This letter was written by the future sixth president of the United States to his father, who would become the second president. In it, JQA recounts the clash between the Massachusetts government and the people who wanted to repeal the 1750 act that banned the production of “stage plays [and] other theatrical Entertainments.” In a series of private and public letters written around this time, JQA supported the opening of the Federal Street Theatre and made the case for repealing the act.

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society