POSTPONED due to Coronavirus
Tickets: $20 | $10 Student
Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the remarkable story of America’s first humanitarian mission
The remarkable story of the mission that inspired a nation to donate massive relief to Ireland during the potato famine and began America’s tradition of providing humanitarian aid around the world.
More than 5,000 ships left Ireland during the great potato famine in the late 1840s, transporting the starving and the destitute away from their stricken homeland. The first vessel to sail in the other direction, to help the millions unable to escape, was the USS Jamestown, a converted warship, which left Boston in March 1847 loaded with precious food for Ireland.
In an unprecedented move by Congress, the warship had been placed in civilian hands, stripped of its guns, and committed to the peaceful delivery of food, clothing, and supplies in a mission that would launch America’s first full-blown humanitarian relief effort.
Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and the crew of the USS Jamestown embarked on a voyage that began a massive eighteen-month demonstration of soaring goodwill against the backdrop of unfathomable despair—one nation’s struggle to survive, and another’s effort to provide a lifeline. The Jamestown mission captured hearts and minds on both sides of the Atlantic, of the wealthy and the hardscrabble poor, of poets and politicians. Forbes’ undertaking inspired a nationwide outpouring of relief that was unprecedented in size and scope, the first instance of an entire nation extending a hand to a foreign neighbor for purely humanitarian reasons. It showed the world that national generosity and brotherhood were not signs of weakness, but displays of quiet strength and moral certitude.
In Voyage of Mercy, Stephen Puleo tells the incredible story of the famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief efforts, and established the United States as the leader in international aid. The USS Jamestown’s heroic voyage showed how the ramifications of a single decision can be measured not in days, but in decades.
About Stephen Puleo
Stephen Puleo is an author, historian, teacher, public speaker, and communications professional. He has written six narrative nonfiction books and has a seventh on the way (spring 2020 scheduled publication date). His published works are:
American Treasures: The Secret Efforts to Save the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address (2016)
The Caning: The Assault That Drove America to Civil War (2012)
A City So Grand: The Rise of an American Metropolis, Boston 1850-1900 (2010)
The Boston Italians: A Story of Pride, Perseverance and Paesani, from the Years of the Great Immigration to the Present Day (2007)
Due to Enemy Action: The True World War II Story of the USS Eagle 56 (2005)
Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (2003)
All of his books have been Boston regional bestsellers and have received national recognition. Steve’s books have been reviewed favorably by the New Yorker, the Boston Globe, the New York Post, Parade magazine, The National Review, Forbes.com, C-SPAN, the Associated Press, the Portland Press Herald, the Providence Journal, the Denver Post, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, and many more.
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Tickets: $20 | $10 Student
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Thank you to the following event sponsors:
HUB International
US Wealth Management
