Samuel Adams Grave Marker, Granary Burying Ground (2004 photograph)

What it is

This is a photograph taken on 30 September 2004 of a dark granite boulder marking the grave of Samuel Adams. A green bronze plaque on the stone reads 'Samuel Adams, signer of the Declaration of Independence', with dates 1722 and 1803. A bronze emblem of the Sons of the Revolution stands beside the stone. The inscription on the marker is dated 1898 and credits the Massachusetts Society, Sons of the Revolution.

Why it matters

The marker shows how Adams was remembered in the decades after his death. Its words describe him as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a governor of Massachusetts, and an ardent patriot. The 1898 date shows that the Sons of the Revolution, a society of descendants of Revolutionary patriots, chose to honor him.

Look closer

• Which roles does the inscription choose to highlight, and which does it leave out?
• Why would a society of patriots' descendants put up a marker like this more than a century later?
• How does a photograph of a grave help us understand a person's reputation compared with what they did?