Boston to the Rescue: Robert B. Forbes & Irish Famine Relief
On April 12, 1847, Boston merchant Robert Bennet Forbes arrived in Ireland aboard the USS Jamestown. The ship carried more than 8,000 barrels of food and provisions to the island’s inhabitants at the height of the Great Famine. We will explore the history of early Irish immigration to Boston and the tensions that divided Catholic immigrants and Protestant New Englanders in the 1830s and 1840s. Despite their differences, private citizens and local organizations rallied to provide indispensable humanitarian aid to a nation in need.
This program is open to K-12 educators. Teachers can earn 22.5 PDPs and 1 graduate credit (for an additional fee).
Please email education@masshist.org or call 617-646-0557 for more information or to register.
Image: The USS Jamestown, by George M. Atkinson, Forbes House Museum.