Portland, Maine 04101 United States
5:00 PM-8:00 PM
Join us for an unforgettable evening with two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Alan Taylor. Taylor, a Maine native and one of our nation’s leading historians, is featured throughout Ken Burns’ popular documentary, The American Revolution.
Alan Taylor’s live Portland program on May 20th begins with a lecture at First Parish Church, exploring the challenging experience of a Continental Army soldier through the story of Joseph Plumb Martin of Connecticut. Enlisting at just 15, Martin served nearly the entire war, witnessing Valley Forge, Yorktown, and countless hardships with wit and unflinching honesty. His remarkable 1830 memoir remains one of the most vivid firsthand accounts of the Revolution.
Following the lecture, Taylor will join Steve Bromage, Executive Director of Maine Historical Society, for a conversation about Maine’s role in the Revolution, Taylor’s Maine roots, and his participation in The American Revolution.
Stay with us after the program for a reception at Maine Historical Society featuring light refreshments and the opportunity to explore MHS’s 2026 signature exhibition, Pathways to Freedom: Maine Stories of the American Revolution, including a rare viewing of our copy of the Dunlap Broadside of the Declaration of Independence.