Makeshift walls of plywood and metal piping reach toward the high ceiling of the McKim Exhibition Hall at the Boston Public Library. In contrast with the room’s prestigious columns and arches, the provisional walls carve out a path through America’s history. Separating the exhibit into six sections, the walls guide viewers through the scaffolding of American activism, exploring narratives of advocacy that have long been taught in classrooms and others that haven’t.
Featuring artworks and documentary material from collections held by the Boston Public Library, “Revolution! 250 Years of Art and Activism in Boston” examines the ideals America was founded on, highlighting the individuals and groups that have fought for their interpretation of those ideals since the Revolutionary War.
Amid scholarly debates about the state of American democracy, the exhibit acknowledges the ever-evolving nature of democracy by creating an immersive experience that feels like it’s under construction. The exhibit aims to demonstrate how revolution is deeply embedded in American identity, that it is a cultural right tracing back to the country’s founding.
The first section, “Making History,” is dedicated to the American Revolution. It hosts a portrait of Benjamin Franklin by Joseph Siffrède Duplessis next to portraits of two indigenous chiefs: Etow Oh Koam of the Mohican Nation and Sa Ga Yean Qua Rash Tow of the Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Both chiefs visited England in 1710 to seek protection from French colonization.
Looking at the American Revolution through a contemporary lens, two photographs show reenactments: one of the Battle of Bunker Hill and another of Paul Revere’s ride. These photos raise questions about whether the spirit of these liberators’ actions remains in our current political environment, or if they have merely become historical platitudes to role play.
The second section, “An Age of Revolution,” has signage showcasing a quote from Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a general in the American Revolution and member of France’s National Assembly. The quote comes from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, a foundational human and civil rights document from the French Revolution. It states, “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights.”
Across from the signage are two screenprints by American conceptual artist Steve Locke depicting his proposal for an installation that would outline the foundation of a colonial auction block that once stood by Merchant’s Row behind Faneuil Hall. The art label beneath the screenprints describes how this area was known for decades as a place where kidnapped Africans were sold as enslaved people.
The third section, “Talking About a Revolution,” pays homage to a variety of revolutions. The focal point of the section is four busts of activists sitting on a curved plywood table: Lucy Stone, a leading suffragist, abolitionist, and organizer; Wendell Phillips, an abolitionist and advocate for Native American rights; Harriet Tubman, the famous formerly enslaved conductor of the Underground Railroad; and Alice Stone Blackwell, Lucy Stone’s daughter, also a suffragist and abolitionist.
Fully capturing the breadth of American activism, 20th-century photographs of a gay pride parade, a pro-choice rally, social advocate and writer Amiri Baraka, police confronting marchers at a protest in Alabama, freedom rallies, and a Black Panther picket line are also housed in this section. The framed photographs represent the power of the ’70s counterculture movement. The determination of these activists bursts through the glass that protects their legacies, demanding that the precedent they fought to instill in society not be forgotten.
This energy continues in the section, “Free to All,” a reference to the phrase carved above the Dartmouth Street entrance to the Copley branch of the BPL. Honing in on the importance of equal access to information and acknowledging the BPL’s own role in this access as the first large, municipal, and free library in the U.S., “Free to All” celebrates empowerment through education.
When Matthew Saindon from Haverhill, Mass. saw this section, he was shocked.
“I didn’t realize the ‘free to all’ slogan was sort of a radical idea at the time, to want to have our citizens educated,” he said.
The last two sections, “All Together Now” and “Another World is Possible,” act as a call to action. They urge viewers to imagine a world where the idea of revolution evolves into a unified endeavor to respond to contemporary challenges, a world where new vessels for liberation and justice are entertained. The title panel of “All Together Now” states, “Working together, many voices can become one, drawing attention to inequality and amplifying the need for change,” while “Another World is Possible” blatantly instructs viewers to consider the inspiration behind the art they have just experienced.
The exhibit concludes with Michael Thorpe’s artistic evaluation of the famed “Washington at Dorchester Heights” located in the first section. Thorpe’s evaluation is a quilt made of rearrangeable squares that can be moved around to form various renditions, quite literally exemplifying how our perception of history can shift over time.
New Jersey native Michelle Williams, visiting Boston and the BPL for her birthday, recognized the exhibit as a warning.
“History should never repeat itself. And it feels like it is in this day and age,” she said. “It’s going backwards instead of moving forward. And it should never be.”
Throughout the exhibit, the responsibility of revolution is clear: to continue reframing what is deemed normal, creating new standards for what is accepted in American society and politics.
“Revolution! 250 Years of Art and Activism in Boston” was curated by Emily Bibb, Eve Griffin, Kristin Parker, Aaron Schmidt, and Calder Sell. The exhibit will be on display until April 21, 2026, and was made possible by the Boston Public Library Fund.
