SLIS Tavern Night

Posted June 17, 2019 by Katie Carlson

Our amazing end of the year event for SLIS took place at a Tavern Night hosted at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum! Each one of the actors stayed so perfectly in character that when Paul Revere told me to follow him for the “baby shower,” I was frazzled and felt the need to clarify that we were library students here for a tavern night! It quickly became apparent that the “shower” was just a cover for our booze-filled gathering, which was illegal by 1773 standards.

I rubbed elbows with John Hancock and his Aunt Lydia, Dorothy Quincy, Samuel Adams, and several other relevant Bostonians. Each actor was believably living in 1773, and kept throwing various “easter eggs” that were particularly funny if you’re well versed in history! I grew up attending Renaissance Fairs, was a “theatre kid” in high school, minored in Art History in college, and have two history-loving parents, so this was quite my cup of tea (pun intended)! As a budding information professional I was ALSO very impressed that the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum’s website featured an extensive reference page! We love citing sources!

For the tavern night, I was sat at Dorothy Quincy’s table! I might be a bit biased, but I’m convinced she was the best of the lot. I am a firm believer that you get back what you put in, so I was pepperring Dorothy with questions about her family, gown, and political leanings, as well as her relationship with John Hancock! Two fun interactions: I wear a ring from my alma mater Mount Holyoke, and was able to play our founder Mary Lyon, upon Dorothy seeing the date on the ring and exclaiming that I must be planning to FOUND a school in 1837, as it was 64 years in the future. In a much more contemporary vein, I could barely contain my laughter as I tried to explain the TV show “The Bachelorette” to Dorothy Quincy and John Hancock as if it were a series of ads in the local newspaper. Overall the night was not only hilarious, but also an excellent exercise in history, communication, and out of the box thinking.

Dinner was delicious and I definitely enjoyed the “delicate selection of fruits,” and the “roasted sweet meat of swine.” I snagged a picture of the beautifully displayed “rosemary roasted chicken’s legs.” Everything felt so fancy! I also can’t complain about the open bar, which allowed me to sample “grog,” and old fashioned Dark and Stormy drinks!

Other activities for the night included singing tons of 1773-esque songs, as well as learning a line dance of sorts! You can tell we’re a fun crowd because everyone grabbed a partner and was up on their feet.

We ended the night with another one of my favorite activities: a word game! The tavern night concludes with a red coat getting extremely drunk. Our task as word conessieurs was to string together phrases to describe just how intoxicated the red coat was.

It truly was a night full of drinking, giggling, and merriment! The tavern night was just what I needed to close out the semester, celebrate being halfway through my SLIS courses, and gear up for summer.