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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260220T193000
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SUMMARY:The Barzillai Lew Project - A Duke Ellington Concert
DESCRIPTION:The Forgotten Hero Who Inspired Duke Ellington.\nIn 1942\, the renown Duke Ellington composed a piano piece in Barzillai Lew’s honor\, likely inspired by stories Ellington encountered while studying with the pioneering historian Carter G. Woodson.\nThe musical score of this work\, first retrieved and digitized from the Smithsonian American History Museum for this project\, is the basis for a modern adaptation of that composition.\nJoin us at 7:30pm on February 20\, 2026\, Ellington’s work will be presented in a concert along with several original compositions at the Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center\, Middlesex Community College\, 240 Central Street in Lowell. \nBarzillai Lew\nBarzillai Lew was born a free Black person on November 5th\, 1743\, in Groton\, Massachusetts\, the son of Primus Lew and Margaret [Lew]. Like his father\, Barzillai became a renown fifer in the colonial regiment of Captain Thomas Farrington.\nAfter serving in the French and Indian War\, he purchased the freedom of Dinah Bowman (1744–1837) and married her in 1768. Dinah was a pianist who had been enslaved in Lexington. She may very well have been the first African-American woman pianist in American history.\nIn May of 1775\, Barzillai Lew enlisted in Captain John Ford’s Company\, the 27th Regiment\, out of Chelmsford. Lew\, along with about 3 dozen other ethnic Africans\, fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17\, 1775.\nWith wages earned from his military service\, the Lew family purchased a large tract of farmland in Dracut\, which is now part of Lowell. They built a house near Varnum Avenue and Zeal Road (named for Barzillai\,) now called Totman Road. After the war\, Lew returned to his farm in Pawtucketville\, where they raised 13 children\, the most famous being the abolitionist\, Lucy Lew. His great grandson is Harry ‘Bucky’ Lew\, the first African American Basketball player
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/the-barzillai-lew-project-a-duke-ellington-concert/
LOCATION:Richard and Nancy Donahue Family Academic Arts Center\, Central Street 240\, Lowell\, MA\, 01852\, United States
CATEGORIES:Black History,Event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Barzillai-Lew-Concert.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Revolutionary Valley RTC":MAILTO:events@revolutionaryvalley.org
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