Joyce Malcolm Lecture at Bentley University, 4/24/09

The Historical Society and the Department of History at Bentley University invite you to join Joyce Malcolm (George Mason U.) for a discussion of her new book Peter’s War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution.

Friday, April 24, 3pm
Morrison Hall 300
Bentley University

This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments served.

An excerpt of the book can be found here.

Questions? Email cbeneke@bentley.edu

The Boston Globe interviewed Malcolm on Peter’s War:

We associate slavery so strongly with the Southern plantation that we forget its presence in Massachusetts. In "Peter's War: A New England Slave Boy and the American Revolution," former Bentley University historian Joyce Lee Malcolm tells the story of a 1 1/2-year-old "neagro servant boy" sold to a Lincoln couple in 1765. Apparently raised as a member of the family, Peter joined the Patriot army at age 12, and fought at the battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga, and Yorktown. He received his freedom in return for his service, took the last name of Sharon, and lived out his days in his hometown. Slavery was outlawed here by a court ruling in 1783. With little to go on besides the bill of sale, which she found in the Lincoln Public Library, Malcolm reconstructed Sharon's life against the drama of his times. She spoke by phone from Arlington, Va., where she teaches constitutional history at George Mason University School of Law. >>>read on