Fraunces Tavern Museum

Join Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. to celebrate the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring special guest Logan Beirne, Clinical Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School. Beirne is a lawyer, entrepreneur, author, and academic. His book, Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency, was awarded the William E. Colby Military Writers’ Award. He will speak about the ways in which George Washington's actions during the Revolutionary War helped define many of our constitutional traditions. This lecture was recorded on September 22, 2022.

In this lecture, recorded August 11, 2022, David Gellman explores the contradictions of the Jay family’s attitudes toward slavery over multiple generations. Enslaved and formerly enslaved people living in Jay households experienced isolation, even as members of the Jay family took increasingly radical approaches to law, policy, politics, and advocacy, culminating in John Jay’s signing of An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1799 as Governor of New York, which helped bring about the emancipation of enslaved people in New York in 1827. Gellman aims to bring new light and a fresh understanding of the Founder’s legacy.

In this lecture, recorded July 14, 2022, Jinny Berten will discuss the research behind her historical fiction novel By His Side, which considers the relationship between George Washington and William Lee, the last three days of Washington’s life, his changing views on slavery, and the concerns those enslaved at Mount Vernon had for Washington’s last will and testament.

Thirty-five years before the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British colonies in North America raised a regiment to serve in the British Army for an expedition to seize control of the Spanish West Indies. The expedition marked the first time American soldiers deployed overseas. In this lecture, recorded June 16, 2022, Craig Chapman will discuss the Americans' role in the conflict, their terrible suffering, and the awful results of the expedition.

In this lecture, recorded May 19, 2022, Mary Sarah Bilder looks to the 1780s, the Age of the Constitution, to investigate the rise of a radical new idea in the English-speaking world: female genius. Bilder will discuss Eliza Harriot Barons O'Connor, a path-breaking female educator who delivered a University of Pennsylvania lecture that was attended by George Washington as he and other members of the Constitutional Convention gathered in Philadelphia.

This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture Series on Thursday, April 28, 2022. In this lecture, Thomas Balcerski* will discuss New York City as the capital of the nation, beginning in 1785 under the Articles of Confederation Congress. Despite debates over whether the capital should be relocated, the first Congress determined to meet there in March 1789, and the first inauguration of an American President happened there in April of the same year. Balcerski reviews the many sites associated with the early capital, between 1785 and 1790, and considers their significance to later developments in the new government, as well as how the legacy of this important history has been largely forgotten today. *The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its of Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Military histories often focus on battles campaigns, overlooking the soldiers who fought them. Who were the red-coated soldiers who formed the ranks of the British army in the 1770s? In this talk, recorded April, 7, 2022, Don N. Hagist will investigate where British soldiers were from, what they did before joining the army, what motivated them to enlist, how they were trained, how they lived in America on campaign and in garrison, and what became of them after the war.

In this lecture, recorded March 10, 2022, Roger McCormack, Director of Education at The Bronx County Historical Society, to explore the significance of the Bronx in the American Revolution. This lecture will highlight the Battle of Pell’s Point, the impact of the war on ordinary Bronx farmers and inhabitants, and the general history of the war in the Bronx.

For more than forty years, George Washington was dedicated to an innovative and experimental course of farming at Mount Vernon, where he sought to demonstrate the public benefits of recent advances in British agriculture. In this lecture, recorded February 17, 2022, Bruce Ragsdale will discuss these methods of British agricultural improvement and how they also shaped Washington’s management of enslaved labor.

In this lecture, recorded January 13, 2022, Norman Desmarais will discuss recent discoveries about the Count de Rochambeau’s army that counter popular assumptions—focusing primarily on the recently published diary of the Count de Lauberdière, which includes details that are not covered in any other French diaries. Serving as an aide-de-camp on General Rochambeau’s staff, the young and well-educated Lauberdière provided a unique perspective of the war, including descriptions of the French army’s camp in Newport, the long march to Yorktown, the siege and capture, and a fascinating examination of the people and their distinctive colonial culture.

In this lecture, recorded December 2. 2021, Martha Saxton provides a sketch of the challenging life of Mary Ball Washington, who raised George and his four siblings largely alone—as well as her unfair treatment at the hands of his biographers.

In this lecture, recorded November 11, 2021, Nina Sankovitch presents the intimate connections between leading families of the American Revolution—the Hancock, Quincy, and Adams families—and explores the role played by such figures as John Hancock, John Adams and Abigail Smith (Adams), Josiah Quincy Junior and Dorothy Quincy (Hancock) in sparking the flames of dissent and rebellion that would lead to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. By focusing in on Braintree, Massachusetts and these three prominent families of the village, Sankovitch demonstrates how the desire for independence cut across class lines, binding people together as they pursued commonly held goals of opportunity, liberty, and stability.

In this lecture, recorded October 14, 2021, Michael Harris will discuss the Battle of Germantown. Despite a complicated plan of attack, George Washington’s Continental Army seemed on the verge of victory at Germantown, until decisions at the highest levels of the army took that promised victory away.

In this lecture, recorded September 27, 2021, author and SRNY member Ric Murphy will speak about his family genealogy, and his ancestors who fought in the American Revolution, serving in New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina regiments. Their story is covered in Ric’s book, Freedom Road, which also details Ric’s ancestors who fought in the War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War.

In honor of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Tavern Week, this special lecture celebrates Samuel Fraunces, a revolutionary tavernkeeper and Patriot during the Revolutionary War. Presented on September 13, 2021 by Special Programs and Engagement Manager Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli, the lecture will explore the mysteries surrounding his early life, highlight his life in New York City and Philadelphia, and his relationship with General Washington.

In this lecture, recorded August 19, 2021, Patrick O’Donnell discusses how the Marbleheaders repeatedly altered the course of events during the Revolution—from forming the elite Guard that protected General Washington to ferrying Continental forces across the Delaware River on Christmas night of 1776. White, Black, Hispanic, and Native American, this uniquely diverse group of soldiers set an inclusive standard the US Army would not reach again for more than 170 years.

In this lecture, recorded July 8. 2021, author Claire Bellerjeau speaks about her new book Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution. In January 1785, a young, enslaved woman from Oyster Bay named Elizabeth was put on board the Lucretia in New York Harbor, bound for Charleston, where she would be sold to her fifth enslaver in just 22 years. She had no idea that Robert Townsend, a son of the family she was enslaved by, would locate her, safeguard her child, and return her to New York—nor how her story would help turn one of America’s first spies into an early abolitionist.

Why did over 600 Native Americans from dozens of nations meet in Pittsburgh? Just how bad did it smell inside the hull of a prison ship in 1776? Who was the only woman listed on the Declaration of Independence? In this lecture, recorded June 24, 2021, historical novelist Karen Chase will explore lesser-known figures, facts, and realities of the American Revolution.

In this lecture, recorded May 6, 2021, historian Mike Bunn offers the first comprehensive history of the British colony of West Florida. For a host of reasons, the colony has long been dismissed as a loyal but inconsequential fringe outpost. But the colony's history showcases a tumultuous political scene featuring a halting attempt at instituting representative government; a host of bold and colorful characters; a compelling saga of struggle and perseverance in the pursuit of financial stability; and a dramatic series of battles on land and water which brought about the end of its days under the Union Jack.

During the summer of 1776, patriots worked frantically to head off a British invasion from Canada. Their effort culminated in a wild three-day naval battle on Lake Champlain in northern New York. In this lecture, recorded April 22, 2021, Jack Kelly argues that, although the campaign has often been neglected by historians, its success was an important impetus to Washington's decision to cross the Delaware and attack Trenton.