Walking Tour Led by Bruce Racond*

American history comes alive on the streets where it happened in historic locations critical to the lives and partnership of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington! Relive the first reading of the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent revolt, honor the fallen American troops in the Battle of Brooklyn, celebrate the Constitution’s ratification, and applaud Hamilton's achievement of the Compromise of 1790. Stand at the site of Washington's momentous inauguration, dig into the history of the infamous duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr, pay your respects at the final resting place of the Hamiltons, and much more. This is an immersive tour for lovers of United States’ history and the musical Hamilton!

Martha Washington’s worst memory was the death of her husband. Her second worst was Thomas Jefferson’s awkward visit to pay his respects subsequently. Indeed, by the time George Washington had died in 1799, the two founders were estranged. But that estrangement has obscured the fact that for most of their thirty-year acquaintance they enjoyed a productive relationship. In this lecture, Francis D. Cogliano considers the significance of one of the most important but understudied personal relationships of the founding era: the connection between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson that spanned three turbulent decades.

Although among the best-known Revolutionary War soldiers, Benedict Arnold is overwhelmingly remembered as little more than a traitor — yet his enormously important contributions to the patriot cause in the early years of the war are, in many ways, far more important than his treason. Join Jack Kelly, author of God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man, as he highlights some of Arnold's achievements and paints a realistic portrait of a still-notorious figure of American history.

On December 4, 1783, George Washington and his officers met at Fraunces Tavern to say an emotional farewell. Join us in the room where it happened for a special reenactment and opportunity to converse with Washington himself before he returns to Mount Vernon! $1 reserves your space at one of our four timed reenactments and also gives you admission to the Museum to see our current exhibitions.

1775 belonged to Boston but after April of 1776, the Revolutionary War's focus became New York City and the highly strategic Long Island, from Brooklyn's terminal moraine high ground to Queens's Hell Gate. Join author Richard Melnick as he charts the military, political and cultural history 1776 in Long Island City.

When John Hancock needed to win people over, he didn’t talk about resisting taxes or policy improvements; instead, he served alcohol. He offered rum punch and wine at his home and paid for lavish meals in taverns to bring people together.

In this forty-five-minute talk, Brooke Barbier will discuss lively and evocative stories and images that illuminate the critical and complex role that alcohol played in the social, political, and cultural fabric of the American Revolution and how John Hancock used it to his advantage.

Join us for a Pop Party Time Capsule of an evening filled with rare comics and creativity at the Fraunces Tavern Museum on October 13th (as in Thirteen Colonies!), as we explore the bridges that bring Pop Culture and history together. 

Christian McBurney* will speak on his new book, Dark Voyage:  An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s African Slave Trade, a microhistory of an American privateer during the Revolutionary War that sailed to the coast of Africa and attacked a British slave trading post and British slave ships, seriously disrupting and virtually halting the British slave trade during the war years. On the other hand, the privateersmen were out for profit and, in effect, became slave traders themselves.

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 Justice Mark Dillon*. Dillon is the author of The First Chief Justice: John Jay and the Struggle of a New Nation, published March 1, 2022, will speak on “John Jay and the United States Constitution.”

Join us as Robert Watson discusses his book America's First Plague: The deadly 1793 epidemic that crippled a young nation. Watson will explore the wave of fear that swept across the fledgling republic, and the numerous unintended but far-reaching consequences it would have on the development of the United States.

Join Anne and Ridley Enslow for a musical presentation about spies during the American Revolution! This show covers espionage on both sides of the war, from the Revolution’s earliest days until its dramatic conclusion. For this presentation Anne Enslow plays the hammered dulcimer, an instrument documented to have been in the American Colonies and Ridley Enslow plays the violin, in this case a violin made in 1776. They both sing and appear in Colonial American costumes.

In this virtual lecture, Major General Jason Bohm explores the origins of the United States Marines. He will explore the parallel stories of the creation and early operations of the Continental Marines, Navy, and Army during the American Revolution, culminating in the Battles of Trenton, Assunpink Creek, and Princeton.

In 1776 all eyes were on “The Island at the Center of the World”! Experience the spellbinding story of the events leading up to the American Revolution while walking on the very streets where it happened, from the Stamp Act of 1765 through General Washington’s Farewell at the end of the War for Independence in 1783.

This walking tour is led by Mrs. Q.

Celebrate Independence Day at Fraunces Tavern Museum with $1 admission all day long! Starting at 2:00pm, you can also attend an afternoon of talks as a part of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association’s It Happened Here programming.

Join us for a preview reception and optional dinner on June 26 for our newest exhibition, The Birch Trials at Fraunces Tavern, opening to the public on June 27. The Birch Trials were part of a process whereby 3,000 Black Loyalists evacuated New York City between April and November 1783–many of whom had previously been enslaved–the culminating event in one of the largest emancipations of Black people prior to the American Civil War.  The names of Black Loyalists who qualified for evacuation were recorded in the Book of Negroes, the compilation of which was overseen by the commission.

This new permanent exhibition will highlight these significant events. Along the exhibition’s walls, art and written communications of the period will highlight the role of Black Loyalists in the Revolutionary War, as well as the thousands of Black Patriots who fought to further the cause of American Independence.

In this lecture, Christopher Minty focuses on the origins of the American Revolution in New York City from the perspective of those who became loyalists. It argues that longstanding political partisanship played a hitherto underappreciated role in determining their allegiance during the 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.

Since 1972, the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award has been presented annually to the author of the best newly published work on the American Revolutionary War, combining original scholarship, insight, and good writing. This award is one way the Museum fulfills its mission to educate the public about the Revolution and acknowledge the historical community dedicated to the study and public education regarding the American fight for freedom.

On April 24, 2023, Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. invite you to gather with them to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which took place on April 19, 1775. At this commemoration, they will also honor the winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award, presented annually to the author of the best newly published work on the American Revolutionary War that combines original scholarship, insight, and good writing. This year's winner is Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution by Eric Jay Dolin.

Walking Tour Led by Bruce Racond*

American history comes alive on the streets where it happened in historic locations critical to the lives and partnership of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington! Relive the first reading of the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent revolt, honor the fallen American troops in the Battle of Brooklyn, celebrate the Constitution’s ratification, and applaud Hamilton's achievement of the Compromise of 1790. Stand at the site of Washington's momentous inauguration, dig into the history of the infamous duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr, pay your respects at the final resting place of the Hamiltons, and much more. This is an immersive tour for lovers of United States’ history and the musical Hamilton!

Walking Tour Led by Bruce Racond*

American history comes alive on the streets where it happened in historic locations critical to the lives and partnership of Alexander Hamilton and George Washington! Relive the first reading of the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent revolt, honor the fallen American troops in the Battle of Brooklyn, celebrate the Constitution’s ratification, and applaud Hamilton's achievement of the Compromise of 1790. Stand at the site of Washington's momentous inauguration, dig into the history of the infamous duel between Hamilton and Aaron Burr, pay your respects at the final resting place of the Hamiltons, and much more. This is an immersive tour for lovers of United States’ history and the musical Hamilton!

In the summer of 1781, after spying on the British troops in Manhattan for six weeks, General Washington and General Rochambeau made a critical decision. They would not attack the British in New York but instead would take their troops across the Hudson River and march to Yorktown, Virginia to confront General Cornwallis’ army in the South. That decision changed the war and it happened at Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters.

In the spring of 2020, The Town of Greenburgh, NY, at the urging and leadership of Susan Seal took possession of Odell House to save it from collapse. Amazingly, this house, listed on the National Register, retains most of its original details and it is now in the process of restoration. By 2026, in time for the 250th commemoration of the Declaration of Independence, it will be open to the public as a museum.

Between 1776 and 1783, Great Britain hired more than thirty thousand German soldiers to fight in its war against the American rebels. Collectively known as Hessians, the soldiers and accompanying civilians, including hundreds of women and children, spent extended periods of time in locations as dispersed and varied as Canada in the North and West Florida in the South. In this presentation, Friederike Baer highlights some of the key experiences of these participants in a war on a distant continent against a people that had done them no harm.

In this lecture, Ken Scarlett will discuss the British Southern Strategy for conquering America and extinguishing the American Revolution. He will discuss the role of a quisling in the framing of their base strategy and how those plans were completely defeated culminating with the forced British evacuation from Charleston, South Carolina (Victory Day). Ken will examine General Nathanael Greene's post-Yorktown counterinsurgency campaign to oust British occupation forces from the Lower South and reinstall elected state governments; which proved to be the final lynchpins for King George III and Parliament to end their war-gone-global and relinquish sovereignty over the declared "United States".

In this special Saturday afternoon lecture, Julie Flavell will present her book The Howe Dynasty, the first biography of a British "First Family." The Howe family had as much at stake as the Washingtons and Adamses in the conflict that created the United States. Meet the men and women of the aristocratic Howe dynasty and explore rare paintings of the family.

This lecture will take place via Zoom.

In honor of George Washington and to benefit Fraunces Tavern Museum

This annual Museum fundraiser hosted by Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. honors George Washington and provides much needed financial support for the maintenance and preservation of Fraunces Tavern and for our robust Museum programming.  This year we will honor our Distinguished Patriot awardee Mr. David M. Rubenstein

On Monday, January 23, 2023, SRNY commemorates the birthday of Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, the second President of the Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc., whose generosity enabled the Society to acquire Fraunces Tavern in 1904.

The reception is at 6:30 pm in the Mesick Gallery at Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street, New York City, followed by the program at 7:00 pm in the Davis Flag Gallery, and an optional dinner at 8:00 pm in a room in the Fraunces Tavern® Restaurant.  Our speaker will be Ms. Alyssa Loorya, founder and president of Chrysalis Archaeological Consultants, who received her Ph.D. in 2018 from the CUNY Graduate Center.  Chrysalis Archaeological Consultants is a cultural resource management company in New York City that researches, excavates, and analyzes sites to assess their historical or archaeological impact.  Since opening in 2001, the company has worked on hundreds of projects, including some which uncovered artifacts relating to the Revolutionary War.  Alyssa will present “Revolutionary New York: An Archaeological Perspective”. 

In 1786, Charles Wilson Peale created the most important—and most famous—museum in Revolutionary era America. A fusion of natural history and art, Peale’s Philadelphia Museum was meant to be an embodiment of the Enlightenment. In this lecture, Lee Dugatkin will explore science, art, and the Enlightenment in early America and how these fed the appetite of a public hungry for “rational entertainment.”

This lecture will be held via Zoom.

Commemorate Washington’s emotional farewell to his Officers that took place in the Long Room on December 4, 1783 with $1 admission to the Museum! Witness a reenactment of the Farewell in the room where it happened and explore the Museum’s newest exhibition, Cloaked Crusader: George Washington in Comics and Pop Culture.