#  Harvard Library: YouTube Shorts with Librarians 

 





October 29, 2026

 

 

[A New Nation: A Plan of Boston](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hov3Eu6v_8&t=5s)

Molly Taylor-Polesky, Map Librarian of the Harvard Map Collection, explores A Plan of Boston and its Environs, a Revolutionary-era map drawn in October 1775 by British lieutenant Richard Williams while he was stationed in Boston. The map captures a pivotal moment in the early American Revolution, showing a city almost completely surrounded by water, connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, and transformed by military occupation. Through Williams’s labels and design choices, the map also reveals a British perspective on the conflict, distinguishing between fortifications built by “his majesty’s troops” and those “thrown up by the rebels.” The map is featured in War of Words, an exhibition at Houghton Library exploring the printed materials that shaped the American Revolution. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Learn more at library.harvard.edu/exhibits/war-words.

[A New Nation: The Declaration of Independence](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNowPtxWeoY&pp=ygUUYSBuZXcgbmF0aW9uIGhhcnZhcmQ%3D)  
  
John Overholt, Curator of the Donald and Mary Hyde Collection of Dr. Samuel Johnson and Early Books and Manuscripts, explores one of the rare surviving copies of the Dunlap broadside, the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. Held in Harvard's Houghton Library collection, this remarkable document offers a direct connection to the moment American independence was announced to the world. The broadside is featured in War of Words, an exhibition opening at Houghton Library on May 18 exploring the printed materials that shaped the American Revolution. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Learn more at library.harvard.edu/exhibits/war-words.

[A New Nation: The Washington Elm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGb55NTN57E)

Molly Schwartzburg, Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts at Houghton Library, explores an unusual object in Harvard's collection: a "blook," a book-shaped object made from wood of the Washington Elm. The elm stood on Cambridge Common, just steps from Harvard Yard, and is believed to be the tree under which George Washington took command of the Continental Army on July 3, 1775. When the elm died in 1923, pieces were distributed across the country and around the world as symbolic remnants of that founding moment. The Washington Elm is featured in War of Words, an exhibition opening at Houghton Library on May 18 exploring the printed materials that shaped the American Revolution. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Learn more at library.harvard.edu/exhibits/war-words.

[A New Nation: The Bloody Massacre](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nCDRUdwXZE)

John Overholt, Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at Harvard’s Houghton Library, explores Paul Revere’s The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, one of the most influential and provocative images of the years leading up to the American Revolution. Produced just three weeks after British soldiers shot and killed five Bostonians on March 5, 1770, the engraving helped shape how the event was understood throughout the colonies. Though best remembered for his midnight ride, Revere was also a skilled metalworker, printer, and engraver. His depiction of the Boston Massacre circulated widely and transformed a violent confrontation into a powerful political image that helped build support for the revolutionary cause. The engraving is featured in War of Words, an exhibition at Houghton Library exploring the printed materials that shaped the American Revolution. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Learn more at library.harvard.edu/exhibits/war-words.



 

 

 



 

 

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