Hear ye, hear ye! On this 250th anniversary of our country’s quest for freedom, Arlington’s Cyrus Dallin Art Museum honors our country’s revolutionary history.
On Monday, April 21, starting at 10 a.m., experience Arlington’s revolutionary history and Paul Revere-inspired poems, brought to life by Arlington locals. The Dallin Museum has held this event for the past 10 years, and has now become an Arlington tradition! This event takes place in Whittemore Park in front of the Dallin Museum. Bring a chair and/or blanket.
This free, family-friendly program honors the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Menotomy and the start of the Revolutionary War. It features live readings of the Dallin Museum’s two favorite Paul Revere themed poems—one authored by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the other by Cyrus Dallin himself. Learn about the Battle of Menotomy and imagine what it was like on that tumultuous day, April 19, 1775.
Then hear the fascinating story of Dallin’s 57-year battle to complete his famous monument of Paul Revere in Boston’s North End. Experience a beautiful small-scale cast of the statue in the east garden, and venture into the museum to view a rare prototype.
Event schedule
10 ‒ 10:45 a.m. Presentations in the park:
- Welcome Statement—Geri Tremblay, Dallin Museum Board of Directors President
- Historical Context—Michael Ruderman, Arlington Town Meeting Member
- Who Was Paul Revere?—Rod Holland, Arlington Town Meeting Member
- Reading of Paul Revere’s Ride—Michael Ruderman, Arlington Town Meeting Member
- Battle of Menotomy—Robert Brazile, Arlington Historical Society President
- Story of Dallin’s Revere Sculpture—Mark DeCew, Dallin Museum Trustee
- Dallin’s Corollary to Longfellow’s Poem—Rod Holland, Arlington Town Meeting Member
- Closing Statement—Sarah Burks, Dallin Museum Board of Trustees Chairperson
10:45 a.m. ‒ noon Museum open house
Following the program, explore the museum or head to Town Hall—and view the Painted Horse at Whittemore Park on your way—where Paul Revere and William Dawes arrive on horseback at noon! (Family activities and refreshments at that location begin at 11 a.m.)
To learn more about Arlington 250’s mission and programs, click here.
Menotomy Minutemen role in American Revolution
On April 18, 1775, North America changed forever.
A revolution began between the colonists inhabiting this land who’d migrated from Europe, and the British Empire. King George finally pushed the colonists too far. Riding on horseback from Charlestown, Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott alerted the locals that the Redcoats were coming.
That still-mysterious “shot heard around the world” was then fired in Lexington, MA on the morning of April 19, putting in motion the American Revolution—a time in our country’s history that would shape the strengths, beliefs, and landscape of this continent, even to this day.
A good portion of the fighting that day was done in the small village of Menotomy, now named Arlington. Local Minutemen, joined by those from towns as far away as Danvers, combatted with the retreating Redcoats as they tried to make it back to Boston. Jason Russell, a Menotomy village local, gave the ultimate sacrifice, along with numerous other townsfolk, as they made a last-ditch effort to thwart off the Redcoats at Russell’s home.
It became known as “the bloodiest half mile of all the Battle Road.” More Redcoats and Patriots were killed and wounded in Menotomy that day than in all other towns combined. Long-overlooked Menotomy, now Arlington, is where the action really was on April 19, 1775!
Dallin Museum
The Dallin Museum is a hallmark to artist, and former Arlington resident, Cyrus Dallin and is open for visits on Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 4 p.m. Group tours can be arranged by contacting Nancy Blanton, nblanton@dallin.org.
The museum, located at the corner of Mass Ave and Mystic Street in Arlington, is on the ancestral land of the Massachusett Tribe. The museum pays its respects to their descendants who still inhabit this land today.
For more information about Dallin’s work and museum events, visit dallin.org.
