A Community Reading of William Apess’s Eulogy on King Philip (Metacom)
Why is it that historic figures such as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and John Hancock are remembered as heroes, yet Metacom—the Wampanoag leader whom the English called King Philip—is virtually unknown? The year 2025 will mark the 350th anniversary of the devastating and bloody conflict between New England colonists and Indigenous people that is most commonly known to history as King Philip’s War. However, very little is known about his campaign to end English mistreatment and his fight for independence and property rights for his people. Throughout the 1830s, Willam Apess, a Pequot minister and activist, continued fighting for Indian rights.
Revolutionary Spaces is proud to celebrate the legacy of both Apess and Metacom at A Community Reading of William Apess's Eulogy on King Philip (Metacom), where we will commemorate the ideals for which they fought—ideals that were not so different from those that Americans fought for in 1775. Join Revolutionary Spaces and its partners, the Institute for New England Native American Studies (INENAS) at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Northeastern Humanities Center, on Friday, April 28 at Old South Meeting House as we bring together Native Americans in New England and the general public to examine a critical moment in colonial history.
Moderating the evening’s program will be J. Cedric Woods (Lumbee), Director of INENAS. Drew Lopenzina, Professor of Early American and Native American Literature at Old Dominion University, will provide historical context for the eulogy and the 19th-century events that informed Apess’ writing. Guest speakers will then read excerpts from the eulogy followed by a brief panel discussion to critically address the history of Native American conversion to Christianity, the significance of King Philip’s War, and the importance of Apess’ eulogy.
This program is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:00 pm and the reading will begin at 6:30 pm. A reception with light snacks and drinks will occur immediately following the program for audience members to connect and celebrate with the community.
Revolutionary Spaces and its partners would like to thank the following funders for their generous support of this program:
About the Participants
J. Cedric Woods, PhD is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Combining more than a decade of tribal government experience with a research background, he has served as the Director of INENAS since 2009. Woods is currently working on projects with tribes in the areas of tribal government capacity building, Indian education, economic development, and chronic disease prevention. Prior to arriving at UMass Boston, he completed a study on the evolution of tribal government among the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. While pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut, he served in a variety of capacities for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Woods has also served as a consultant for the National Museum of the American Indian, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Plimoth Plantation.
Drew Lopenzina is professor of Early American and Native American literature. His work has appeared in the journals American Literature, American Quarterly, Native American, and Indigenous Studies, and others. His first book Red Ink: Native Americans Picking up the Pen in the Colonial Period (SUNY Press 2012) offers a vital rethinking of indigenous engagements with literacy in America’s colonial milieu, suggesting just how much of what we think we know about colonial literature is based on misunderstanding Native contributions. His second book, Through an Indian's Looking-Glass (UMASS 2017) is a cultural biography of the nineteenth-century Pequot activist, minister, and author William Apess.
Elizabeth Solomon is an enrolled member of the Massachusett Tribe at Ponkapoag. Solomon speaks frequently about local indigenous issues and has a long-standing commitment to human rights, diversity, inclusion, and community building that she brings to both her paid and volunteer work. She currently works as the Director of Administration in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and has more than three decades of public health experience working in both university and community-based settings. She also serves on multiple advisory and management boards. Solomon recently completed a master’s degree in museum studies and she has a commitment to work with native communities and others that are currently underrepresented in museum exhibits and public history programs to assist them with bringing their voices and stories to the forefront.