Barbara F. Berenson, senior attorney for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, was on hand recently at the Library to sign her new book, Boston and the Civil War: Hub of the Second Revolution, a history of the abolitionist movement in Boston. Several members of the appellate courts, including justices of the Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court, as well as staff members of the Social Law Library, were on hand to celebrate the book’s publication.

In her book, Berenson details the accounts of individual personalities associated with the movement, such as William Lloyd Garrison and Charles Sumner, as well as groups, such as women fighting for suffrage, and the Irish immigrants and African-Americans fighting for the preservation of the Union. The book is a vital link to a better understanding of Boston’s role in the “Second Revolution” as it touches upon facts and events that are not altogether well known to history buffs and even local citizens.

Barbara is the author of Walking Tours of Civil War Boston: Hub of Abolitionism and is available to give Boston talks and tours about Boston and the Civil War.