WARREN — The Warren Historical Society will host Kristin Harris, of the Boston Tea Party Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 7 p.m., at the Dr. Campbell House and Museum, 225 Main Street. Harris will talk about Col. Benjamin Burton, a Boston Tea Party participant.

The Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum returns to Warren to give a talk about the 250th anniversary commemorations and programming, the historic Grave Marker Program, and the history of the Boston Tea Party. Benjamin Burton, one of Warren's own who was a coastal sailor born in Thomaston, would find himself in Boston on December 16, 1773, and wound up participating in an extraordinary act of defiance that forever changed the course of a nation.

“The Boston Tea Party, one of the single most important events leading up to the American Revolution is an event that is still steeped in mythos and speculation to this day, and there are many who claimed to have taken part in the act of rebellion that has become one of the most recognized symbols of protest and action in our history,” said Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, in a news release.

Kristin Harris will not only discuss the event itself, and its repercussions, but the process of research it took to list those who participated, as many who did swore an oath of secrecy to speak nothing of their involvement in the tea's destruction.

“This sometimes makes the research daunting, but the names of those who were there are important to the story of where we came from, and it is our duty to recognize the actions of those who risked a charge of treason to fight against perceived injustice,” said the Museum. “Most of the names that are discussed in association with the Boston Tea Party are those of well-known leaders such as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Dr. Joseph Warren, but the mission of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, through the various initiatives discussed, has always been to tell the little-known stories of the ordinary men who were on the ships destroying the East India Company Tea. It is ordinary citizens that have always been capable of making great change, and the Boston Tea Party continues to be an example of a people united in a common cause, that did an extraordinary thing. Benjamin Burton, who was one of those ordinary men, is more than worthy of our recognition, as are all who cried, ‘Boston Harbor, a teapot tonight!’ on that fateful night in 1773.

Kristin Harris is the Research Coordinator for the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, and is responsible for overseeing both the Boston Tea Party Participant Marker Program, and the Boston Tea Party Descendants Program. Harris has been with the museum for almost 7 years, working as an interpreter, Lead Actor, and Research Coordinator throughout her time there. Kristin holds an M.A. in American Studies from UMass Boston, and a B.A. in American Studies/Early American History from Penn State Abington. Her primary area of research has involved the study of death and popular culture, and how mourning practices and belief in the supernatural have shaped society throughout American history.

Harris has been working in public history for over a decade, and has worked with many historic sites, arts programs, and tour companies in Salem, Massachusetts, and consulted for the Peabody Essex Museum as a community consultant on sharing the history of the Salem Witch Trials.

In addition to her work with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Harris is also the consulting historian, and co-writer for an immersive theater company, Intramersive Media located in Salem which has been featured in the New York Times for their work in virtual game experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. When she isn't honing her craft in history, she loves spending time with her two cats, Minerva and Luna, and going on fall New England adventures with her husband.