Massachusetts Revolutionaries: Bold Stories, Bright Legacies
Massachusetts students, tell us: Who is the most important revolutionary in Massachusetts history?
As part of the Massachusetts 250 initiative, the Executive Office of Education invites all K-12 public school students in Massachusetts to submit your creative work to tell the story of the most important revolutionary in Massachusetts history. Use your talents and conduct research to create a project about your chosen revolutionary and submit your entry on this website between now and June 30, 2025. This fall, we will choose winning entries and invite those students to a MA 250 celebration at a Massachusetts historical site to share and celebrate their work!
Background
Not only is Massachusetts where the American Revolution began, but we have continued to revolutionize throughout our nation’s history to modern day – be it politically, socially, or through science and technology.
Throughout our history, many Massachusetts residents – including women, free and enslaved African Americans, Indigenous people, immigrants, people with disabilities, low-income people, and many others – have made a revolutionary impact in myriad ways in both the past and the present. The 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding is a real opportunity to widen the lens and tell all of these stories in a deeper way.
The Challenge
We invite students from across Massachusetts to explore this history and the impactful people who have made us who we are today and tell us: Who is the most important revolutionary in Massachusetts history?
In telling these stories, we invite students to ponder any of the following questions:
- How do you define ‘revolutionary’? How does your featured revolutionary meet that definition?
- What are the different ways to revolutionize a society? What does a revolution look like in technology, politics and government, society, and beyond?
- Who are the revolutionaries whose stories haven’t been as widely told? If your revolutionary is widely known, what made them so famous? Are there any “new” parts of their story that you can tell?
- How does knowing about your chosen revolutionary help us understand who we are as Massachusetts today, and where we should go in the future?
The Submission
We invite students (as individuals or in groups) to submit their entries in whatever format best fits your voice and talents. Entries could be:
- A visual product (artwork, graphic design, 3D, etc.) with brief description
- A narrative essay that addresses the challenge question and connects to the theme statement
- A brief documentary video (3-5 minutes) about your chosen revolutionary
- A performance piece (song, recorded performance, etc.)
- Any other creative format!
Looking for Inspiration?
Looking for potential topics to help you get started? Consider historical figures from many aspects of Massachusetts society such as Mum Bett, the first African American woman to successfully sue for her freedom in court; James Naismith, who invented basketball in Springfield; or Frank “Wamsutta” James, a Wampanoag leader and civil rights activist who delivered an important speech about indigenous rights on what became the first National Day of Mourning. Resources to come!
