Roxbury Patriots’ Day

ROXBURY PATRIOT'S DAY

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024

FIRST CHURCH IN ROXBURY

JOHN ELIOT SQUARE (Intersection of Roxbury, Dudley and Centre Streets)

EVENTS OF THE DAY. All events are free.

8:15 AM | In Front of First Church

National Lancers’ William Dawes Re-enactment and Send-off

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Parish Hall 

• Free Breakfast Buffet provided by First Unitarian Newton Church
• Ralph Browne Unsung Hero Awards honoring Kathy Kottaridis and Joyce Stanley
• Warren I. Brown Memorial Scholarship Awards
• Historic Talk: Aabid Allibhai Patriots and Slavery
• Historic Talk: Mary-dith Tuitt Women Veterans

11:00 AM | In front of Dillaway-Thomas House

• Historic Trolley Tour of Roxbury  (Board at 10:45)
• Dillaway-Thomas House Tours

Patriots’ Day is the celebration of the first battle of the American Revolution. On April 18, 1775, three riders, Paul Revere

from Boston, William Dawes from Roxbury, and Samuel Prescott from Concord, rode to warn American colonists that the

British were marching from Boston and attempting to capture ammunition and cannons that were stored in Concord and

Lexington to fight against the British Crown. Patriots’ Day has been a holiday in Massachusetts since 1894 but changed to

the third Monday in April in the 1940s to coincide with the Boston Marathon. The Roxbury Collaborative has hosted the

Roxbury portion of the ride with the re-enactment of the William Dawes ride since 1992. The Collaborative is a coalition of

veterans, historic and community groups along with the First Church of Roxbury and individuals who love history.