Dr. Patrick T. J. Browne

Patrick Browne is a historian, writer, and Executive Director of the Plymouth Antiquarian Society. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Boston University, along with an M.A. in History and a B.A. in English from UMass Amherst. He formerly taught at Boston University and served as Executive Director of Pilgrim Hall Museum and the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society. Patrick is the author of two local history books and several scholarly articles. His award-winning dissertation examined civilian relief workers and Union veterans during the Civil War.

Particular areas of focus: The American Revolution in New England, the American Civil War, Relief workers in the Civil War, History of Boston, Massachusetts Maritime History, Abolitionist history

Books:

Duxbury…Past and Present, (Duxbury: Duxbury Rural and Historical Society, Inc., 2008). (New England Museum Association Publication Award Honorable Mention, 2008).

King Caesar of Duxbury: Exploring the World of Ezra Weston, Shipbuilder and Merchant, (Duxbury: Duxbury Rural and Historical Society, Inc., 2006). (Reviewed in Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Spring 2010, 159-161)

Journal articles/anthology chapter:

“’This Most Atrocious Crusade Against Personal Freedom,’: Anti-abolitionist Violence in Boston on the Eve of War,” New England Quarterly, March, 2021

“The Search for Duxbury’s First Burying Ground: Victorian Era Duxbury Discovers its Pilgrim Past,” in Duxbury, Our Pilgrim Story: A 2020 Perspective (Duxbury: Duxbury 2020, Inc., 2020)

“The Cultivation of the Higher Self: William Smith Clark and Agricultural Education,” Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Winter, 2008

“’To Defend Mr. Garrison’: William Cooper Nell and the Personal Politics of Antislavery,” New England Quarterly, September, 1997

Short pieces:

“’Continuing the Work,’ Boston Women and Aid to Civil War Veterans and Families,” The Beehive, the blog of the Massachusetts Historical Society, March 2020

“Vikings in Plymouth Bay before Pilgrims? A Historiographical Sketch of a Myth’s Evolution,” Mayflower Quarterly, September 2014

“Opening the Grave of Myles Standish…Thrice,” Mayflower Quarterly, September 2014

“Sarah Wingate Taylor: The Poet of Clark’s Island,” in The Duxbury Beach Book (Duxbury: Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc., 2007)

Personal Website: patricktjbrowne.com