Father Anonymous tells the story of America’s forgotten founder Dr. Joseph Warren and his more famous friends, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere. Opening on the day of the Boston Massacre (1770), it closes with Joseph’s martyrdom at Bunker Hill (1775). With some laughs and tears and lots of good history, Father Anonymous dramatically rescues from obscurity America’s Forgotten Founder and the principles for which he stood – and fell. Although John Hancock’s signature has stood the test of time, for almost a century Paul Revere languished, mostly forgotten, until Longfellow’s poem brought his midnight ride to the forefront of American consciousness. Sam Adams brew is on the lips of the People across America. George Washington, of course, has always been the Great American Icon, while his deputy, Alexander Hamilton, now gets celebrated center stage eight times a week. On this 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, it’s about time to restore our Nation’s martyred Founder, Dr. Joseph Warren, who sent Paul on his famous ride and for two months commanded America’s armed struggle – until he died at Bunker Hill and Washington replaced him.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a podcast from WR. Now more of the
WR Saturday Morning Show and Larry Minte. Welcome back. Two
hundred and fifty years ago, doctor Joseph Warren died a
hero at Bunker Hill, but history has forgot all about him.
Now there is a new off Broadway play that brings
(00:21):
him back to life. Playwright and historian Robert Blecker, Professor,
thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Thanks so much for having me, Laric.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Let's talk about Father Anonymous. First, let's talk about the
significance of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.
We all know about Lexington and conquered on April eighteenth
and nineteenth, seventeen seventy five, and Paul Revere's famous right
by the way, Very few of us know who actually
sent Paul Revere on that ride, and that was doctor
Joseph Warren. He sent Paul and then he stayed back
and he ran the American Revolution for the first two
(00:59):
months and the war. And on June seventeenth, seventeen seventy five,
Joseph awoke, plagued by the Migraine headaches that plagued him
and the cannonade had begun, he could hear it, and
over the protests of those closest to him, he rushed
to Bunker Hill and to engage in the fight. And
although he had been commissioned a major general, he refused
(01:22):
command when he got there and insisted on fighting as
a volunteer, and over the entreaties of Colonel Prescott, who
said famously, don't fire till you see the white of
their eyes, most often misquoted as the whites of their eyes,
he refused to return to Cambridge to run the war,
and instead went into the hottest spot, this fort that
had been constructed by the way in the wrong spot
(01:44):
on breed Fill, rather than Bunker Hill, and his men,
who thought they were being sacrificed because they were almost
out of ammunition, that saw their beloved leader join them
and so assumed that therefore they were not being sacrificed.
And the British did storm, they did run out of ammunition.
The Patriot they fled. Joseph was last to leave, treating
the wounded and the dying, turning back into the doctor
(02:05):
that he ultimately was, and took a bullet in his
head and died at thirty four, the great first martyr
of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Why don't we know more about him.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
In one sense because we're lucky in another sense because
he was unlucky. We don't know more about him because
he didn't survive the war, having died in the first
major battle at Bunker Hill, and so he didn't play
the part that he was supposed to play. Samuel Adams
had chosen him to lead America and play the role
that George Washington ends up playing. America got really lucky.
(02:36):
We had two great leaders at the same time, and
the one dies ironically the very same day June seventeenth,
seventeen seventy five, two hundred and fifty years ago. Joseph
dies on Bunker Hill at the same day that George
Washington in Philadelphia is being handed his commission as Commander
in Chief. And he went on, as we know, to
(02:58):
be the great iconic leader of America. America, And so
Joseph didn't play the part that he had been designated
to play because he had sacrificed himself early on in
the American Revolution. But there was no conciliation after that
because Joseph had fallen and if Joseph had martyred himself
and supplied the leadership that he did. Then we weren't
going to conciliate. We were going to keep going and
(03:21):
win this fight for American liberty.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
But the story is so fascinating, and being one of
the first great martyrs for the American experiment and the
American Revolution, you would think that we would know his name,
just like we know Sam Adams, just like we know others,
just like we know we know Benedict Arnold. But we
don't know doctor Joseph Warren. And it's so wonderful that
(03:45):
you're remembering him, And it's so wonderful that you wrote
a play. Tell me what your inspiration was, why you
took this so far that you wanted to write a
play about this.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Well, I was a constitutional history professor for over forty years,
and in that context studied some of the major documents
of the American Republic and the American experience. In One
of them, which has also become lost to American memory
for most people, was the Suffolk Resolves. Joseph wrote those
in seventeen seventy four, and Paul Revere rushed them down
(04:15):
from Boston to Philadelphia. You know, we all know Paul
Revere's famous ride, but his more important ride was actually earlier,
and he rushed the Suffolk Resolves, and it was, in
essence a declaration of American legislative independence, and the First
Continental Congress embraced them and enacted them. It was the
first enactment by the Continental Congress. And as a result,
(04:36):
America was on record of no obedience to acts of
Parliament that violated our fundamental rights. Obedience to the King
only conditioned upon the respect for the American traditions that
we inherited from Britain. And you know you asked the
question about being lost to history. At the time Joseph
was so well known and so widely mourned. There were
(04:57):
fourteen counties named after Joseph Warren in the United sis States.
Only three presidents have more Warren County, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
New Jersey, et cetera, et cetera. And yet he has
fallen into obscurity, as you point out, ironically, so did
Paul Revere. He had been lost to American consciousness until
Longfellow's famous poem. And when I started writing the play,
(05:17):
so had Samuel Adams. But then the beer came about
and now he's on the lips of many people in
many bars in America. So we have a habit of
losing sight of our heroes. And the play, it seems
to me, is important because it takes these cardboard characters
that we learned in American history, and we learned to
dismiss in some ways America, at least, I was taught
(05:39):
to dismiss our heroes, not to learn from them, not
to emulate them and follow from their examples, not to
realize and recognize the sacrifices they made and the obligation
they felt for the sacrifice sacrifices that have been made
in the past, and the obligation they felt to future generations.
And so driven by that, driven by love of America,
(06:00):
driven by the rediscovery of Joseph Warren, and the felt
need to celebrate our heroes and learn from them and
emulate them. I worked on this play and wrote it,
and if it succeeds for the audience, it brings them
to an emotional relationship with the American Revolution. You'll see
these cardboard characters come to life on stage and realize
(06:21):
that the war was a product of emotional relationships and
deep constitutional commitments, and it's time to celebrate America. You know,
the cast comes from different political persuasions and disagreements about policy.
But what unites us and what hopefully will restore the
common feeling about America is how much we really have
(06:42):
in common constitutionally, how much we're deeply committed to the
basic principles of this Republican.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Well, I love that you're doing this, and I love
that you're remembering a man that history for good and
should be remembered. Tell people how they can get tickets
and where they can see the play.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
It's at the AMT Theater, which is a charming off
Broadway theater. Will be write off Broadway on forty fifth
Street between eighth and ninth Avenue. Go to the website,
which is Fatheranonymous play dot com. Put in two hundred
and fifty and you get discount for the tickets. The
tickets are not expensive, and the experience is live and
(07:17):
lively and real and funny and tearful. And celebrate America.
Celebrate the best of our traditions in our history.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Historian Robert Blecker, who wrote the play Father Anonymous. It's
playing off Broadway now. This has been a podcast from
wor
This is a podcast from WR. Now more of the
WR Saturday Morning Show and Larry Minte. Welcome back. Two
hundred and fifty years ago, doctor Joseph Warren died a
hero at Bunker Hill, but history has forgot all about him.
Now there is a new off Broadway play that brings
(00:21):
him back to life. Playwright and historian Robert Blecker, Professor,
thanks so much for joining us today. I appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Thanks so much for having me, Laric.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Let's talk about Father Anonymous. First, let's talk about the
significance of the Battle of Bunker Hill.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.
We all know about Lexington and conquered on April eighteenth
and nineteenth, seventeen seventy five, and Paul Revere's famous right
by the way, Very few of us know who actually
sent Paul Revere on that ride, and that was doctor
Joseph Warren. He sent Paul and then he stayed back
and he ran the American Revolution for the first two
(00:59):
months and the war. And on June seventeenth, seventeen seventy five,
Joseph awoke, plagued by the Migraine headaches that plagued him
and the cannonade had begun, he could hear it, and
over the protests of those closest to him, he rushed
to Bunker Hill and to engage in the fight. And
although he had been commissioned a major general, he refused
(01:22):
command when he got there and insisted on fighting as
a volunteer, and over the entreaties of Colonel Prescott, who
said famously, don't fire till you see the white of
their eyes, most often misquoted as the whites of their eyes,
he refused to return to Cambridge to run the war,
and instead went into the hottest spot, this fort that
had been constructed by the way in the wrong spot
(01:44):
on breed Fill, rather than Bunker Hill, and his men,
who thought they were being sacrificed because they were almost
out of ammunition, that saw their beloved leader join them
and so assumed that therefore they were not being sacrificed.
And the British did storm, they did run out of ammunition.
The Patriot they fled. Joseph was last to leave, treating
the wounded and the dying, turning back into the doctor
(02:05):
that he ultimately was, and took a bullet in his
head and died at thirty four, the great first martyr
of the American Revolution.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Why don't we know more about him.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
In one sense because we're lucky in another sense because
he was unlucky. We don't know more about him because
he didn't survive the war, having died in the first
major battle at Bunker Hill, and so he didn't play
the part that he was supposed to play. Samuel Adams
had chosen him to lead America and play the role
that George Washington ends up playing. America got really lucky.
(02:36):
We had two great leaders at the same time, and
the one dies ironically the very same day June seventeenth,
seventeen seventy five, two hundred and fifty years ago. Joseph
dies on Bunker Hill at the same day that George
Washington in Philadelphia is being handed his commission as Commander
in Chief. And he went on, as we know, to
(02:58):
be the great iconic leader of America. America, And so
Joseph didn't play the part that he had been designated
to play because he had sacrificed himself early on in
the American Revolution. But there was no conciliation after that
because Joseph had fallen and if Joseph had martyred himself
and supplied the leadership that he did. Then we weren't
going to conciliate. We were going to keep going and
(03:21):
win this fight for American liberty.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
But the story is so fascinating, and being one of
the first great martyrs for the American experiment and the
American Revolution, you would think that we would know his name,
just like we know Sam Adams, just like we know others,
just like we know we know Benedict Arnold. But we
don't know doctor Joseph Warren. And it's so wonderful that
(03:45):
you're remembering him, And it's so wonderful that you wrote
a play. Tell me what your inspiration was, why you
took this so far that you wanted to write a
play about this.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Well, I was a constitutional history professor for over forty years,
and in that context studied some of the major documents
of the American Republic and the American experience. In One
of them, which has also become lost to American memory
for most people, was the Suffolk Resolves. Joseph wrote those
in seventeen seventy four, and Paul Revere rushed them down
(04:15):
from Boston to Philadelphia. You know, we all know Paul
Revere's famous ride, but his more important ride was actually earlier,
and he rushed the Suffolk Resolves, and it was, in
essence a declaration of American legislative independence, and the First
Continental Congress embraced them and enacted them. It was the
first enactment by the Continental Congress. And as a result,
(04:36):
America was on record of no obedience to acts of
Parliament that violated our fundamental rights. Obedience to the King
only conditioned upon the respect for the American traditions that
we inherited from Britain. And you know you asked the
question about being lost to history. At the time Joseph
was so well known and so widely mourned. There were
(04:57):
fourteen counties named after Joseph Warren in the United sis States.
Only three presidents have more Warren County, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio,
New Jersey, et cetera, et cetera. And yet he has
fallen into obscurity, as you point out, ironically, so did
Paul Revere. He had been lost to American consciousness until
Longfellow's famous poem. And when I started writing the play,
(05:17):
so had Samuel Adams. But then the beer came about
and now he's on the lips of many people in
many bars in America. So we have a habit of
losing sight of our heroes. And the play, it seems
to me, is important because it takes these cardboard characters
that we learned in American history, and we learned to
dismiss in some ways America, at least, I was taught
(05:39):
to dismiss our heroes, not to learn from them, not
to emulate them and follow from their examples, not to
realize and recognize the sacrifices they made and the obligation
they felt for the sacrifice sacrifices that have been made
in the past, and the obligation they felt to future generations.
And so driven by that, driven by love of America,
(06:00):
driven by the rediscovery of Joseph Warren, and the felt
need to celebrate our heroes and learn from them and
emulate them. I worked on this play and wrote it,
and if it succeeds for the audience, it brings them
to an emotional relationship with the American Revolution. You'll see
these cardboard characters come to life on stage and realize
(06:21):
that the war was a product of emotional relationships and
deep constitutional commitments, and it's time to celebrate America. You know,
the cast comes from different political persuasions and disagreements about policy.
But what unites us and what hopefully will restore the
common feeling about America is how much we really have
(06:42):
in common constitutionally, how much we're deeply committed to the
basic principles of this Republican.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Well, I love that you're doing this, and I love
that you're remembering a man that history for good and
should be remembered. Tell people how they can get tickets
and where they can see the play.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
It's at the AMT Theater, which is a charming off
Broadway theater. Will be write off Broadway on forty fifth
Street between eighth and ninth Avenue. Go to the website,
which is Fatheranonymous play dot com. Put in two hundred
and fifty and you get discount for the tickets. The
tickets are not expensive, and the experience is live and
(07:17):
lively and real and funny and tearful. And celebrate America.
Celebrate the best of our traditions in our history.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Historian Robert Blecker, who wrote the play Father Anonymous. It's
playing off Broadway now. This has been a podcast from
wor
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