Daily Bread: Food and Spirituality in Early Boston

Bring your lunch - and be transported through time!

The physical hardships of creating the Massachusetts Bay Colony were extreme, especially for unprepared English colonists, most of whom were urban.

Hunger and starvation were everywhere, and in this crucible of suffering, the colony was transformed: Massachusetts became a place where people deliberately went to be transformed by a powerful combination of physical suffering and pure religion.  Who needs meat when Communion provides the bread of life?

Massachusetts' religious ecstasy also created a radical political identity; the former faded away as the 17th century drew to a close, but the latter grew stronger as the 18th century progressed.

Dr. Lori Stokes describes the founding decades of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the early relationship between church and state that would shape Massachusetts and American history for centuries to come.Dr. Stokes is a member of The Church Records Transcription Project, a digital history project of the Congregational Library & Archives in Boston led by scholar Dr. James F. Cooper.

A partnership with the Congregational Library “History Matters” series.

Please RSVP directly to the Congregational Library as space is extremely limited,  The registration link is: http://www.congregationallibrary.org/events/hms-daily-bread

About Boston Charter Day:

Each year, The Partnership of the Historic Bostons commemorates the naming of Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown on September 7, 1630 and holds a series of free events to teach the public about early days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.  The theme for 2015 is Food and Drink in 17th Century Boston.  For a full list of all the events please visit http://www.historicbostons.org/whatwedo/schedulebcd2015.html