Revolutionary Privateers at Sea Symposium: Newburyport and the Wider World

From Newburyport wharves, privateers surged into the Atlantic with a single mission: take the fight to British commerce. Armed with letters of marque, these privately owned vessels disrupted enemy supply lines, seized valuable cargo, and brought home provisions, weapons, and even captured vessels that could be refitted into more privateers to help keep the cause alive.

Privateering was a town-wide enterprise. Merchants financed voyages. Carpenters, ropemakers, and sailmakers outfitted vessels. Mariners signed on for a share of prize money. Women kept households, farms, and businesses running, and stocked stores with goods brought in as prizes. When captures returned to port, they could make fortunes. When privateers were lost, it meant tragedy and ruin.

As we mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, join us for a fast-paced, people-centered program that connects Newburyport to the wider Atlantic war and the astonishing records privateers left behind, from logbooks and diaries to prize papers and court documents.

Accessibility note
Due to ongoing work on the Firehouse Center for the Arts elevator, the theater is currently accessible only by stairs. If stairs are a barrier, please select the virtual attendance option, Content will be recorded and posted to our website shortly afterward as well.

SYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS
It all starts at 8 a.m.!
Settle in with coffee and light refreshments before opening remarks that frame Newburyport’s privateering story within a wider Atlantic war.

Session 1 (Keynote): Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
Eric Jay Dolin (author and historian) opens the day with a brisk, narrative keynote on how privateers—licensed entrepreneurs of war—made tangible strategic impact when the Continental Navy was small and overstretched. Dolin connects policy, profit, and peril to the lived experience of crews, investors, and coastal communities.

Session 2: “The Spirit of Privateering Prevails Here”: Essex County’s Revolutionary War at Sea
Emily Murphy, Ph.D. (Curator, Salem Maritime National Historical Park & Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site) brings Essex County’s wartime waterfront to life—who financed voyages, who shipped out, what came back as prize, and what disappeared at sea. Expect a grounded look at how privateering reshaped local markets, labor, and daily life ashore.

Session 3: Allies and Rivals at Sea: The Continental Navy and Massachusetts Privateers
Abby Schreiber, Ph.D. (Curator, National Museum of the United States Navy) explores the complicated relationship between official naval forces and private enterprise. Where did interests align—and where did they clash? This session follows shipbuilding priorities, supply chains, manpower, discipline, and prize expectations in a fast-moving revolutionary environment.

Midday Custom House Maritime Museum Visit + Lunch (included)
Enjoy lunch with vegan and gluten-free options, plus an integrated visit at the Custom House Maritime Museum that ties objects and archives to the day’s themes.

Session 4: Fast, Light, and Everywhere: New England Boatbuilding and the Geography of Privateering
Michael P. Dyer (former curator at Mystic Seaport Museum and the New Bedford Whaling Museum) shows how New England design, craftsmanship, and coastal knowledge made privateering possible at scale. From hull forms to rig choices, this session explains why certain vessels could strike quickly, evade pursuit, and thrive in Atlantic and coastal waters.

Session 5: Reading Betsey’s Log: Newburyport Privateer Records and the Adventures of Offin Boardman
A rare “close read” of a working maritime document—guided by both seamanship and scholarship. Graham McKay (Executive Director, Lowell’s Boat Shop; boatbuilder, educator, and experienced mariner) and Bethany Groff Dorau (Executive Director, Museum of Old Newbury) use the log of the Newburyport privateer Betsey (National Archives, London) to illuminate a little-known episode in the life of Offin Boardman and reveal what logbooks can tell us about risk, routine, and decision-making at sea.

Session 6: Prizes for All: Finding Newburyport and Neighbors in the Prize Papers, 1776–1783
Amanda Bevan, Ph.D. (Head, Prize Papers Project, The National Archives, UK) takes you inside one of the richest surviving archives of maritime war: captured letters, cargo lists, ship papers, and personal belongings preserved by admiralty courts. Learn how the Prize Papers are being cataloged and opened to researchers—and how Newburyport connections surface in surprising ways across the collection.

Closing remarks
A short wrap-up tying the day’s threads together—archives, vessels, people, and the wider world that Newburyport’s privateers sailed into.

AFTER-SESSION FIELD-TRIPS (ticketed separately)

All field trips run at 4:30 p.m. Please choose ONE.
$10 each | Limited capacity (noted below)

1: Revolutionary Resting Places — Old Hill & Highland Cemetery Tour
Guide: Ghlee Woodworth | Capacity: 25 | Meet: Greenleaf Street gate
Read Newburyport’s Revolution in stone. Meet privateers, patrons, widows, and war-era leaders through symbols, epitaphs, and the stories behind the graves.

2: Streets of the Privateering Port — Walking Tour
Capacity: 25 | Meet: In front of the Firehouse Center for the Arts
A fast-paced walk through the places where privateering was financed, outfitted, celebrated, and mourned—connecting buildings, waterfront, and people.

3: Merchants, Mansions & Prize Money — Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm Tour
Capacity: 15 | Meet: 5 Little’s Lane, Newbury (brick porch)
Step into the world of Nathaniel Tracy and Offin Boardman. See how prizes built fortunes, fueled ambition, and left lasting marks on land and legacy.

4: Build the Revolution — Lowell’s Boat Shop + Bantry Bay Gig
Capacity: 20 | Meet: 459 Main St., Amesbury
Visit a living boat shop and get up close to an 18th-century-style gig under construction. Tools, timber, technique—and why traditional boatbuilding still matters.