I first visited the Adams National Historical Park as a kid, when I was obsessed with the presidents. (I was paid 10 cents per president for memorizing them in order, so it was a money-making venture.) My most recent trip was with my aunt and wife last summer. It was the first National Park I visited since I decided to visit every National Park, Monument, Lakeshore, and Historic Site in the country. This park celebrates two Presidents – our second President John Adams, and his son, our sixth President John Quincy Adams. It has been a while since I visited, but a recent binge watching of the mini-series about John Adams brought the park back to mind.
The Visitor Center
The other highlight of the visitor center was the store: Lots of Presidential and Revolutionary War stuff to buy. My aunt and wife looked through the books. I, however, really wanted the Presidential Pez. I restrained myself and I was debating buying the Join Or Die patch, when the trolley pulled up and it was time to start our tour.
The Tour
The trolley route goes through what is now an intensely urban area. It is hard to imagine the farms and forests that would have been here when the Adamses were alive. The first stop are two old homes that sit side by side – the birthplaces of John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The house where John Adams was born is very small, revealing the modest circumstances of the family. The second house (still small by today’s standards) is where John Adams had his law office, where he wrote the Massachusetts State Constitution, and where his son, the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams was born. It is also the house were Abigail held down the fort, managed the farm, gave birth, and corresponded with her husband while he was away in Philadelphia serving in the Continental Congress.
“This, kids, is how they made toast.”
The tour of the Birthplaces got into overly detailed description of household objects, including how the Adams family made toast. My wife says that these kind of descriptions are important, because they give a sense of how people lived back then, and most kids (and some adults) don’t even know how to function without a cell phone. She is right about that of course, but until recently I felt that devoting so much time to the stuff inside the houses detracts from learning about the character of the people living inside the house. Of course, at the Adams Houses, the person making the toast was Abigail Adams (or perhaps a paid servant). The Adams family were adamantly opposed to slavery, unlike Thomas Jefferson. At Monticello, enslaved people were serving meals, harvesting the food and making the toast. So household details do reveal the character of those living in the home. It comes down to who was doing the work.
The second stop on the tour is the House the elder Adamses moved into after John Adams’ term as President was completed. John Adams was bitter about his term, not speaking terms with his friend and successor, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson and Adams disagreed on the French Revolution, and there had been some dirty politics on the part of Jefferson that undermined Adams’s Presidency. During his retirement, Adams rekindled his friendship with Jefferson, and died in this house on the 50th anniversary of the 4th of July.
The highlight of this house (and the entire tour) was the Stone Library that houses 12,000 books and other documents owned by four generations of the Adams family. The building is covered in thick ivy, and the inside is stunning with beautiful dark wood. It looks how a library should look. I could sense that my librarian wife just wanted to step past the guide and explore. I did too.
On the library table, protected in an archival box, is the Mendi Bible given to John Quincy Adams by the freed captives who revolted on the slave ship La Amsted. John Quincy Adams represented the captives in the trial that won their release, and they gave him the Bible in gratitude. While I wanted to view the Bible, my wife says that books of such importance must be preserved. The Bible did come out of the box when Deval Patrick, the first African American governor of Massachusetts took his oath of office on the Mendi Bible. Another example of the objects within the homes can reveal the character of the inhabitants. No such Bible at Monticello.
The Tomb
Our final stop at the Adams National Historic Park came several months later. After the trolley took us back to the visitor center, we decided to skip the tombs of the Presidents and their wives, which are across the street at the United First Parish Church. Once we were back in the car, I regretted my decision. Fortunately, my wife and I got to see them when we volunteered for the Prison Book Program. The program is in the basement of the church, and one of the organizers gave us a personal tour of the crypt. I hadn’t remembered much from when I had gone to the Adams Houses when I was a kid, but I definitely remembered the crypt. Creepy and fascinating, and along with the library makes this a very fun National Park to visit.
To learn more about John Adams and John Quincy Adams, listen to Presidential, the Washington Post’s podcast.
John Adams’ book collection is not included in the family library and can be viewed at the Boston Public Library.
Benjamin Franklin – Join or Die
When I visited the crypt most recently, I saw a presidential wreath which had been sent by the White House. The docent explained that LBJ had begun sending wreaths to the burial places of presidents on their respective birthday each year. Subsequent presidents have continued this honor. There may be a wreath to be seen in July because John Quincy Adams was born July 11, 1767.
When we volunteered at the Prison Book Program, the volunteer showed us a photo album of the soldiers bringing the wreath in a big procession. We will have to go again in July.