Join us for an online talk on Thursday, October 15th, 2026 at 7 p.m - with historian and author Brooke Barbier.

Eighteenth-century Americans consumed a staggering amount of alcohol compared to us today. Drink influenced their politics, built and sustained their relationships, and drove the economy. Booze was not a small part of colonial society, nor covertly consumed in private spaces—it was integral to American life. When the colonists rebelled against the British Empire, this culture of drink and taverns helped foster revolution.

Join historian Brooke Barbier on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 7 p.m. for a lively ZOOM talk about the influence of tavern and drinking culture on the American Revolution, particularly in Massachusetts. You’ll hear about the way alcohol influenced colonial resistance, soldiers on both sides of the war, and the creation of a new nation. You'll see famous founders and lesser-known Patriots drink their way from British subjects into Americans.

Brooke Barbier is a public historian who received her PhD in American history from Boston College, researching Boston’s social and cultural life during and after the American Revolution. While earning her graduate degree, she taught history at Boston College and Stonehill College.