Paul Revere Bell
On the Road Through October 2020
On Monday, August 19th, the DHSM’s Paul Revere bell started a journey for the first leg of a three-venue exhibition, Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere, opening September 6th at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. This will be the first time the bell has left the DHSM since the County Commissioners presented it to the Society in 1894.
The ground-breaking exhibition will look at Revere (1735–1818) in a new light. While his instrumental role in civic engagement and in the formation of the new nation will be presented, the exhibit will place his life in context with others of his time and as a multifaceted entrepreneurial artisan, innovator, and businessman.
DHSM bell fun facts: The bell was made in 1798 for the Norfolk County Courthouse in Dedham (designated the county seat in 1793) ● It is the only surviving object from the original wooden 1796 courthouse ● The bell weighs 224 lbs. and is the smallest of Revere’s surviving bells (the largest he cast weighed 2,943 lbs.) ● Revere was paid .45/pound ● Revere’s accounts list 994 bells, fewer than 140 are known to survive ● This bell is only one of twelve surviving from Revere’s Boston foundry (1792–1804; then moved Canton). ● It is one of twenty-three left from before Revere retired from the partnership with his son Joseph in 1811 (Revere was 76 years of age); Joseph continued casting bells in Canton until 1828.
Exhibition schedule: N-YHS, September 6, 2019–January 12, 2020 (click here for exhibition information); Worcester Art Museum, February 15–June 7, 2020 (click here for information); Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, July 4–October 11, 2020 (click here to learn more).
Click here to watch a video of the bell being professionally packed for transport to the N-YHS.