MIT Historian Debunks Boston Tea Party Relic: Chinese Tea Label Dates to 19th Century

Tristan Brown, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has revealed that a tea label previously thought to be a relic from the Boston Tea Party of 1773 is, in fact, a commercial item from the 19th century. This label, currently exhibited at Boston's Old South Meeting House, was donated in 1987 by the descendants of Thomas Wells, a blacksmith who allegedly took it from a tea chest during the protest. In his research published in the American Historical Review, Brown discovered that the label's Chinese text, when pronounced in Cantonese, includes the phonetic phrase 'Smith, Archer,' linked to an American import-export firm that dealt in tea during the 19th century. Previous interpretations relied on Mandarin, but Brown's use of Cantonese, the dominant language of that tea trade era, revealed new insights. The label's connection to the Boston Tea Party likely emerged through repeated family stories, media, and museum narratives. Brown's work corrects a historical misconception and highlights the construction of collective memory around artifacts. He emphasized that the label's significance remains intact, offering a fresh perspective on how Americans engage with their history. His findings were published last month, and he remarked to MIT News, "History is never finished."