Joseph Hawley, Northampton’s Patriot
Talk by Philip Kantor
Courtesy of Forbes Library
Event Details
This is a virtual event.
Flex Space, 33 Hawley
Free for anyone with tickets for the Hull/Hawley Plays
In the years leading up to the American Revolution, Northampton’s Joseph Hawley III (1723-1788) was one of the most important Patriot voices in Massachusetts. A close associate of John Hancock and John Adams, Hawley was considered one of the nation’s “founding fathers,” yet today, few people know his story.
In this lecture, independent researcher Philip Kantor will describe Hawley’s life—from a childhood marked by his father’s suicide and his own bouts of depression to his work as a lawyer, town leader, and legislator. Kantor will delve into Hawley’s ideas about independence and the role he played in suppressing a counter-revolutionary movement that threatened the success of the American Revolution.
A brief Question & Answer, moderated by Harley Erdman, will follow.
Hawley is the focus of Hold These Truths, a new play by Northampton playwright Harley Erdman, and one of two dramas that will be performed in Historic Northampton’s Shepherd Barn (The Hull/Hawley Plays-September 17-October 4).
About Philip Kantor
Philip Kantor is a former attorney from Conway, Massachusetts and a trustee and past president of the Conway Historical Society. He has spent decades studying, writing, and speaking about the society and politics of the Revolutionary era.