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Revolutionary museum honors December's Tea Party
Dec. 26,
2012 |
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The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is an interactive, multi-media adventure for the whole family.
Reminder Publications photo by Katelyn Gendron
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By Katelyn Gendron
katelyn@thereminder.com
BOSTON — Sometimes a perfectly good box of tea needs to be thrown overboard. At least that's what colonists thought in December 1773 and it's not such a bad idea for those interested in learning about our nation's history at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.
This museum, which was extensively renovated and re-opened in June after lying dormant for 11 years, is a guided, interactive, multi-media experience for adults and children alike. The tour takes participants through the events of Dec. 16, 1773, from the recreation of the debate at Old South Meeting House to the destruction of the tea to interactions with our nation's founders, including Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
The 60-minute tour begins in the museum's Old South Meeting House as Adams and museumgoers have a lively debate over the Tea Act of 1773 and what to do about three ships — the Beaver, the Dartmouth and the Eleanor — docked in Boston Harbor each carrying tea chests from the East India Trading Company.
Having decided that the tea should be destroyed, the tour moves outdoors to full-scale recreations of the ships. Once aboard, museumgoers throw the cargo overboard in a very animated celebration. The actors working the tour are certainly lively, which helps to get even some of the shyer participants involved in the action.
Now that the tea has begun to steep in the harbor, the tour moves back indoors to several multi-media rooms. The first room features a 3-D holographic video of a conversation between two female colonists, which details the socioeconomic disparity between those loyal to King George and the British Crown and the colonists who chose to participate in the Tea Party. The holographic technology is so lifelike you're unsure if you're viewing two live actors or a video of some kind.
The next rooms are by far the most sensational because not only do they provide participants with additional video entertainment and education but also the opportunity to view one of two surviving tea chests. The Robinson Half Chest was kept in the Robinson family for more than two centuries after colonist John Robinson found the chest washed ashore.
The best part of the room is when King George III surprises you by coming to life from what you thought was just a wall painting. The holographic technology allows the king to speak of his distaste for the events of Dec. 16, 1773.
The final portion of the experience brings museumgoers into the Minuteman Theatre for the short film, "Let it Begin Here," which tells in graphic detail, the events leading up to the American Revolution.
The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is truly a museum for the 21st century that has the ability to capture the attention of both adults and children, many of whom have become so accustomed to today's technologies that they may otherwise be bored by other museums' static displays of artifacts in glass cases.
Tickets to the museum, which is located on the Congress Street Bridge, are $25 for adults, $22 for students, seniors and military, and $15 for children. Those who buy tickets online will save $1.50 to $2.50 per ticket. Massachusetts residents with Hometown Pass have the option to buy one ticket and get a second for free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Sunday with tours beginning every 30 minutes. Additional information about the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum may be obtained by visiting its website, which is located at www.bostonteapartyship.com.
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