The Plymouth Colony Archive Project

Images of History from
The Romantic Story of the Mayflower Pilgrims
by Albert Christopher Addison, 1911


© 1998 Copyright and All Rights Reserved
by Christopher Fennell

diving bar

Landing of the Pilgrims

The Landing of the Pilgrims

High ideals in the conduct of life are what survive, and that is why the Pilgrim Narrative stands forth in the pages of every history as one of the great events of all time. Senator Lodge, at the dedication of the Pilgrim Monument at Provincetown, August 5th 1910.

Historiography then is value-influenced construction of past reality. It bears repeating that the values influencing the construction are many and varied. Some are shared widely by members of society, while others are restricted to special interest groups. Some are idiosyncratic, but uncritically become accepted by the lay public . . . . James Deetz, History and Archaeological Theory, American Antiquity Vol. 53, at 16 (1988).

Senator Lodge's statement appears on the inside cover of Albert Addison's 1911 text, which follows a tradition of building and perpetuating, through text and images, an American myth of national origins. At the time Addison wrote this account of a chapter in the history of the "Anglo-Saxon race" (Romantic Story at ix) organizations promoting the heritage of this ethnic group were of increasing popularity (see, e.g., Michael Kammen's Mystic Chords of Memory, at 211-12, 220 (1991)). Such groups focused on celebrating their perception of a stoic and dedicated character of the "Pilgrims" and "Puritans" of 17th century New England (1991: 220).

Addison's text follows strongly in this tradition, providing an account of the Separatists' religious and social history, from old Boston and Gainsborough in England, to Holland, and on to the founding of the Plymouth Colony in the New World.

This type of nostalgic view of the history of the Plymouth Colony contrasted with another trend in the late 1800s and early 1900s of denouncing the perceived character of the members of the Plymouth Colony as overly inhibited, and viewing those persons as having lacked a "joy of living" (1991: 220).

The images and illustrations from Addison's text include some that had not been published previously. One can examine these images as examples of literary and artistic efforts to build and maintain an origin myth. These images help create mythical accounts to the extent that they present highly selective perceptions, and they tell a story which differs from the historical facts of past events and of the persons involved in those events. The documentary and archaeological record of the members of the Plymouth Colony instead indicate a varied and multi-faceted population which suffered far less inhibition than has been attributed to them.


diamond View illustrations from Addison's 1911 Romantic Story below
diamond View the full text and illustrations of Addison's Romantic Story
diamond View a frames table of illustrations from Addison's Romantic Story


Captions, Photographs, and Illustrations


Click on a caption below to see the accompanying illustration or photograph
from The Romantic Story

Title Page
The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor
The Cells, Guildhall, Boston
A Bit of Old Gainsborough
The Old Manor House, Scrooby, where William Brewtser was Born; Scrooby Church
The Cottage at Austerfield where William Bradford was Born
The Old Hall, Gainsborough, in which the Separatist Church was Founded in 1602
Guildhall and South Street, Boston
The Old Courtroom, Guildhall, Boston
The River Witham, Boston
The Pilgrim Cells, Guildhall, Boston, showing the Kitchen beyond
Old Town Gaol, Market-place, Boston
Trentside, Gainsborough
Elder William Brewster
John Robinson's House, Leyden, where the Pilgrim Fathers worshipped
St. Peter's Church, Leyden
Bust of Captain John Smith
The Embarkation of the Pilgrims
Model of the Mayflower
Plymouth Harbour, as seen from Cole's Hill
The Landing of the Pilgrims
The March of Miles Standish
The Canopy over Plymouth Rock
The Old Fort and First Meeting-House
Pilgrims Going to Church
The Departure of the Mayflower
Captain Miles Standish
Governor William Bradford
The Pilgrim Memorial Monument at Provincetown
Plymouth Rock
A Bit of Old Boston
The Site of the Old Fort, Burial Hill, Plymouth
First Church, Plymouth
The Pilgrims Fathers' Memorial, Plymouth
John Alden; and Priscilla Mullins
Governor Bradford's Monument, Burial Hill, Plymouth
Governor Carver's Chair and Ancient Spinning Wheel
Elder Brewster's Chair and the Cradle of Peregrine White
The Grave of John Howland
The Grave of Miles Standish, Duxbury
The Miles Standish Monument, Duxbury
Governor Edward Winslow
Mayflower Tablet on the Barbican, Plymouth, England
Scrooby Village
The Ancient Kitchen, Guildhall, Boston
Robinson Memorial Church, Gainsborough
Tablet in Vestibule of Robinson Memorial Church, Gainsborough; and Memorial Tablet on St. Peter's Church, Leyden
Design by R.M. Lucas for the Tercentenary Memorial at Southampton
The Font, Austerfield Church; and the Font, Primitive Methodist Chapel, Lound

dividing bar


Project Home PageArchive Home Page

Excerpts from The Times of Their Lives

Tributes to Jim Deetz (1930-2000)



© 2000-2019 Copyright and All Rights Reserved by
Patricia Scott Deetz and Christopher Fennell