Series and Episode Descriptions
The Black Patriots of Lexington is a nine-part series where Sean D. Osborne has conversations with acclaimed historians, reenactors and educators to provide insights into 11 Black patriots who played significant roles in the American Revolution. Five of those patriots were active combatants on April 19, 1775. Three of those soldiers were Lexington residents and two were Afro-Indigenous soldiers from Natick who fired on retreating British Regulars near the Lexington Green.
Episode 1 | Cate and Prince Chester
Public historian Margaret Micholet and master weaver Michelle Parish explore the often overlooked role of Black men and women, like the husband and wife team of Cate and Prince Chester, in the production of domestic linen. Domestic linen was favored by the Reverend Jonas Clarke and other colonists who were boycotting British goods in response to the Stamp Act of 1765.
Revolutionary War reenactor Charles Price offers a riveting account of the life of Prince Estabrook, a combatant during the Battle of Lexington, the first armed conflict of the Revolutionary War. Discover if Prince Estabrook or his enslaver Benjamin Estabrook is paid for his three year enlistments in the Continental Army.
Professor Zine Magubane and historical reenactor Emmett Bell-Sykes on the compelling story of Eli Burdoo a third generation freeborn Lexington resident who becomes an indentured orphan and then as a member of the Lexington militia a combatant on April 19, 1775.
Professor Zine Magubane and curator Stacey Fraser on Silas Burdoo the third generation freeborn Lexington resident who reportedly becomes the most wealthy of the Black veterans who fought on April 19, 1775.
Episode 5 | Caesar and John Ferrit
Professor Zine Magubane explores the life of yeoman Caesar Ferrit and his son John who while responding to the Lexington Alarm, along with other members of the Natick Militia, become the first Indigenous people known to have fired upon the retreating British Regulars on April 19, 1775.
Public historian Margaret Micholet and curator Stacey Fraser present the unique viewpoint of Venus Roe who was an enslaved servant at the home of Captain James Reed of Woburn District (now Burlington). On April 19, 1775 the Reed home sheltered John Hancock and Samuel Adams and served as a temporary prison for up to twelve British Regulars.
Historian William Poole on the life of Pompey Fiske who went from an enslaved witness of the intense fighting at Fiske Farm on April 19, 1775 to a soldier in the Continental Army.
Historian William Poole shares the amazing life of Adam Tidd and his journey from being an enslaved servant of Lt. William Tidd of Captain Parker’s Company to a soldier in the Continental Army and later the father of a renowned Boston musician.
Professor Robert Bellinger on the life of Lexington boarder Pomp Blackman who befriended Amos Fortune of Woburn, served in the Continental Army, and amassed a small fortune.
The series is a co-production of ABCL, Tricons 2 Red Tails and LexMedia.
Available to view at LexMedia on Demand