Next Meeting: July 17, 2013

“The Gamecock: Thomas Sumter, South Carolina's Other Revolutionary War Hero,” David Reuwer

The meeting will be held in the Westhampton Room, Heilman Center (dining hall--building 34 on the campus map), University of Richmond, at 6:00 p.m. with dinner available for purchase in the dining hall beginning at 5:00 p.m.

University of Richmond campus map:
http://www.richmond.edu/about/directions/campusmap.pdf

The Parsons' Cause Foundation Summer Schedule

The Parsons' Cause Foundation is pleased to present the calendar of activities for the Parsons’ Cause reenactments related to Virginia and Hanover historic events. All performances will be held at the Historic Hanover Courthouse at 11:00 a.m.    

The Parsons’ Cause – Prelude to Revolution

On December 1, 1763, a country lawyer from Hanover stepped from obscurity into the forefront of legal and political circles in Virginia.  His name was Patrick Henry.  The event that shaped his destiny was the trial of The Parsons’ Cause.  Henry challenged the two most potent entities of colonial Virginia—the King and the clergy.  The case proved to be one of the opening salvos of the revolution, and started Henry on the path of becoming the “Voice of the Revolution.”  Show dates:  June 22, July 27, August 24

Patrick Henry – The Voice of Liberty

Hear Henry, in the last year of his life, as he reflects on his childhood, two marriages, religious convictions, love of children, various careers, and key contributions to the formation of the United States. The talk also includes excerpts from Henry's best known speeches.  Show dates: July 13 and August 3

The Virginia Debates on the Ratification of the United States Constitution

2013 marks the 225^th anniversary of the Virginia debates concerning the proposed Constitution for the United States of America.  James Madison and Edmund Pendleton argue in favor of ratification, while Patrick Henry and George Mason are opposed.  Show dates: July 20 and August 10

George Washington – My Life, the Revolution and Hanover County

The Father of our Country reflects on his life, the battles and turning points of the revolution, his connection to Hanover County, and the importance of leadership. Show dates:  June 29 and August 17

Lafayette – My Travels through Hanover County

The Marquis de Lafayette expounds on his commitment to the American Revolution, his close ties to George Washington, and his travels through Hanover County during the war.  Show date:  July 6

Cornerstone Dedicated, Logo Adopted for American Revolution Museum at Yorktown

YORKTOWN, Va., May 10, 2013 – With a newly created logo on display, a cornerstone was dedicated today for the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, which will replace the Yorktown Victory Center, a museum of the American Revolution operated by the state’s Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.

University of Virginia Professor A. E. Dick Howard, Virginia Secretary of Education Laura W. Fornash, and Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and York County leaders spoke before the unveiling of the 12- by 24-inch marble cornerstone for an 80,000-square-foot museum building that soon will begin to take shape.

“When we tell the story of the American Revolution, as it will be told in the new museum,” Professor Howard said in his address, “we’re also telling the story that resonates everywhere that people yearn for accountable government, the rule of the law, and the freedom of the human spirit.”

“School systems and museums have been long-standing partners in student education,” Secretary Fornash said.  “As new education models are tried and tested, and as reforms in our educational systems are implemented more broadly, the new American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will certainly be an example for what works in education.”

A logo for the new museum incorporating the name with patriotic imagery of a soaring eagle and stars, in red and blue on a white background, was adopted May 9 by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation Board of Trustees and Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc., Board of Directors along with a new logo for Jamestown Settlement, a museum of 17th-century Virginia.  The new Yorktown museum logo will be used in early awareness initiatives.  Full implementation of both logos – designed by BCF, a Virginia Beach brand communications firm specializing in the travel industry – will begin in 2016, the year the transition from Yorktown Victory Center to American Revolution at Yorktown will be complete.    

The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown will chronicle the Revolution from the beginnings of colonial unrest to the early national period and consider its meaning and impact.  The project encompasses reorganization of the 22-acre site; a new building to house expanded exhibition galleries, classrooms and support functions; and expansion and relocation of the existing re-created Continental Army encampment and Revolution-period farm.  Total cost of planning and major components is estimated at $50 million.  Building and exhibit construction and renovations to the site are funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Private donations will support elements of gallery and outdoor exhibits and educational resources.

While exhibits and parking availability will be impacted at various stages of construction, which started in 2012, the Yorktown Victory Center will continue in daily operation while the transition to American Revolution Museum at Yorktown is under way.

For more information, visit www.historyisfun.org.

Embattled Farmers, by Richard C. Wiggin

Embattled Farmers: Campaigns and Profiles of Revolutionary Soldiers from Lincoln, Massachusetts, 1775-1783

By Richard C. Wiggin

They were ordinary farmers, laborers, merchants, tradesmen, slaves, and former slaves, the cross-section of a typical eighteenth-century New England farming community. But when faced with the loss of their cherished liberties and long-standing tradition of self-government, they were swept up in an epic struggle against long odds. These are the forgotten men who fought the American Revolution.

 Meticulously researched, Embattled Farmers traces the footsteps of 252 individual men—all connected with the Lincoln, Massachusetts, but with family and economic ties throughout New England—who served as Patriot soldiers. Through repeated enlistments, they served at Lexington and Concord, at the Siege of Boston, and during the campaigns to Ticonderoga, Canada, New York, Saratoga, the Hudson Valley, The Jerseys, Valley Forge, and Yorktown.

Embattled Farmers is the only known work that identifies and profiles all known Revolutionary soldiers from any given community in the nation. It examines the Revolutionary War from the ground up—from individual records, rather than aggregate data.  It brings to light many stories for the first time, enriching and humanizing our overall understanding of the Revolutionary War with specific details and biographical data. 

Robert  Gross, author of The Minutemen and Their World, writes “Thanks to Wiggin, the American Revolution in Massachusetts stands out as a triumph of popular mobilization and as a symbol of what citizens can accomplish in common when motivated by a willing spirit of self-sacrifice.”  Mel Bernstein, moderator of  the minute man ARRT, believes that Embattled Farmers may be  a prototype for future investigations of the Revolution as it played out in other communities throughout colonial America. 

We all recommend this new book to you, as does our Minute Man ARRT friend Mel Bernstein.  It’s available through the Lincoln Historical Society http://lincolnhistoricalsociety.org/Pages/Embattled%20Farmers%20flier.pdf, as well as Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Embattled-Farmers-Campaigns-Revolutionary-Massachusetts/dp/0944856101/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368477425&sr=1-1&keywords=embattled+farmers

May 22, 2013 Meeting Time Change

Due to the University of Richmond summer schedule, our next meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. instead of the usual 6:30. Dinner will still be available for purchase between 5:00-6:00 p.m.

EleHistory Web Pages

Bill Anderson forwarded the following links to EleHistory, both the Research Home Page and the Sites, Events, and Troop Movements.

http://elehistory.com/
http://www.elehistory.com/amrev/SitesEventsTroopMovements.htm

The links will also appear on our Links page, but I wanted to draw attention to them.

The Cockpit of the American Revolution: A Field and Walking Tour of Sites in North and Central New Jersey - June 22, 2013

New Jersey has been rightfully identified as the Cockpit of the Revolution, with more battles and encampments occurring there than in any other state. Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, and Morristown are familiar names to all. Our Saturday tour in June will provide an opportunity to visit some other important sites in this much fought over state. This is not a campaign tour as such, but rather a survey of other key places and critical events that impacted upon both the state and the revolution. During the course of the day, we'll also discuss other personalities and actions in the area. Please join us to explore these lesser known, but still important, historic places in New Jersey – The Cockpit of the Revolution.
http://cwea.net/programs/1306-cockpit-american-revolution-field-and-walking-tour-sites-north-and-central-new-jersey-