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Revere's Ride and Longfellow's Legend
January 29-June 26, 2005
The exhibition, "Revere's Ride and Longfellow's Legend" examined artistic depictions of Paul Revere, a legendary symbol of American heroism and patriotism. It included works by such well-known artists and illustrators as Leonard Everett Fisher, William Robinson Leigh, Charles Santore, Harold Von Schmidt, Lynd Ward, and N.C. Wyeth. The exhibition was organized by the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
On the evening of April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren commissiioned Paul Revere and William Dawes to travel from Boston to Concord to warn patriot leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock that British troops planned to arrest them and to confiscate a cache of munitions. Revere and Dawes were stopped by the British in Lexington, but a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott, whom they met along the way, managed to reach Concord with the message.
Eighty-five years later, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" singled out Revere as the catalyst for the American Revolution and brought national attention to the event. He recreated Revere as a solitary hero who waited alone for the lantern signal from the Old North Church, rowed across the Charles River, and shouted his warning throughout the countryside from Charlestown to Concord.
"Paul Revere's Ride" remains among Longfellow's best-known works. Perhaps because the poem is frequently read and discussed in schools in an historical context, many Americans believe that the poem is a truthful account of events. Historians have long endeavored to correct this general perception, and many have sought to present a broader, more accurate picture of Revere.
Works created by artists and illustrators have played a significant role in the popular understanding of Revere and his role in the American Revolution. Many images capture the eloquence and symbolic nature of Longfellow's poem. Illustrations published in the 1870's in Harpers Weekly and Harper's Magazine dramatize Revere as a princely figure whose message elicits indignation toward and resistance to British rule. Works from the late 1800s and 1900s, such as those by N.C. Wyeth, Howard Smith, and William Robinson Leigh, show Revere as an average man whose noble conscience drives him to react with courage and patriotism. Thomas Edison's very early silent motion picture, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," staunchly honors Longfellow's version of the man. Images created by later artists Leonard Everett Fisheer and Charles Santore depict idealized views of Revere. Modern cartoons both celebrate and lampoon Revere, while postcards, sheet music and advertising materials capitalize on Revere's popularity.
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