FREE

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem about "the midnight ride” of Paul Revere. Using new research, historian and author Charles Bahne will examine how Longfellow created one of America's most enduring legends—a tale which, like all legends, often strays from the truth. What did Longfellow know when he wrote the poem? Why did he include some details, and ignore or omit others? What about William Dawes and Samuel Prescott? Included in the program will be a world-premiere: the first-ever public reading of Longfellow's complete first draft, including an entire stanza which was later deleted, and has never been published.