Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy – author talk to take place May 22, 2025

Author Talk for BOUTWELL: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy

May 22, 2025   7:00 p.m.

In person at the Forbes House Museum

Author Jeffrey Boutwell will give an illuminating talk about George Boutwell’s life and work, and then be available for a book signing.

The youngest-ever Governor of Massachusetts, George Boutwell was an important figure in state and national politics for over six decades, from the 1830s to the early 1900s. As a member of Congress in the 1860s, he worked with Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant in fighting for racial equality and economic equity, helping to frame the 14th and 15th civil rights amendments. He then served as Treasury Secretary for President Grant and later opposed Teddy Roosevelt’s annexation of the Philippines following the 1898 Spanish-American War. In the early days of the Civil War, he worked closely with John Murray Forbes to provide troops and supplies to the Union Army. As one of the 19th century’s greatest champions of human rights, he has long been hiding in plain sight, but deserves to be remembered and celebrated.

Read about BOUTWELL in the Wall Street Journal, “A Man Ahead of His Times,” by Harold Holzer (2/11/2025)