The mission to free the Massachusetts Liberty Bell

In 2106, Whitinsville, Massachusetts resident George Warren was pissed off.

The previous year, Dawn and I visited the Massachusetts Liberty Bell replica at the State House in Boston. The bell sat quietly in an outdoor alcove on the building’s southwest side. If you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t know it was there. 

We arrived at the end of the workday and secured a personal tour from a kindly Capitol guard, thanks to Dawn’s persuasive charm. Had we been ten minutes later, we’d have to catch a glimpse from outside the Capitol gates.   

George Warren didn’t find that kind of experience befitting his state or its Liberty Bell, so he did something about it.  

Warren reached out to everyone who would listen and then some: elected officials at the Capitol and in cities and towns across the state, members of the press, and me, the guy who writes about Liberty Bells. 

Three years later, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts House Bill NO. 1776, with Mr. Warren’s name on the front page passed the Senate and moved to the House Ways and Means Committee to assess the feasibility of relocating the bell. 

On November 28th, 2020, officials removed the Massachusettes Liberty Bell and sent it off for restoration. Soon it will be displayed in nearby Ashburton Park, where George Warren and the rest of the world can see it whenever they want.