Faneuil Hall

The actor is from New England, where he says class field trips to pivotal American landmarks like Faneuil Hall Marketplace and the Freedom Trail were “sort of jammed down your throat, just because it’s all right at your fingertips.”

Senate President Karen Spilka emphasized the ties that Douglass — who lived for a time in the state and delivered speeches in the Senate chamber and at Boston’s Faneuil Hall — had to Massachusetts.

Organizers squeezed in a weekend of activities at historic sites in the area, including a pep rally, pull-up competition and debate at Faneuil Hall, a ceremony to mark the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and a tug-of-war at the Old North Bridge in Concord, the location of “the shot heard ’round the world.”

Cadets and Midshipmen will compete in the Patriot Games, including events such as tug of war and a relay race, from Boston Common and Faneuil Hall to Minute Man National Park near Lexington, which commemorates the first battle of the Revolutionary War.

According to The Boston Globe, the City Council can hold a hearing on the name, but it doesn’t have the authority to actually rename Faneuil Hall.