At 2 o’clock this coming Sunday afternoon (March 15), the Dorchester Historical Society’s historic William Clapp House at 195 Boston St will echo the words of someone who had intimate ties to the times of George III’s reign, the Revolution, and the 50 years following that epic event: Middie Clapp Baker (1749-1836), a member of two prominent families from the town of Dorchester’s earliest colonial days.
Speaking for her will be Karen McNutt, a lifelong resident of Dorchester and a member of its Historical Society.
The presentation “is not really an impression; it’s almost like a stream of consciousness theater,” McNutt said in an interview with The Reporter. “I put myself into the character unscripted and just talk to the folks in the audience as if they were sitting at my kitchen table, and we were having a conversation. It’s been very well received. It comes across as very real and very sincere.”
The society’s event is meant to celebrate Evacuation Day, which commemorates the British army’s retreat from Boston in March 1776.
“I am going to introduce myself [as Middie] and talk about what things were like when I was a girl and how they are different now, now being 1825, and what I remember of what it was like,” said McNutt.
“It has to start with the tail ends of Concord and Lexington because that sets the mood for what later happened in the siege of Boston.”
As she shares Middie’s memories of people, places, and events of the second half of the 18th century and the first quarter of the 19th, McNutt will highlight what was happening in Dorchester, including the fortification of Dorchester Heights.
“I will make some comments about the changes in Dorchester at the time of the Revolution and between then and 1825. That will easily let people imagine what Dorchester would have been like and how it’s changed,” said McNutt. “What it would be like living at that time, the sights and sounds and smells, the fears, expectations.”
She noted that at the time, Dorchester was rural, hilly, and full of marshland.
“A lot of nice panoramic views. Today, those same panoramic views would simply show you a line of three-deckers,” she joked.
When asked why people should attend the event, McNutt said the history of the Patriot-driven evacuation is not only interesting but it’s also “probably the most important thing that ever happened in Dorchester.
“Folks put their heart and soul into it. They helped screen the military operations to fortify the heights; everybody helped, the whole community. It’s interesting for folks who live here to understand these events didn’t happen somewhere else. I would assume some people who live in Dorchester don’t have a clue that important events happened in Dorchester during the American Revolution.”
For more event details, visit dorchesterhistoricalsociety.org.
