The Dickinson press., 1906-03-17
SAVING "OLD SOUTH"
Tho Debt Which the United States
Owes t. Mrs. Hemenway.

Owes to Mrs. Hemenvay.
The ground on which the Old South
meeting house in Boston stands was
the dwelling place of Governor Win.
throp. Benjamin Franklin was bap.
tized in this meeting house. The voices
Of Adams and Hancock and Warren
and Washington have been heard with.
in its walls. You will see back of the
pulpit platform and below the quaint
old sounding board the very window
through which General Joseph Warren
came to deliver his famous grafton on
the anniversary Of the Boston massa-
ere, because the crowd in and around
the church was so great he could not
enter by the door.
In this church were held some. Of the
great meetings leading up to the ia
nous Boston tea party" Indeed, ii
was from this sanctuary of freedom"
as it has been called, that the band Of
men disguised as Indians started for
the wharf to board the ships and throw
overheard the. taxed tea.
Did you ever hear the story Of how
the Old South was "saved" Rever-
ence for historic landmarks did not run
so high years ago as it does today, and
in our centennial year Of 1876 it was
proposed to sell the Old South simply
for the value Of it's bricks and timbers
and tear it down that a modern bust
ness block might be built on it's site.
Indeed, it was sold-"knocked down.
at auction to a bidder for the meager
sum of $1,315!
Suddenly a wave Of patriotic feeling
swept over the city of Boston. The
papers and some of the people began
to protest against the tearing down of
the old sanctuary Of freedom and a
movement was set on foot to raise
funds to buy the church from its. pur:
chaser and to buy also the ground on
which it stood. This good plan. might
never, have succeeded had it not been
for one noble and loyal woman in Bos.
ton; Mrs. Mary Hemenway, Of hal
lowed memory. When the difficulty of
securing funds for the purchase Of the
old meeting house became known to
her she came forward with a gift Of
100000, and thus the old meeting
house was saved to stand as an object
lesson to the children Of future gener.
atoms.
Having given such a large sum to
help save the Old South meeting house,
Mrs. Hemenway felt that it should be
something more than a mere silent
monument. She determined that it
should be a real, living force in our
country, and particularly to the chill
dren Of Boston. She determined that
1t should renew and increase it's fame
as a temple Of freedom and that its sa-
cred walls should again echo and re-
echo to the sound Of patriotic utter
ances and that some of these utter
ace should come from the lips Of the
boys and girls of Boston. and: thus the
Old South lecture course and the Old
South prizes were established. Each
year a prize of $40 and another of $25
are given to the graduates of the Bos-
ton high schools who write the best es-
says on historic or patriotic topics. The
committee having this work in charge
announce the subjects in June, just be-
fore the schools close, and the competi-
tors must submit their essays the fol-
lowing January. Then on Washing
toms birthday there is a patriotic gath
ering of the school children of Boston
IN the old meeting house, and the
names of the prize winners are an
nounced.-St. Nicholas.