NEWBURYPORT — The Museum of Old Newbury, in partnership with the Custom House Maritime Museum, Lowell’s Boat Shop, and Firehouse Center for the Arts, will present “Revolutionary Privateers at Sea Symposium: Newburyport and the Wider World” on Monday, March 23, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Firehouse.
Sponsored in part by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, Revolutionary Privateers is a one-day symposium on Revolutionary War privateering and Newburyport’s role in a global maritime conflict. Lunch and refreshments with vegan and gluten-free options, optional add-on experiences, and an evening Tavern Night program (ticketed separately).
From Newburyport wharves, privateers pushed past Plum Island and into the Atlantic to strike British commerce. Operating under letters of marque, these privately owned vessels captured cargoes and ships, disrupted supply lines, and funneled provisions and matériel back to the Revolutionary cause.
Privateering was also a community enterprise. Investors financed voyages; shipyard trades outfitted vessels; mariners signed on for shares; families kept businesses and farms running in their absence. Prizes could bring sudden prosperity, and losses could be devastating.
Marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the symposium connects local stories to a global maritime war through logbooks, prize records, correspondence, and artifacts that bring the era into sharp focus.
The opening keynote will be delivered by Eric Jay Dolin, historian and best-selling author of “Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution”.
Additional sessions include Emily Murphy, Ph.D., National Park Service, on Essex County’s Revolutionary War at sea; Abby Schreiber, Ph.D., curator at the National Museum of the United States Navy, on the Continental Navy and Massachusetts privateers as allies and rivals; Michael P. Dyer, former curator at Mystic Seaport Museum and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, on boatbuilding, navigation, and the coastal geography of privateering; Dr. Amanda Bevan, head of The National Archives, United Kingdom, Prize Papers Project, on Prizes for All and the Prize Papers for the American War of Independence, 1776 to 1783; and Reading Betsey’s Log with Graham McKay, Executive Director of Lowell’s Boat Shop, and Bethany Groff Dorau, executive director of the Museum of Old Newbury.
Optional, limited capacity add-on experiences begin at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 each. Options include Revolutionary Resting Places, a tour of Old Hill Burying Ground and Highland Cemetery; Streets of the Privateering Port, a downtown walking tour; Merchants, Mansions, and the Privateer Economy at Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm; and Crafting the Revolution, a behind-the-scenes visit to Lowell’s Boat Shop in Amesbury.
A Revolutionary Night at the Tavern begins at 7 p.m. at Firehouse Center for the Arts. The evening features toasts, music, art, and theater, including a signature crankie, a moving panorama featuring original art by Alan Bull. No assigned seating and no dress code.
Performers include Edward Speck of Theater in the Open; The Portermen, Newburyport’s shanty and traditional music purveyors; and Adrienne Howard, fiddle and hurdy-gurdy.
Symposium admission is $75 for nonmembers, $50 for members of the Custom House Maritime Museum, Firehouse Center for the Arts, Museum of Old Newbury, and Lowell’s Boat Shop, and $20 for virtual attendance. Symposium admission includes all refreshments and lunch, with vegan and gluten-free options.
Tavern Night tickets are $45 for nonmembers and nonsymposium attendees, and $25 for symposium attendees and members of partner organizations.
Due to ongoing work on the Firehouse Center for the Arts elevator, the venue and restrooms are accessible only by stairs. If stairs are a barrier, livestream tickets are available, and the event will be recorded and posted to our website shortly afterward.