSem2025 about seeking to recover stories of Revolutionary War veterans of color at Historic New England sites. Getting around cliché lore, some of which might even turn out to be reliable.

The 1925 Lexington pageant, written by Sidney Howard, starts with the local battle but continues thru the full Founding, expansion, Abolitionism, and the labor movement (but not the Communist Revolution!). Freedom pushes forward into the future. #DubSem2025

By staging the pageant in an amphitheater, Lexington could recreate the landscape of 1775 that had been overwritten in the center of town. #DubSem2025

One major priority in marking the “Knox Trail” in the 1920s was to create a driving route. That meant deviating from what the commission’s expert thought was the most likely route. New York revised its trail in 1975 based on more research. Further sites might deserve recognition. #DubSem2025

The crowd was not expecting to see a photograph of John Paul Jones taken 110+ years after he died. #DubSem2025

“The Painter’s Fire” is officially published on Tuesday, but there are copies available at #DubSem2025: www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...