It’s April 19, 1775. The men are on the battleground fighting, an occurrence that most history classes cover. Behind the scenes is something often overlooked – the Munroe women who prepared food, cared for the children, milked cows and so much more. On June 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., these women’s lives will be unearthed at a new exhibit at Munroe Tavern, Through the Tavern Door: The Munroe Women of Lexington to highlight their stories.
The idea for the exhibit was conceived by Jesse Hilton, the curator at Lexington History Museums, about four years ago. It started when Hilton came across a story about Anna Smith Munroe and her experience of the day the American Revolution began. On that historic April morning, Anna woke up to find that her husband, William Munroe, had left. She was upset, so she decided to make bread. She was crying as she was kneading the bread, and — so the story goes — her tears fell into the bread. Later that day, Munroe Tavern ended up becoming a field hospital for the British on their retreat back toward Boston from North Bridge in Concord. Thus, she had to flee with her three young children. When she returned, the bread she made was gone – it was said that the British “ate her tears.”
Hilton said the story resonated with her, and she decided to look further into the family’s story, specifically with the women involved.
“A lot of women and other people have been overlooked in history, unfortunately. And it’s not to say what’s being told is not important, because it is, but let’s build on that, and let’s be excited about all those great new things and discoveries that we can build off of the current narrative, and just make it more inclusive,” Sarah McDonough, the program manager at Lexington History Museums, said.
The exhibit begins with Anna’s role in talks leading up to April 19, 1775. We learn about George Washington’s visit to the tavern in 1789 — by that time, Anna had passed and William had married Polly Cummings Rogers Munroe, whose life is also featured. Women’s stories were handed down through the generations, from Anna to her daughter, Anna Munroe II, and on to her daughter, Laura Muzzey Brigham, whose lives are all woven into the exhibit.
“It’s been really, really cool to get to know them, but also this idea of how women in the revolution really passed on a lot of these stories,” Hilton said.
Though Lexington celebrated the 250th anniversary of the famous battle a year ago, Hilton said it is important that the exhibit will be around during the national America250 celebrations, keeping the spirit going.
The women’s perspectives help bring more context to the history, allowing historians to grasp the whole picture, McDonough said.
“It’s really cool that we have those stories that we can pass along, that it wasn’t just about the 80 guys who stood on the green, that it was sort of an entire town was involved in the revolution, and it’s often the wives and daughters that actually get this stuff preserved in the first place and ensure that we can see those things today,” Hilton said.
Community members can expect to see artifacts such as Anna’s shoes with turquoise floral stitching, Polly’s wedding shoes, a photo of Laura displayed publicly for the first time, Anna and William’s wedding ring and a ring with a lock of hair from Sally Munroe, another one of Anna’s daughters.
Displaying these artifacts enhances human connection, Hilton said.
“It seems there’s something to be said about seeing an object and tying it to a human story. It just gives it more power,” McDonough said.
“There’s a lot of emotion there too, and I hope people see that in the text, and maybe it resonates with somebody, but I think that’s important, that human emotion, and that we’re not too far away from that,” Hilton said. “We all know what that feels like. We’ve all been there.”
Both Hilton and McDonough said the importance of this exhibit is highlighting women’s stories and their impacts.
“Yes, none of these people [Munroe women] were on the front lines, but their histories, their stories are so invaluable to the community. They were all fully important members of the community, even if they don’t end up in your eighth grade history book,” McDonough said. “You don’t need to fight in a war to be preserved in a museum. Everyone in Lexington has something to say, and something important that future generations can learn from.”