The Bostonian Society was founded in 1881 (as The Antiquarian Club) from
Boston, Massachusetts to
Chicago, Illinois. Determined to save the historic building that was the site of the
Boston Massacre and the place for the proclamation of the
Declaration of Independence in Massachusetts, a group of citizens banded together to form "Boston's first successful
historic preservation movement". Stewardship of the Old State House—"one of the most important public buildings in
U.S. history" and the oldest surviving public building in Boston—became the society's primary purpose. The 18th-century building now stands above the
underground State Street MBTA Station in a busy area of Boston situated between
Downtown Crossing and
South Station. Materials in the collection date back to 1630s
Massachusetts Bay Colony and include 7,500
books, 350
maps, 30,000
photographs, and other
primary source materials.
Exhibits at the museum focus on the
American Revolution and the
American Revolutionary War, the
neighborhoods of Boston, and similar local themes. and ran a teacher training program called "Teaching Boston History Workshops", bringing together leading experts on various subjects, community-based organizations, teachers and museum educators, and the Society's "unequalled collections of
primary sources". On January 1, 2020, The Bostonian Society merged with the Old South Association in Boston to form
Revolutionary Spaces. The Bostonian Society formerly operated three
gift shops: one inside the Old State House, a shop in
Faneuil Hall and, close by, a shop at
Quincy Market. All three, plus a fourth in the Old South Meeting House, transitioned to management by Revolutionary Spaces. ==See also==