News & Events from Revolutionary Westchester 250
NEWS
RW250 Roundtable Book Group June selection
Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent...and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong by Bob Thompson is the next RW250 Roundtable Book Group selection.
The discussion will take place on June 4 at 2 p.m. on Zoom. We will include the Zoom link in our June newsletter. The Institute for Thomas Paine Studies at Iona University is once again joining RW250 as a cosponsor. Dr. Michael Crowder, ITPS Public Historian, will moderate the discussion.
Revolutionary Roads takes readers on a time-traveling adventure through the crucial places American independence was won and might have been lost. You’ll ride shotgun with Bob Thompson as he puts more than 20,000 miles on his car, not to mention his legs; walks history-shaping battlefields from Georgia to Quebec; and hangs out with passionate lovers of revolutionary history whose vivid storytelling and deep knowledge of their subject enrich his own. Publisher’s Weekly said “Thompson enriches his well-chosen primary sources with entertaining profiles of museum curators and historical reenactors and down-home turns of phrase…The result is an eclectic yet cogent and cohesive account of the American Revolution.”
The choice of Revolutionary Roads was made partly because the author visited the Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters (OHRH) in Hartsdale and interviewed Susan Seal, President of the Friends of OHRH, about the house, the French-American encampment that surrounded it, and the dramatic decision made there on August 14, 1781, which set the stage for the crucial victory at the siege and battle in Yorktown, VA.
Get your copy from a local library or bookseller and plan to join us on June 4.
New videos on our YouTube channel
Dr. Erik Weiselberg, Principal Historian of RW250, provides the history and context of events that occurred at a British encampment in October 1776, in the days before the Battle of White Plains. The site is now part of the Bonnie Briar Country Club on Weaver Street, in Larchmont, NY. Watch the three-minute video here.
Five more short videos—all under 2 minutes—are now on the RW250 YouTube channel. Each offers a glimpse into the life of civilians and soldiers during the colonial and Revolutionary War years and all appear in the playlist “Living History Events.” Filmmaker Nader Sadre captured blacksmith Tom Hunt, reenactor, Joe Ryan and flax spinner Nancy Van Tassell, among others, during RW250’s signature outdoor event of 2022, Revolution on the Hudson in Tarrytown. The channel has had more than 9,000 views. Thanks to our talented volunteer Chris Rubio who organized the videos into playlists.
A resource for educators and history enthusiasts
RW250 is pleased to let our readers know about Consider the Source, an online resource from the New York State Archives and the Archives Partnership Trust. If you love original source documents, maps and prints about the Revolution War period, especially in New York, start browsing! They have documents relating to Colonial America and the Revolution and New Nation.
Correction
In the April, 2023 newsletter, we omitted an important part of the announcement of the recognition of Ardsley Middle School teacher Sean Grady as the 2023 national NSDAR outstanding teacher of American history. Mr. Grady’s nomination was sponsored by the Hudson River Patriots Chapter of the DAR, Regent Philomena Dunn. Members of Hudson River Patriots Chapter come from the River Towns and surrounding area of Westchester county.
EVENTS
Colonial Candle Making
Join living history presenter Tom Hunt for Colonial candle making. Learn about different types of candles and illumination from the colonial time period. Participants will leave with a beeswax candle (while supplies last). This free program is geared towards families and children.
Saturday, May 6, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fort Montgomery State Historic Site, 690 Route 9W, Fort Montgomery, N.Y.
The Battle of Fort Montgomery
Fort Montgomery was the scene of a fierce Revolutionary War battle for control of the Hudson River. On October 6, 1777, British, Loyalist and German forces attacked Fort Montgomery and nearby Fort Clinton. The defending American Patriots, outnumbered three to one, fought desperately until driven out of their forts at the points of the enemy bayonets. More than half of the Patriot forces were killed, wounded, or captured. Today, the ruins of Fort Montgomery remain as a genuine artifact of war.
In this hybrid talk, on-site at the Putnam History Museum and virtually, Fort Montgomery site manager Grant Miller will discuss the history of the fort from its founding in February 1777 to its current presence as a New York State Historic Site. Sign up here
Sunday, May 7, 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Putnam History Museum, 63 Chestnut Street, Cold Spring, NY.
Jay Homestead Reenactor Showcase
This free, public, outdoor, interactive event will feature nearly two-dozen reenactors and living history presenters. Visitors will get a glimpse of regimental camp life, live period music and dance, Native American craftsmanship, blacksmithing and more. Meet Founding Fathers George Washington and his family, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin as well as a women who fought in the Continental Army disguised as a man and a patriot who captured the British spy Major André. The Reenactor Showcase will include programs focussed on the long period of history from the earliest inhabitants of the land until the 1920s.
Look for RW250’s informational table. Our officers and volunteers will be there to learn about your interests and to share our listing of upcoming events.
The Showcase is an addition to the popular John Jay Homestead’s weekly farmers market. With fresh and prepared food available from the market, and acres of grounds, some visitors may wish to stay for the full program. Rain or shine. Parking on site.
Saturday, May 13, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. John Jay Homestead State Historic Site, 400 Jay Street, Katonah, N.Y.
The Trial of Major André
This dramatization of the 1780 trial in of the British officer who conspired with Benedict Arnold in the notorious treason conspiracy is performed by acclaimed educators and actors Sean Grady and Gary Petagine. Parking and admission are free.
Saturday, May 13 at 1 p.m. St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, 897 South Columbus Avenue, Mt. Vernon, N.Y.
Honoring RW250 President Constance Kehoe
The Board of Trustees of the Society of the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights invites you to salute RW250 President Constance Kehoe at their annual fundraiser on behalf of the St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site.
Award presentation at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception in the museum with music, food, drinks and a chance to meet some very special “historic” guests! Weather permitting, guests can mingle outdoors and explore the grounds and historic cemetery.
Tickets are $50 per person. Checks payable to “The Society of the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights” can be mailed to St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, Attention: Benefit Event, 897 South Columbus Avenue, Mt Vernon, NY 10550.
RSVP by May 4
For more information, call 914-667-4116
Saturday, May 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, 897 South Columbus Avenue, Mt. Vernon, N.Y.
Lost Stories: How the New York City Fire of 1776 Illuminates Unfamiliar Lives of the American Revolution
On September 21, 1776, five days after the British occupied New York City, a devastating fire burned down about a fifth of the city. This mystery brings together a startling cast of characters from around the Atlantic World: soldiers and officers, but also Loyalists, women, and people of African and Indigenous descent. Fraunces Tavern Museum hosts the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society and author Benjamin L. Carp to explore these themes in the context of his new book, The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution.
This free presentation will take place in person at Fraunces Tavern Museum and via Zoom. All in-person attendees will receive a copy of the book. Registration is required here.
Thursday, May 18, 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street, New York City.
Pinkster events
Pinkster is a holiday that was celebrated over several days by African and Dutch New Yorkers throughout the 1700s. The holiday was brought to the New World by Dutch settlers in the 1620s and flourished in the areas of heaviest Dutch settlement: the Hudson Valley, northern New Jersey, and western Long Island. Two historic sites in Westchester are holding Pinkster events in May.
Washington Reviewing Our Ally—the French—1781 by Henry Alexander Ogden. The Society of the Cincinnati, Washington, DC.
Follow the French Tour
Visit three historic Revolutionary War sites in Westchester, where French troops camped in 1781 near the end of the war, and along the way listen to a free audio tour about the crucial alliance with the French and their role in helping us win our war for independence. See their encampment sites, visit a historic tavern, meet Generals Rochambeau and Washington, tour a pop-up museum, and pet animals from the colonial period.
Travel at your own pace and visit the sites in any order. The three sites are: Smith’s Tavern in Armonk, Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters in Hartsdale, and Rochambeau Park/Yorktown Grange Fair Grounds—where there will be a re-creation of a French campsite. Each location will have family activities.
Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here for all the details and to download the free TravelStorys audio tour.
Experiences of a Revolutionary Soldier in the Hudson Valley
This program by John J. Curran will relate the varied experiences of Continental Army soldier Joseph Plumb Martin, as recorded in his detailed memoir, published in 1830. This soldier’s record of military life from 1776 to 1783—frequently cited by scholars as an excellent primary source for the Revolutionary War—is recounts in exceptional detail the dangers and sacrifices endured by Martin and other soldiers.
Presented by the Van Cortlandtville Historical Society. Refreshments will be served. A $5 donation is requested of non-Society members
Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m. Little Red Schoolhouse, 297 Locust Avenue, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.
How the Colony of New York Prefigured the Future United States
Early New York—with its ethnic and religious diversity, spirited politics, unique geography, and economic vitality—set the pattern for what the Nation would become. Yet colonial New England and Virginia continue to dominate the narrative of our Founding Era in most history books. Author, History Professor Emerita and RW250 Consulting Historian Patricia Bonomi will challenge that narrative, shift the focus to New York, and highlight some of New York’s key contributions to the coming American Revolution and U.S. Constitution.
This presentation will be a live, in-person event by the Irvington Historical Society at the Irvington Public Library. The presentation is free.
Sunday, May 21, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Irvington Public Library, 12 South Astor Street, Irvington, N.Y.
Sherwood House Tours
Sherwood House Museum, operated by the Yonkers Historical Society, is open every Sunday until June 25th. Learn the history of this 1740 tenant farmhouse and the families that lived here before the Revolutionary War.
Museum hours are from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Sherwood House, 340 Tuckahoe Road, Yonkers. Free parking is available on the site.