Our Speaker Series is free & open to the public!

Light refreshments will be served.

Would it surprise you to know that despite John Hancock’s audacious signature on the Declaration of Independence, his politics were much less bold? He was not alone. Many other delegates at the Continental Congress were reluctant to sign the Declaration, so how did they all come to agree? Other questions linger: did Hancock actually say that he wrote his name oversized so King George III could see it without his spectacles? Why did Hancock sign the document first and did he really have the largest and most distinguished signature? Who had the smallest and sloppiest? Whose names aren’t on the Declaration that you might expect to see? In this interactive and dynamic forty-five-minute event, Brooke Barbier, author of King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father, will answer these questions while taking you behind the scenes of the Declaration’s signing. After this talk, the next time someone asks you for your John Hancock, you’ll also have insider facts to share.

Brooke Barbier is a public historian with a PhD in American history from Boston College. The author of King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father and Boston in the American Revolution: A Town versus an Empire, she founded and operates Ye Olde Tavern Tours, a popular guided outing along Boston’s renowned Freedom Trail.

This series is made possible by our generous sponsor, Christine Mayer and is presented in partnership with the Wellesley Free Library.