i spent a lot of time at pilgrim hall. there are a lot of papers pertaining to plymouth at the massachusetts historical society up in boston. some correspondents of later plymouth colony figures, that was really fun to read. plymouth gets a lot of attention for the mayflower and the thanksgiving story. as i've suggested, it doesn't get as much attention for the intervening decades. you know, i found just tons of what i thought were great stories there. the controversy surrounding the quakers, i found that just fascinating. i didn't know a great deal about the early quakers and just how aggressive they were with their message and how obnoxious they sometimes were. i could hardly understand my people took umbrage. i found what i thought were just fascinating things about the 17th century i didn't understand. on occasion, you know, there were -- speaking of liberty, there were men who were idle or vagrants or low-level criminals who were sentenced to servitude and lost their actual liberty for a number of years. so there's ju

i'm the director of pilgrim hall museum and i would like to welcome you all here tonight for what is a grand occasion for all of us who love pilgrims, because we are, in essence, gathered to celebrate the first well-written, comprehensive narrative about plymouth colony in over 50 years. three key words. one, well written. as one would expect from natphil brick who has written a string of notable books, to "the heart of the sea" to "sea of glory". second, comprehensive, covering not just the voyage or the first few years or king phillip's war, all of which have recently been done, but in covering the entire story, allowing us, the readers, to enjoy the true benefit of history, which is the scope to follow consequences of actions through generations. and narrative, because what nat does best is to tell a story. an adventure story, but in many ways an unexpected adventure story. look at the cover. i, of course, love it because it's our painting, the mayflower on her arrival in plymouth harbor. but what i really love is that even though the book is entitled "the mayflower" this cover doe

it is a true pleasure to return to plymouth and particularly pilgrim hall. it has been a very interesting month and a half going around the country talking about the book but it really does seem like a homecoming to be in pilgrim hall but beside the painting. for me the thing about the painting is as it is on the cover, doesn't that look a lot like a will boats? for me it was a great continuity in books. like a lot of americans i first learned about the pilgrims in elementary school. i think it was third grade. it was thanksgiving time. it was time for the silver unit. the teacher divided us in half. half of us indians and half of us pilgrims. i wanted to be an indian but she made me a program. we learned about the story of how in 1620 the mayflower sailed across the ocean, came to cape cod and then plymouth harbor. came to the famous rock. they were greeted by the native americans and then a year later celebrated the first thanksgiving. that was pretty much all i would learn about the pilgrims throughout my education not only in high school but in college.

i'm the director of pilgrim hall museum and i would like to welcome you all here tonight for what is a grand occasion for all of us wh

. >> name is peggy baker, i'm the director of pilgrim hall museum and i would like to welcome you is aere tonight for one grand occasion for all of us who love pilgrims. because we are, in essence, gathered to celebrate the first comprehensive, narrative about plymouth colony in over 50 years. three keywords. one, well written as one would expect from philbrick, whose distinguished career has focused on americo's relationship with the sea and a string of notable books, from a way offshore to abram's eyes, to the heart of the sea.