by Beth Vickers | Aug 28, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
Close your eyes. Actually, don’t. If you’ve just arrived in Plymouth, you’re going to need them. Forget the neat little village from the Thanksgiving illustration. Forget pristine black-and-white clothing, picturesque houses and a perfectly set...
by Beth Vickers | Aug 26, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
When we hear the words self-reliance, we may picture the rugged individualist: independent, self-sufficient and determined to need no one. But the story of Plymouth offers something considerably more interesting. The Pilgrims were certainly resourceful. They worked,...
by Beth Vickers | May 28, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
Before the Pilgrims could build homes, plant crops, or establish a permanent settlement, they had to answer a more urgent question: How do divided people live together when survival depends on trust? That was the crisis aboard the Mayflower in 1620. The...
by Beth Vickers | May 25, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
When we tell the story of the Pilgrims, we often focus on what they endured—the voyage, the first winter, the staggering loss of life. Survival, in this telling, feels almost improbable. A fragile group, far from home, facing an unforgiving environment—and somehow,...
by Beth Vickers | May 11, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
The story of Plymouth is often told as a story of courage, faith, and survival. But one of its most important lessons is not only about the Pilgrims. It is about peace. In 1621, the English settlers at Plymouth and Ousamequin, also known as Massasoit, sachem of the...
by Beth Vickers | May 8, 2026 | Understanding Pilgrims
When we speak of liberty in America, we tend to begin in familiar places—1776, the Declaration, the Constitution. We look to the Founding Fathers and the philosophical clarity of the Enlightenment. But liberty in America did not begin as a theory. It began as a...
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