250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party

  • 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
Thursday, December 14, 2023 – Wednesday, January 31, 2024
East Rotunda Gallery

The Destruction of the Tea

It wouldn’t be known as the “Boston Tea Party” for another 50 years, but the destruction of the tea in 1773 marked a critical turning point in the brewing American Revolution. Boston was not alone in resisting British imperial policies considered oppressive by American colonists. Ports along the eastern seaboard prevented East India Company tea from landing in defiance of the 1773 Tea Act, which imposed no new tax on tea but granted the company a monopoly in colonies. Bostonians resorted to extreme action.

On December 16, 1773, several dozen men crudely disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of East India Company tea into the sea. The rebels primarily wore disguises to protect their identities and to shield Boston from blame for destroying private property. They only succeeded in the former. Parliament’s punishment of Boston was swift and severe—and ultimately led the colonies one step closer to independence.

If you are interested in reading more, please click here.

Past Featured Records
  • Frances Perkins: Champion of Workers’ Rights
    Frances Perkins: Champion of Workers’ Rights

    Thursday, February 29, 2024 – Monday, April 15, 2024
    East Rotunda Gallery

    “I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten plain common workingmen.” —Frances Perkins

    Chances are you benefit from the legacy of Frances Perkins,... Read more

  • 70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
    70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

    Thursday, February 1, 2024 – Wednesday, February 28, 2024
    East Rotunda Gallery

    Equity in Education: 70 Years Later

    On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional in... Read more

  • Diseños: An Impact of Mexican Cession
    Diseños: An Impact of Mexican Cession
    Tuesday, June 20, 2023 – Wednesday, October 18, 2023
    East Rotunda Gallery

     

    At the end of the Mexican-American War, the United States annexed more than half of Mexico’s territory under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under its terms, the U.S. promised to... Read more

  • Celebrating Anna May Wong
    Celebrating Anna May Wong

    Anna May Wong
    National Archives, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

    “I want to be an actress, not a freak.”

    Film legend Anna May Wong’s talent could not be contained by the racist casting of early Hollywood movies. Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905,... Read more

  • The Maker of Pilots: Willa B. Brown
    The Maker of Pilots: Willa B. Brown

    Willa B. Brown, February 13, 1943
    National Archives, Records of the Office of War Information

    Aviator Willa Beatrice Brown (1906–92) achieved numerous “firsts” in her lifetime, many of them earned through her tireless advocacy to integrate aviation programs. Brown began taking flying lessons in 1934,... Read more