This December 16, 2023, will mark the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, an historic event that forever changed the course of American history.  As students have returned to school across the United States, the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, a floating museum dedicated to accurately reliving and representing a key time in history (1773-1775) through actors, throwing tea crates overboard, high-tech interactive exhibits and authentic replica ships, is launching a NEW initiative for young scholars from across the nation to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. As of September 2023, and throughout the 2023-2024 school year, students are encouraged to express their personal thoughts and connections to this pivotal moment in time through creative writing projects, videography, or artistic design based on four major themes centered around the Boston Tea Party.

 

"The Boston Tea Party is the 'single most important event leading up to the American Revolution'," says Shawn Ford, Executive Director of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. He continues, "The 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party is an ideal opportunity to provide teachers a new creative platform for students to learn about this pivotal time in American History in an engaging way through various artistic mediums. We are hoping that as young scholars across the nation share their creative commemorations of the Boston Tea Party, that they will learn the courage of everyday people who rose-up and engaged in a revolution that changed the course of history."

Engaging Students Throughout the United States on the Boston Tea Party
As part of a new initiative during the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party's commemorative year, students across American are invited to express their personal thoughts and connections to the themes centered around the ideas of the Boston Tea Party -- Civic Engagement, Representation, Protest and Commemoration -- through creative writing projects (essays, poetry etc.), videography, or artistic design. The goal is to not only educate students on the iconic events that helped shape America, but also allow them to connect these ideals and relate to what they mean to them today.

• Civic Engagement - Meetings of the "Body of the People" were a central part of the Boston Tea Party. Town meetings can trace their roots to the earliest days of New England, where gatherings of citizens would openly debate and discuss matters of importance to their community. Decisions made at these town meetings would affect all members of the community. However, not all who lived in these communities were welcome and not all voices were heard or represented. Students are encouraged to participate in an act of civic engagement or civic service and communicate their experiences.
  
  
• Representation - One of the key concepts associated with the Boston Tea Party is the idea of representation in one's government. In the lead-up to the Destruction of the Tea, colonists were required to pay taxes without having a say in government policies. This "taxation without representation" led to non-importation efforts and protests, eventually culminating in the Boston Tea Party. Students are encouraged to share their thoughts on the meaning of representation in government and their personal connection to their government on a state or national level.
  
  
• Protest - The Boston Tea Party is one of the most well-known protests in world history. Throughout history, citizens have used protest as an agent of societal change in an effort to build a better community. Students are encouraged to express their thoughts and connections to the concept of "protest" and what it means to them in both a historical and contemporary sense.
  
  
• Commemoration - In the years immediately following the Destruction of the Tea, the event was not celebrated as significantly as it is today. In fact, the term "Boston Tea Party" was not published until 1826. This coincided with a revival of "revolutionary spirit" that swept across the country in the early 1800s as several Boston Tea Party participants began to tell stories of their involvement. As the centenary of Boston Tea Party approached in 1873, commemorations took place across the nation. Over many years, historical reenactments and commemorations have continued to feel a tangible connection to historic events. Students are encouraged to create their own commemoration of this iconic moment in history through artistic works, dioramas, creative essays, digital media, or video creation that conveys historical information related to the Boston Tea Party story.

Work submitted by each school/student will be featured in a special section on a website dedicated to the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party: www.BostonTeaParty250.org, and on dedicated social media channels: Instagram/Facebook: @bostonteaparty250; Twitter: @BOSTeaParty250.

How to Submit Student Work
All creative projects must be uploaded via: www.december16.org/celebrating-history-through-art. By submitting, each participant and/or school grants permission for student work to be posted to the website and social media channels associated with the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. Submissions are open throughout the 2023/2024 school year.

Boston will be in the spotlight in honoring this historic event for the remainder of 2023 and is leading the way as America begins to celebrate all major historic 250^th anniversaries leading up to 2026, the semiquincentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America.

Other Ways Students Can Participate in the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
A tea donation drive is currently underway where schools/students across the United States can participate by sending loose-leaf tea to Boston be thrown into Boston Harbor as part of the 250^th Boston Tea Party Anniversary reenactment. Send dried loose-leaf tea (NO used tea bags) to: Boston Tea Party 250th Anniversary, Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, 306 Congress St, Boston, MA 02210. Include name, address, e-mail & phone number. An official certificate of participation will be sent to each person donating tea. Deadline to send tea: December 1, 2023.

250^th Boston Tea Party Anniversary LIVE Reenactment - Saturday, December 16, 2023
The 250th anniversary year will culminate in a grand-scale, live reenactment of the Boston Tea Party on the actual anniversary of the Boston Tea Party - Saturday, December 16, 2023. Hundreds of reenactors will tell the story of the infamous Boston Tea Party and theatrically recreate the events of December 16, 1773 at historic Old South Meeting House and Faneuil Hall with a series of performances and programming, followed by a public procession to the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum where the Sons of Liberty will destroy loose tea, 250 pounds of tea sent to Boston from London's East India Company, in addition to tea sent in from citizens/students from around the country, into Boston's historic harbor.

ABOUT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY SHIPS & MUSEUM
The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, owned and operated by Historic Tours of America, is dedicated to accurately reliving and representing a key time in history (1773-1775) through actors, tea throwing reenactments, high-tech interactive exhibits, authentic replica ships: Beaver and Eleanor and an award-winning multisensory film, Let it Begin Here. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is open 7 day/week from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Summer/Spring) and from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (Fall/Winter). Tours run every 30 minutes in the fall/winter and every 15 minutes in the spring/summer and last 1 hr. Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum was voted #1 'Best Patriotic Attraction' in USA Today's '10Best Readers' Choice Awards 2016'; voted 'Best New Museum' in 2012 by Yankee magazine and 'Best of the New 2012' by Boston Globe Magazine. To learn more visit www.bostonteapartyship.com or call 1-855-(TEA)-1773. The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum is located at 306 Congress St. on the Congress St. Bridge, Boston, MA 02210, over the same body of water where The Boston Tea Party took place. 

ABOUT THE 250^th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY
Meet Boston, the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party Board of Advisors and Revolution 250, a consortium of organizations working together to commemorate the 250th anniversaries of the events that led to American Revolution, in conjunction with a multitude of organizations in Boston and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, are working together to create a series of commemorative programs throughout the entirety of 2023, culminating in a grand-scale, live reenactment celebrating the 250^th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party which will be taking place on Sat., December 16, 2023. Details of all 2023 programming and information on the major reenactment celebration, visit www.BostonTeaParty250.com. Instagram/Facebook: @bostonteaparty250; Twitter: @BOSTeaParty250.

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