E-Books →First Martyr of Liberty Crispus Attucks in American Memory

This book traces Attucks's career through both history and myth to understand how his public memory has been constructed through commemorations and monuments; institutions and organizations bearing his name; juvenile biographies; works of poetry, drama, and visual arts; popular and academic histories; and school textbooks. There will likely never be a definitive biography of Crispus Attucks since so little evidence exists about the man's actual life. While what can and cannot be known about Attucks is addressed here, the focus is on how he has been remembered-variously as either a hero or a villain-and why at times he has been forgotten by different groups and individuals from the eighteenth century to the present day.