Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Up close and personal with the Hutchinson and Dyer statues

© 2016 Christy K Robinson

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Hutchinson statue seen from
Beacon Street over the iron fence.
That's as close as you get,
most times.

The memorial statue of Anne Marbury Hutchinson was cast in bronze in 1915, and placed on the grounds of the Massachusetts State House in 1922. For generations, it was a landmark easily visited by descendants and admirers of Hutchinson. But after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the state raised an iron fence around the statehouse, and no access is granted except by permit. For most people, the best they can do is shoot photos with a long lens, from Beacon Street. (The Mary Dyer statue, on the east wing of the State House, is fenced but open to the public.)

But lucky ticket holders have a chance to get up close and personal on July 20, 2016, the 425th anniversary of Anne Marbury's baptism. The Anne Hutchinson Society, in conjunction with OurFoundingMothers.org, is holding a ceremony at the statue in Anne's honor. Honored guests include biographer Eve LaPlante and former Massachusetts governor, the Honorable Michael Dukakis, who granted a pardon to Mistress Hutchinson in 1987, 349 years after she was convicted of heresy and banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony. 

UPDATE, July 27, 2016: The event was wonderful, and I took some photos to share with you. 

Obviously I didn't take this Google Maps photo, but I did doctor it up in Photoshop.

You just don't go to the Massachusetts
Statehouse and skip the
Mary Dyer statue! Besides, I'm
partial to Mary.

I was early to the Hutchinson statue event, and
who should I find also early? Frmr Massachusetts
Gov. Michael Dukakis (served three terms in the
1970s and 1980s). Why, yes, that is his hand on my
shoulder.

Who knew the Mass statehouse had a *Hooker* entrance?
It does! It's a real thing! Politicians and hookers--
what could go wrong?
General Hooker, from whom prostitutes got the appellation
of hooker, is memorialized with a bronze statue of
him on his horse. No sign of camp followers on this
steaming hot day, however.
The Hon. Michael Dukakis speaks to the crowd gathered
at the Anne Hutchinson statue. Yes, he and I had to use
the Hooker Entrance to get to this fenced area.
That's Anne Marbury Hutchinson Foundation president
Dr. Eric Nielsen behind Gov. Dukakis.

Hutchinson biographer Eve LaPlante speaks at the
Hutchinson birthday celebration
.

Anne Marbury Hutchinson and daughter (presumably
Susannah Hutchinson Cole) remembered in Boston, where
she was excommunicated and banished in 1638.

Dr. Eric Nielsen and Michael Steven Ford, both
Hutchinson descendants, with Valerie Debrule,
who was given an engraved crystal award to
thank her for her years of work on establishing
Founders Brook Park in Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
Boston Globe article on the Hutchinson birthday event: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/20/descendants-one-massachusetts-first-feminists-mark-her-legacy/qY0vQFin304hQgv6PSVkxO/story.html 


*****

In addition to being author of the websites "William and Mary Dyer" and "Rooting For Ancestors,"  Christy K Robinson is the author of three highly rated books on William and Mary Dyer, which include Anne Hutchinson and son Edward, Gov. John Winthrop, Katherine Marbury Scott, John Cotton and John Wilson, and many more real people and events whose descendants are found all over the world, and a modern biography of Anne Marbury Hutchinson. Click the links to find both paperback and Kindle editions of the books.
·          We Shall Be Changed (2010)
·          Mary Dyer Illuminated (2013)
·          Mary Dyer: For Such a Time as This (2014)
·          The Dyers of London, Boston, & Newport (2014)
·          Effigy Hunter (2015)
·          Anne Marbury Hutchinson: American Founding Mother (2018)

2 comments:

  1. I am so sad that I was not able to attend! Thank you for posting the pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  2. December 2018 - Thank you for organizing events that give recognition to people who have impacted society, like Anne Hutchinson. I am submitting an article I wrote about her to:
    WomensActivism.NYC , New York City Dept of Records and Info Svcs., 31 Chambers Ave, New York, NY 10007
    The goal of this group is: "to create a permanent NYC archive of women who have made a difference through their activism and in turn inspire activism today." Hutchinson is a woman who has done that for me.

    ReplyDelete

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