Artist rendering of museum under construction in Boston Harbor.
BOSTON, Mass.
Author and tea historian Bruce Richardson has been named the official Tea Master of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.
The museum is expanding and restoring for public tours three ships involved in the Dec. 16, 1773 event that changed the nation's course. It will reopen in June 2012.
Richardson, who has authored a dozen books on tea, will design a new line of tea to celebrate the occasion.
The museum, established in 1973, is dedicated to accurately reliving the historic night in Boston Harbor that was the catalyst to the American Revolution, says Richardson.
The museum gift shop was destroyed by fire following a lightning strike in 2001 but the fire spared a full-scale replica of the brig Beaver. The museum is owned by Historic Tours of America a Florida-based concession that will operate the venture. The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority provided $18 million in financing the restoration and expansion. The City of Boston contributed $3 million and fundraisers will complete the $25 million project.
“The new museum and the three ships involved, the Dartmouth, the Beaver, and the Eleanor, will allow visitors to travel back in time to learn about the courageous acts of those who forever changed our history,” according to Richardson. Interactive displays include a 28-foot screen theater. Construction stated in April 2011.
Richardson is described in a museum press release as a man who “has traveled the world discovering and learning everything there is to know about tea. His travels led him to writing, photographing, and sharing his experiences at tea events across the country.”
As Tea Master Richardson will design a line of historic teas for sale in the gift shop. These teas will be based on the tea thrown into the Boston Harbor in 1773.
“All the East India Company tea aboard the ships docked in Boston Harbor on the evening of December 16, 1773 was produced in China, not India. Benjamin Woods Labaree’s The Boston Tea Party reports that the three tea ships contained 240 chests of Bohea, 15 of Congou, and 10 of Souchong, which were all black teas, and 60 of Singlo and 15 of Hyson, both green teas. Richardson is also designing the menu and foods for the 100-seat tearoom located in the museum.
To learn more visit Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.