As the nation turns 250, some historians and tour guides are going beyond household names like Paul Revere and Martin Luther King Jr.

• They're highlighting figures like Deborah Sampson, a cross-dressing private in the Continental Army, and Elaine Noble, the nation's first LGBTQ+ candidate elected to a state legislature.

Why it matters: Boston's queer history is as old as the American Revolution, but it has eluded the pages of the average U.S. textbook.

Catch up quick: LGBTQ+ history tours have become more common downtown over the past decade.

• Queer History Boston, formerly known as The History Project, has been giving a version of its Boston Common tours since 2015.
• Boston By Foot, the Freedom Trail and the nearby Gibson House have all launched LGBTQ+ history tours of sorts since.

State of play: Queer History Boston, working with the LGBT Chamber of Commerce, launched a series of tours this summer in Boston and Salem for the nation's 250th birthday.

• The group held eight tours in the Boston Common and five in Salem.
• Three miles from the Common, the Boston LGBTQ+ Museum unveiled an installation celebrating Massachusetts' LGBTQ+ community throughout the nation's history.

What they're saying: "Queer people have always been part of Massachusetts history and have always been part of American history," says Joan Ilacqua, executive director of Queer History Boston.

• The summer tours are one way of asserting that, she tells Axios.

Zoom in: The LGBTQ+ museum, which has displayed "Portraits of Pride" in previous years, is showcasing some of the state's LGBTQ+ stories preceding the nation's founding.

• They range from the state's 17th-century laws against same-sex sexual contact to the LGBTQ+ community's response to the AIDS epidemic and the state's legal fight for marriage equality.
• The installation also highlights some of the people honored in "Portraits of Pride," including Noble, Gov. Maura Healey and Gary Daffin, the longtime leader of the Multicultural AIDS Coalition.

What's next: The installation at the MassArt Museum will be on display until Aug. 15.

• Queer History Boston's Common tours have ended for now, but the organization and the West End Museum will screen archival footage of the 1988 Boston Pride March next week.

Tell a history buff

Steph here. I made the last of Queer History Boston's summer tours downtown a couple of weeks ago.

Why it matters: I learned more about the history I take for granted as I go downtown every week.

How it works: Roughly a dozen people, myself included, met with a tour guide outside Park Street Station on a Tuesday evening.

• He took us through various spots throughout the Boston Common and Public Garden — some with clear connections to queer culture, and others with tangential links.

A few highlights:

👨🏻‍⚖️ Queer people existed long before the nation's founding, but sometimes the only records detail their violations of Puritan laws.

• One example: Two Plymouth men, Edward Preston and Edward Mitchell, were charged with "lewd and sodomical" practices in 1642.

🪧 I had heard of Bayard Rustin, but I didn't know that he was gay or that he advised Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• And I certainly didn't know that King had distanced himself from Rustin after a Black congressman threatened to spread a rumor that the two were having a love affair, killing their plans to for a demonstration in Los Angeles.

🐫 Boston Pride has outlived wars, recessions and the Big Dig, but the annual march often raises questions about whether it is a protest or an apolitical celebration.

• Pride in 1984 leaned toward the latter, sparking criticism over the focus on entertainment — including a hot air balloon and camels — and the $1 donation request.
• The hot air balloon never took off. Neither did the entry fee after the first year, Astuto said during the tour.

Spread the word

Don Nelson, the former Celtics player, coach and NBA Hall of Famer, died at age 86. (CBS Boston)

💰 A group of Hampshire College supporters has raised over $2 million to preserve the campus for education and community use. (BBJ)

Authorities identified the man whose body was pulled out of the water off of Martha's Vineyard last Friday as Cambridge resident Kevin Foster. (Globe)

• He had dove into the water after his teenage children were caught in a rip current.

Several Lexington police officers on Friday responded to reports of a man with a gun — only to find a man cleaning his replica Revolutionary-era powder horn. (Universal Hub)

Parts of the Green Line are down until this week as the MBTA works on signal upgrades and accessibility-related repairs.

Why it matters: Passengers along the city's core should expect longer commutes via shuttles and buses through Sunday.

State of play: Crews will work on making the Green Line's infrastructure compatible with an incoming fleet of new cars.

• Shuttle service will replace the Green Line at most stops and take affected passengers to the Orange Line at Back Bay Station.

Here's where the Green Line is closed:

• B: Government Center to Babcock Street. (The 57 bus will also run fare-free.)
• C: Government Center to Cleveland Center.
• D: North Station to Kenmore.
• E: North Station to the end of the line at Heath Street. (Use the 39 bus, which will be fare-free.)

Protip: On the C branch, the Saint Mary's Street, Kent Street and Brandon Hall stops won't have shuttle service.

Go deeper

Monday, 8/10

📖 Author Dave Zirin discusses his new book, "The People's Historian: The Outsized Life of Howard Zinn" at the Harvard Book Store, 7pm.

Wednesday, 8/12

🎶 The ICA hosts Teen Night, including free live music, snacks giveaways and art, 6-9pm.

Friday, 8/14

🎤 Country singer Chris Stapleton brings his "All American Roadshow" to Fenway Park, 7:30pm.

🎸 If that's not your jam, the Femmes are performing at the Crystal Ballroom in Somerville for "Pop Punk Night."

Saturday, 8/15

🎤 Mexican music legend Marco Antonio Solís stops at MGM Music Hall as part of his "Tour Gratitud 2026," 8pm.

Sunday, 8/16

🎞️ Just Book-ish in Dorchester screens A24 film, "Sorry, Baby," 3:30-5:30pm.