England: Norfolk’s American Connections exhibition opens at the Archive Centre in Norwich

From EDP24:  Norfolk’s American Connections exhibition opens at the Archive Centre in Norwich

 While some of Norfolk’s North American links are well known and much-talked-about – like the still-remembered friendships with GIs during the second world war or Thetford writer Thomas Paine’s involvement in the American Revolution – others may come as more of a surprise.

So a look through the latest exhibition at The Archive Centre’s Long Gallery in Norwich is likely to throw up a few cries of “I didn’t know that!” or “were they really from Norfolk?”
From the Great Yarmouth sisters hanged during the Salem witchcraft trials to the Pilgrim fathers who hailed from Redenhall, near Diss, those connections stretch back hundreds of years.
Yesterday’s exhibition launch marked the start of a host of activities, lectures and performances which aim to enlighten both locals and visitors to Norfolk to the key people and events which have played such an important part in the history of this county and that of North America.
Derrick Murphy, Norfolk County Council leader and chairman of the Norfolk records committee, said: “I am really proud of this exhibition and the whole project.
“Officers at the council and our partners have put a lot of thought and hard work into Norfolk’s American Connections, and I hope it will bring a lot of pleasure to people in Norfolk and visitors to our county who are keen to find out more about its past.
“There are some truly fascinating links between us and North America, some of which are fairly well known, many of which are not.
“Because of the local relevance of the project and North America’s strategic importance in global affairs, I believe it has the potential to really capture people’s imagination and enthuse all ages about history, and reaffirm our close bonds with America.”
The celebrations have been timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the “friendly invasion” – when thousands of American airmen descended on the county to play their part in the second world war – as well as the many cultural events taking part for the London Olympics.
Among the displays of the exhibition is a list of the marriages which t
ook place between American GIs and Norfolk women during the war.

Sybil Neale married Billy Billings, an American serving with the 56th Fighter Group based at Horsham St Faith. An entry into her diary, stored at the Norfolk Records Office, says: “Billy and I were engaged Christmas 1943. Mum wouldn’t give her permission for us to marry. We had to wait till June 15 1944 – my 21st birthday.”
Other displays show the county’s business connections with the US, with a cheque for $67,260 made out to John Mackintosh (Caley Branch) in 1948 by the New England Confectionery Company, Massachusetts.
The money was for the rights to produce Rolos chocolates in America.

They had originally been produced at the Norwich factory but were licensed to be made in the USA after the war.

Laura Crossley, Norfolk’s American Connections project co-ordinator, said: “There are really, really strong links between the two places.

“The most famous link was the Lincoln family from Hingham, from whom Abraham Lincoln descends.
“There was also the Towne family from Great Yarmouth.

“Their daughters were caught up in the Salem witch trials and, although they were innocent, they were hanged.

“And Vernon Castle was born where the Nelson Hotel now is in Norwich. He emigrated to America and was known as the father of modern dance.”

Mr Murphy, said one of his favourite North American links was the one with Pocahontas, who married Norfolk man John Rolfe.

His family was from Heacham in West Norfolk.

One of the many lectures to be given during the Norfolk’s American Connections celebrations will come from the county council leader on September 5.

He will explain the Native American princess’s importance in early English American and the myths surrounding her.

He added: “They [the Americans] owe a lot to us.

“No doubt one of the main reasons North America is now one of the most powerful places in the world is down to their links with Norfolk.”

The exhibition at the Archive Centre is open to the public from today until September 29.

But the many other events being run as part of the project will carry on until the November Thanksgiving celebrations.

The project has been made possible by a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund of just under £50,000 by Norfolk County Council libraries, Norfolk Record Office, the Norfolk Museums Service, South Norfolk Council, the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library and The Garage in Norwich.

It has allowed small grants to be awarded to communities keen to put on their own events.

Fakenham Museum is staging an exhibition about the former USA air base at Sculthorpe.

Mike Bridges, chairman of the trust which runs the museum, said: “It really was a very significant place as far as the Cold War was concerned. More than 10,000 American service people were stationed there, which was three times the population of Fakenham itself at that time.”

A full programme of events, which will continue to be added to, can be found at

www.norfolksamericanconnections.com

The exhibition at The Archive Centre runs until September 29. It is free to the public and open during the centre’s normal opening hours.

 

Revolutionary War Sites Around Monmouth County

From Monmouth.com:  Revolutionary War Sites Around Monmouth County

This year’s Independence Day may have come and gone, but local residents can still feel the colonists’ spirit just by exploring Monmouth County, which has more Revolutionary War sites than most New Jersey counties.

Here is a list of places to check out this summer:

Colts Neck
Colts Neck Memorial Park, Heyers Mill Road. This location features the Private Michael Field Gravestite and Joshua Huddy Memorial.
Colts Neck Inn, 6 County Road Route 537 West. The Joshua Huddy Homestead Site is directly adjacent from the historic inn.

Englishtown
Village Inn, Main St. and Water Street. It was here that General Washington ordered the arrest of General Charles Lee, who had disobeyed orders in the Battle of Monmouth.

Freehold
Covenhoven House, 150 West Main St. A British general occupied this house.
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 33 Throckmorton St. Legend has it that this church was used as a hospital during the war.
Monmouth Court House, Main St. and Court St. This building was also used as a hospital.
Monmouth County Historical Association, 70 Court St. The historical association has a number of artifacts from colonial days and the Battle of Monmouth.

Monmouth Battle Monument, Court St. and Monument St.
Highlands
Joshua Huddy Hanging Site, Huddy Park, Bay Ave. and Waterwitch Ave. Captain Joshua Huddy was hanged here by the British.

Holmdel
Holmes-Hendrickson House, 62 Longstreet Rd. A major skirmish occurred here after the house was attacked by a group of Loyalists.


Manalapan
Monmouth Battlefield State Park, 347 Rte. 33. One of the largest battles of the American Revolution took place here.

Marlboro
Old Brick Ref. Church Cemetery, Rte. 520 and Dunn Drive. At least two Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here.

Matawan
Philip Freneau Grave Site, 112 Poet Dr. Revolutionary poet and friend of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson is buried here.
Burrowes Mansion, 94 Main St. This house was a rallying point for colonial troops.

Middletown
Murray Farmhouse, 345 Oak Hill Rd. This was the home of Joseph Murray, a member of the colonists’ local militia.

Marlpit Hall, 137 Kings Hwy. This house was the home of a prominent Loyalist.
Washington Reconnoitering Expedition Sign, Route 35 and Kings Hwy (in front of the police building). This sign states that George Washington and his men rode through here on a reconnoitering expedition
British Retreat Route Markers (Showing the British army’s movement after the Battle of Monmouth).
• Kings Hwy. near Normandy Rd.
• Kings Hwy. and Brandywine Way
• Church St. and Kings Hwy.
Throckmorton-Lippit-Taylor Burying Ground. 137 Kings Hwy. More deceased Revolutionary figures are here.
British Campsite, Kings Hwy. at Monmouth Ave. and Navesink Ave. This was an old campsite used by British soldiers while they waited for transport to Sandy Hook.

Rumson
Joshua Huddy's Leap Monument, West Park, Rumson Rd. and Ward Ave. Before being executed by the British, war prisoner Joshua Huddy briefly escaped here.
Battle of Black Point Marker, East River Rd. and Black Point Rd. Another skirmish took place here just as the British were leaving for Sandy Hook.

Sandy Hook
Lighthouse, Hartshorne Dr. This lighthouse was taken over by the British and remained under their control for most of the war.

Halyburton Monument, Hartshorne Dr. On this site there were more Revolutionary graves, although they were moved in the early 1900s.

British Embarkation Marker, Hartshorne Dr. British troops passed through this point to complete their withdrawal from the Battle of Monmouth.

Shrewsbury
Christ Church and Cemetery, Sycamore Ave. and Broad St. This was used as a barracks for patriot soldiers.
Sycamore Monument, Sycamore Ave. and Broad St. This marks a trail used by George Washington’s troops.
Allen House, 400 Sycamore Ave. It was here that a Loyalist patrol attacked Continental Army soldiers that were stationed there.

Tennent
Old Tennent Church & Cemetery, 448 Tennent Rd. Many soldiers are buried here, including Joshua Huddy.

Upper Freehold
Historic Walnford, 62 Walnford Rd. The owner of this house was arrested in 1777 for refusing to affirm his allegiance to the government.

West Long Branch
Old Free Church Cemetery, Monmouth Ave. near W. Palmer Ave. Several Revolutionary soldiers are buried here.

More information about historic sites in Monmouth County can be found at the Monmouth County Historical Association website, or at visitmonmouth.com.

 

Hackettstown cemetery has 29 American Revolution veterans' headstones restored

From LeHighValley.com:  Hackettstown cemetery has 29 American Revolution veterans' headstones restored

 Marching through the Colonial cemetery on Hackettstown's Main Street, Charles Prestopine frequently drops to his knees and whacks overgrowth on the recently refurbished headstones of 29 veterans of the Revolutionary War.

A key cog in the restoration of the 249-year-old cemetery and the markers of its patriots, the 75-year-old re-enactor is always tinkering.

"Your work is never done," Prestopine said.

Prestopine and a group of history enthusiasts have restored almost all of the headstones. With only a few remaining, he reflected on the group's efforts days after America celebrated its 236th birthday.
Several who served under Gen. George Washington, as well as 10 soldiers who fought in the War of 1812, are among the 1,200 souls interred in the Olde Burial Ground adjacent to the historic First Presbyterian Chapel at 291 Main St.

Prestopine, who has lived on High Street for almost 45 years, was shocked in 1998 when he witnessed the condition of the storied memorial park. He joined a committee of like-minded people who intended to resurrect history.

"The function of our committee is to restore. ... A fitting honor for those who fought in the American Revolution" Prestopine said. "That's why that little, old burial ground is important to us."
While he acknowledged that there are many cemeteries in Warren County that include Revolutionary War soldiers, he believes the Hackettstown site has one of the largest groups.

"If it isn't the most, it's close," Prestopine said. "I think we're up there in the top. ... Twenty-nine is a good number."

Bob Considine, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said the state is unsure which burial ground holds the most veterans of the American Revolution.

"We actually don't know if the Olde Burial Ground Cemetery is the largest Revolutionary War burial ground in the county or state," Considine wrote in an email last week. "There are probably some grounds that aren't listed through the Historic Preservation Office, and we don't track things like acreage for every location."

The cemetery and the chapel were both founded in 1763. Starting in 1999, the all-volunteer Olde Burial Ground Committee, led by Prestopine, has restored 183 headstones with private donations and state funding.
Eagle Scouts have helped rebuild the low stone walls that surround the site, and there are still several headstones that need major repairs.

Prestopine, who retired as a history teacher from Hopatcong High School in 1994, continually adds new American flags to the headstones. He said there is a sad irony to all of the volunteers' work.

"Most of the people in Hackettstown don't even know that the burial ground is there," he said. "The people who live here go by and aren't consciously aware of the historic treasures that are here."

Hackettstown Mayor Maria DiGiovanni implores residents to take a stroll through the cemetery.

"If people haven't actually gone there to see it, especially if you live in Hackettstown, take a half-hour out of your day and just go and look at those graves," she said. "... Feel the history in the burial ground."

Other notable people buried there include John M. Roof, an associate engineer of the Morris Canal who died in town of the yellow fever, and the family of Capt. William Helms, a member of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment who hailed from Hackettstown.

Gen. Washington traveled north and south on County Route 517, a Colonial highway, from the highlands of New York to Trenton, and was a frequent visitor to Hackettstown. He visited often with Lt. Robert Wilson, who was influential in supplying the Continental Army at Morristown's Jockey Hollow camp with supplies during the hard winters of 1779 and 1780.

In 2006, the Board of Trustees of The Association for Gravestone Studies presented The Oakley Certificate of Merit, an international award for preservation of gravestones and expanded public awareness, to the Burial Ground Committee for distinguished achievement in promoting the mission of the association.
On Thursday, Prestopine parked his truck, walked among the small stones and new markers and then sat nearby and looked admirably at what he saw.

"I say to the 29 Revolutionary War soldiers, 'Rest in peace,'" he said, "Job well done."

 

Reenactment this weekend at Fort Laurens

This took place on July 14, 2012, but it will doubtless be repeated next year.

From Times Reporter:  Reenactment this weekend at Fort Laurens
Fort Laurens State Memorial will host the Brigade of the American Revolution as it presents “Revolution on the Tuscarawas” on Saturday and Sunday.

This two-day encampment and reenactment will feature two mock battles each day, as well as artillery demonstrations, rifle and musket demonstrations and an 18th-century flea market on Saturday and Sunday.
Re-enactors from the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment from the American side, as well as British soldiers from the King’s 8th Regiment of Foote, will be in camp and be able to demonstrate their weaponry and give visitors a taste of colonial life.

A special ceremony will take place on Saturday and Sunday at the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution on the Fort Laurens grounds. There also will be guided tours given by 18th-century civilians and soldiers. Children’s colonial games will take place throughout the day.
Activities and demonstrations will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Admission is $7 for adults, $3 for children 14 and younger and $1 for Friends of Fort Laurens and Ohio Historical Society members with membership information.

For more information, contact Fort Laurens at 330-874-2059 or toll-free at 800-283- 8914, email fortlaurens@wilkshire.net or visit www.fortlaurens.org or www.facebook.com/fortlaurens.

 

American Legion Calls for Rejection of Arms Trade Treaty

From MarketWatch:  American Legion Calls for Rejection of Arms Trade Treaty

INDIANAPOLIS, Jul 10, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Calling a proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty a "potential threat to our Constitutional rights," the head of the nation's largest organization of wartime veterans said the White House and the U.S. Senate should reject any proposal that usurps the sovereignty of the American people. 

"Since the American Revolution, America's veterans have defended the U.S. Constitution," said American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong. "Many died. Many bled. The American Legion has always opposed usurpation of U.S. sovereignty by an international body. We opposed the International Criminal Court on the grounds that it left U.S. service members vulnerable to charges of alleged war crimes. We opposed the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) because it created a precedent for future share-the-wealth schemes. We opposed U.S. troops being placed under the command of U.N. forces. And any Arms Trade Treaty that not only threatens the Second Amendment rights that are enshrined in our Constitution, but also represents the growing movement to place an international entity above our governing and founding document will be opposed. While we understand the effort to combat the international trade in arms that make possible human rights violations and genocide, the drafters should be cognizant that the United States views its Constitution, including the Second Amendment, as preeminent." 

The American Legion has been a staunch defender of the U.S. Constitution since the organization was founded in 1919. It has repeatedly passed national resolutions reaffirming support for the Second Amendment and other constitutional rights. At its 1996 national convention in Salt Lake City, American Legion delegates unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming that "the efforts of government should be directed to the enforcement of existing laws rather than banning the possession of firearms by the millions of our citizens who desire them for traditionally legitimate purposes..." 

The American Legion was founded on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

SOURCE: The American Legion

 

America's founding ideal was more than a 'notion'

From AsburyParkPress:  America's founding ideal was more than a 'notion'

It is always gratifying to read an editorial (July 4) in the Press celebrating the ideals fashioned into the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson assembled all the rationality of the Enlightenment in his statement that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

My critique of your editorial is with your preceding paragraph, however, wherein you say: “America is a nation founded on a notion, birthed by the ideas of liberty and equality.” Is your definition of the word “notion” that it was only a glimpse of an idea that propelled our founders? A general idea, a desired inclination, a whim perhaps? Imaginary, not real or actual? What could you have possibly meant by a “notion” of an idea?


Those who signed that state paper pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, knowing full well that, if caught, they would definitely be hanged as traitors; but they also hoped to walk away from the British Empire without much ado. The problems in Massachusetts were not considered germane to the greater issue of a separation from the mother country.


The American Revolution can be seen as more of a rebellion, certainly; and, in some areas such as New York and New Jersey, a civil war. But rebellion in the violent terms expressed during the American Revolution, and the concept of revolution itself, is not part of the “warp and woof of America.”


The United States has always been propounded on a higher idea of freedom than exists anywhere else in the world. It is no “notion” of liberty or equality that we seek violence for violence’s sake.


It is the real freedom to speak, to assemble, to worship, and, yes, to dissent from government’s (sometimes) troublesome authority; and to vote out those who trouble us most, thereby constantly changing our government, a quiet revolution of sorts, according to our lights.



Stephen T. Nelson
Berkeley

 

Column: Revolutionary Revolutionary museum

From Architecture Here and There Blog:  Column: Revolutionary Revolutionary museum

RAMSA

Museum of the American Revolution at night

 

A museum of the Revolutionary War had better be revolutionary, eh?

So it appears, to judge by critics of Robert A.M. Stern's design, unveiled last month, for the proposed Museum of the American Revolution, in Philadelphia. Except that the only definition of "revolutionary" acceptable to most architecture critics is the conventional definition: modernist. That is, it must "look like the inside of a refrigerator," to quote one commenter, "honcho," exasperated by the entirely predictable critical fusillade against Stern's admirable building.

"Looking For Revolutionary American Architecture? You Won't Find It at the New Museum of the American Revolution," cries critic Nathaniel Popkin at hiddencityphila.org. "Imitation," he asserts, "is the self-imposed prison of an architect without imagination."

(Huh? History of architecture circa 500 B.C. to A.D. 1950, call your office!)

"Robert A.M. Stern's Conservative Museum of the American Revolution Design Snuffs the Revolutionary Spirit" is the boilerplate thrust of Kelly Chan's critique at artinfo.com. "To insist on the need to graft a 'historical' building onto a historical site is to reduce the area's vast and varied history to a shallow, vague -- not to mention confused -- image of the past."

In a gentler tone, Philadelphia Inquirer critic Inga Saffron also disparages the design. "Our forefathers," she declares, "created a new nation by marrying what was good about the past with the latest ideas about organizing society. The design for the Museum of the American Revolution should aspire to no less."

In short, she, like most of her fellow architecture critics, will only be satisfied if a Martian spaceship lands near Independence Hall. Only buildings that imitate the intergalactic motif popular among starchitects in recent decades will do. Show Stern the gate, please! A conventional revolutionary style requires something on the order of Frank "O!" Gehry's whirly-swirly, or maybe the ziggy-zaggy of Zaha "Ha-Ha" -- excuse me, Dame "Ha-Ha" -- Hadid, recently knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

What the critics resist acknowledging is that Stern's design is by far the more genuinely revolutionary. The modernist movement in architecture is a century old, and has been dominant in America for more than half a century. It is the establishment. Most people dislike it, and are glad traditional beauty is fighting back.
The methods used by the architectural establishment to suppress such a revival would make King George III blush. Totalitarian is not too strong a word for the phenomenon.

The study of architectural history and practice was literally purged from the curricula of almost all architecture schools after World War II, and remains so today. Students with classical sensibilities are browbeaten regularly by professors. Traditional building proposals are excluded from public, commercial and institutional commissions by rigged competitions and brainwashed facilities committees and corporate boards. Skilled jobs held by generations of immigrant craftsmen have been killed in the process, enabling modernists to intone blandly that capable artisans are difficult to find. Ugliness has become so pervasively integrated into culture that resistance seems futile -- so much so that the mass German pychosis under Nazi rule, as described by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen in Hitler's Willing Executioners (1996), leaps to mind.

True, there has been no Boston Massacre in architecture. None was necessary. Classical architecture went softly into that dark night. Society accepted the New Order like a "bracing slap across the face," as Tom Wolfe put it in From Bauhaus to Our House (1981).

But today, the classical revival is as revolutionary as any movement America has seen in recent decades. Bob Stern is among its leaders. His museum design, carried out with RAMSA partners Alexander P. Lamis and Kevin Smith, reflects its spirit. This is what its critics, with their narrow-minded sense of the revolutionary, refuse to acknowledge.

Indeed, Stern's design is not at all the slavish imitation of historical precedent that the critics would lead you to expect. Rather, its Georgian classicism doffs its hat to contemporary design clichés with such vigor that no sentient third grader could fail to discern its recent vintage. Not enough to prevent it from fitting into Philadelphia's founding historic district -- already marred by modernism -- but too much for its critics to admit without revealing the cynicism and insincerity of their criticism.

So don't be alarmed. For the rest of us, Philadelphia's new Museum of the American Revolution will be plenty revolutionary.

 

DAR steps away from museum involvement

From the Gonzales Inquirer:  DAR steps away from museum involvement


The DAR. Few three-letter acronyms are held in higher reverence by those dedicated to historic preservation, patriotism and genealogical pursuits.


And for the past 60 years, the Thomas Shelton Chapter for the Daughters of the American Revolution has been committed to countless hours of volunteer service at the Gonzales Memorial Museum.
But as of Tuesday, July 10, that commitment ended.

That is unless steps are taken to alleviate concerns that have caused the DAR to cut its deep ties to Gonzales history and heritage tourism.

“Because of many concerns regarding our involvement at the museum, we feel it is time to step back,” Melanie Petru, regent for the Thomas Shelton Chapter, told the Gonzales City Council Tuesday night at its monthly meeting.

Petru told the City Council that the DAR museum board committee has drawn a line in the sand to cease its operations at the museum until the city executes a signed agreement stipulating the DAR’s role at the museum, the city-owned PastPerfect computer software is used effectively, the city commits to restoring the museum and the city takes responsibility for cleaning, maintaining and updating climate control options for the DAR chapter house.

“It is our hope that we can resolve these concerns and be able to continue our work to preserve the rich history of Texas and Gonzales, present the periods of Texas history to the public and promote Texas heritage tourism in the Gonzales region,” Petru told the City Council.

The city shares Petru’s hopes, and is committed to addressing the DAR concerns.

“I see the DAR’s decision as an opportunity for both organizations to take a fresh look at the museum and to better define what each organization’s role will be in the future,” Gonzales city manager Allen Barnes said in response to Petru’s announcement. “I feel that this is an opportunity not to step away, but to strengthen the relationship for years to come. It is our hope that the DAR sees it in the same light.”

Barnes said the city has already taken positive action in some areas, and that the City Council will seek to resolve the remaining concerns within the next few months. He says the city is committed to working with the DAR to restore the long-standing relationship.

First, Petru stipulated, “an agreement needs to be signed about [the DAR] role at the museum. We have worked with city personnel on this for the past two years with no success.”

Barnes assures that no acrimony exists between the city and the DAR, and agrees that an agreement needs to be in place. “Both the city and the DAR agree for the need for a written agreement outlining the responsibilities of the DAR. There have been several iterations between the two parties, but there has not been an agreement reached. I am not sure what the differences are, but we will sit down with them and discuss everyone’s concerns.”

Second, the DAR is frustrated with what is perceived as a resistance by the city to effectively utilize computer software that could help generate grant money for the museum. “The board had been told that city personnel would be able to use the city-owned PastPerfect computer program to update and maintain records at the museum in order to move forward to becoming grant ready,” Petru told the City Council. “Instead, the board had to hire college students and pay over $15,000. There is still work to be done. We are still not grant ready.”
PastPerfect software is designed to effectively manage collections and contacts, and claims to be the world’s most popular and affordable museum software. PastPerfect provides tools to automate accessions, exhibits, condition reports, repatriation, and incoming and outgoing loans. It is capable of handling millions of catalog records.

“[Police] Chief [Tim] Crow, who is the interim Parks director, and myself have corrected item No. 2 regarding PastPerfect,” Barnes told the City Council.

“I cannot comment on personnel issues, but I will say the city will utilize the PastPerfect system like we should,” Barnes said Wednesday. “Like any other city resource, I expect the city to use it to its maximum capacity in managing our collection.”

Third, the DAR wants the city to commit to museum building restoration, which Barnes said is consistent with what the city wants.

“The city is committed to the museum and its restoration. There are particular steps that must be taken in the restoration of the historic building. The city is working on several plans in regard to the museum, and the council will discuss these at their next workshop session, probably in September sometime,” he said.
And lastly, Petru points out that the DAR chapter house is a city building and should, therefore, be maintained by the city. Climate control in the historic building is also a major concern.

“This is a city-owned building and should be cleaned and maintained by the city. Mr. Barnes has assured me that this would change immediately,” Petru said. “Also, the building is too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. We would like to discuss some possibilities to make the building more useful.”
Barnes admitted some possible failings by the city and pledges to correct any deficiencies.

“Apparently, the Parks Department has not been maintaining the DAR house properly in recent months. Again, I expect our department’s to exercise proper care with the city’s resources. This situation is being corrected. Concerning [Petru’s] comments about climate controlling the building, we will examine that during budget time in late fall,” he said.

Barnes is confident that the DAR and city can successfully resolve any barriers to continuing the relationship that dates back to the 1950s.

“The two organizations have been working together for many years, and I really don’t see that changing,” he said.

 

Revolutionary treasures await new Philly museum

From Inquirer Lifestyle:  Revolutionary treasures await new Philly museum

PHILADELPHIA — A nondescript building on a quiet street somewhere outside Philadelphia holds a secret stash of treasures that have been waiting patiently for more than a century for a permanent place to call home.
Carefully stacked on shelves, hanging on walls and spread out on tables in a large climate-controlled room are thousands of artifacts from the Revolutionary War. They will remain under wraps in their anonymous location until late 2015, when The Museum of the American Revolution opens in Philadelphia’s historic district.
“We’re still finding things,” curator R. Scott Stephenson said during a recent behind-the-scenes tour of the Colonial-era cache.

He recently discovered, as one example, five law books among the hundreds of storage boxes inscribed with the owner’s name: Patrick Henry. More digging unearthed estate and auction records verifying the books belonged to the Founding Father known for his “give me liberty or give me death” speech, and not someone with the same name.

“It’s not just inventorying; some of it literally is you find a piece and 6 months later, a year later, you find something else,” Stephenson said, “and you triangulate and boom — it’s one plus one equals seven.”
The collection was started by the Rev. W. Herbert Burk, an Episcopal minister and George Washington enthusiast who founded the Valley Forge Historical Society in the early 1900s. That group is the predecessor of the American Revolution Center, a nonprofit and non-partisan group working to raise $150 million to build the 110,000-square-foot (10,220-square-meter) museum.

The Oneida Indian Nation on Wednesday announced a $10 million gift to the museum in honor of Oneidas who fought alongside the Continental Army against British forces. The donation comes in response to a challenge from Philadelphia media magnate and American Revolution Center chairman H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, who last month said if the museum can raise $40 million he will match it.

Among the roughly 3,000 artifacts waiting in the wings include all manner of muskets and rifles, textiles, cups and canteens, art, books, periodicals and manuscripts.

The item that started the whole collection will be a highlight of the museum: Gen. George Washington’s sleeping and office tent. The 20-foot(6.1-meter)-long canvas marquee — a little like an outdoor Oval Office — was purchased in 1909 from Mary Custis Lee, Martha Washington’s great-great-granddaughter.

“The objects are the witnesses, the touchstones for stories about extraordinary people and circumstances that can be incredibly powerful,” Stephenson said. “There’s plenty of drama, plenty of things that resonate in our own lives, plenty of aspects that are completely foreign to the way we think or what we’ve experienced.”
Experts are currently developing how the exhibits will look. The idea is to make the Revolutionary period real and relatable to visitors, “not just looking at a bunch of, you know, old brown things on a wall,” Stephenson said.

“Although I do love those old brown things, absolutely,” he said with a laugh. “But you can’t just do a beautiful building and decorate it with objects. The era in which you could line up a bunch of tea cups on a shelf is just not with us anymore.”

After a contentious plan was nixed to build the museum at Valley Forge, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) outside Philadelphia, the American Revolution Center and the National Park Service made a land swap that kept Valley Forge National Park as-is and brought the museum to Philadelphia. Its future home located steps from the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Carpenter’s Hall should benefit all the institutions through program collaborations and artifact exchanges, Stephenson said.

Gordon Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scholar of the American Revolution, said while Valley Forge is of especially keen interest to military buffs, the Revolution “infused into our culture everything we believe in: liberty, equality, constitutionalism, all our noblest ideals.”

“It should be in Philadelphia because that’s really where it all began,” Wood said. “It’s going to be more than the military history, that’s a limited view of the Revolution and it has to be seen in its broadest context.”

 

Va historic area acquires set of colonial chairs

From WRIC.com:  Va historic area acquires set of colonial chairs

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - Colonial Williamsburg has purchased two antique chairs used in the Colonial Capitol prior to the American Revolution.

Officials say the back stools are likely from a set of 12 ordered from England about 1750. The chairs made of carved mahogany and other woods and are upholstered in red silk and adorned with polished brass tacks.
The chairs were used in the Governor's Council Chamber of the Capitol. The council was made up of 12 elite Virginians who advised the governor on matters of concern to the entire colony. The matching armchair for the royal governor has been in the Colonial Williamsburg collection since 1930.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation operates and maintains the preserved 18th century site as an educational and tourist venue.

 

American Revolution Art Exhibit at Peterborough Library

From The Cabinet:  American Revolution Art Exhibit at Peterborough Library

The Peterborough Town Library is pleased to host a “Tribute to the American Revolution” by artist Carolyn Carter in the library’s Art Corner and Showcase during the month of July. Carter, of Gardner, Mass., is the library’s exhibit coordinator and resident artist.

“So many of us take our liberties for granted,” Carter said, “and somehow through my paintings, drawings, research, and seeking out the unsung heroes, I found myself wanting to share my discoveries and adventures with the people and revisit our heroic past. I created a new painting style which I call the ‘Net Technique,’ giving another added dimension to the work.”

Carter’s special interest is Shay’s Rebellion. She has drawn and lectured, and met historians and actors on this topic. She has met Daniel Shay’s descendants. Her paintings and drawings are works in progress. Carter’s exhibit is on view during library hours throughout July – Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; and Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

For more information, please contact the Peterborough Town Library, at 2 Concord St., at 924-8040

 

Oneida Nation gifts Museum of American Revolution

FromTravel Mole :  Oneida Nation gifts Museum of American Revolution

Philadelphia's yet-to-be-built Museum of the American Revolution has received a $10 million grant from the Oneida Nation.

The grant was given in response to a $40 million challenge grant from H.L. Lenfest, chairman of the American Revolution Center, the museum's non-profit founding organization.

The $150 million dollar building designed by Robert A.M. Stern will rise in Philadelphia's historic district at 3rd and Chestnut Streets.  It will house original artifacts like George Washington's war tent as well as manuscripts, rare books and works of art. The collection was begun in the early 1900s by the Valley Forge Historical Society, predecessor to the Revolution Center, and is now in storage awaiting the museum's opening in 2015.

The gift is made in part to recognize the little known, but extraordinary role the Oneidas played in the Revolutionary War, says Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter.

The Oneidas were America's "first ally" in the Revolutionary War and fought in support of the colonists, endured many hardships and lost lives during America"s War for Independence—a history the Oneida people now want to share with visitors to the museum.

"Our commitment to the American Revolution Center furthers that friendship and ensures that the resilience displayed together by America's founding fathers and the Oneida people continue to serve as inspiration to everyone who wishes to understand the shared history of the Oneida Nation and America," he said.

 

 

The Museum Of The American Revolution Artifacts Await Their New Home

From HuffPost:  The Museum Of The American Revolution Artifacts Await Their New Home

http://www.americanrevolutioncenter.org

PHILADELPHIA — A nondescript building on a quiet street somewhere outside Philadelphia holds a secret stash of treasures that have been waiting patiently for more than a century for a permanent place to call home.
Carefully stacked on shelves, hanging on walls and spread out on tables in a large climate-controlled room are thousands of artifacts from the Revolutionary War. They will remain under wraps in their anonymous location until late 2015, when The Museum of the American Revolution opens in Philadelphia's historic district.
"We're still finding things," curator R. Scott Stephenson said during a recent behind-the-scenes tour of the Colonial-era cache.

He recently discovered, as one example, five law books among the hundreds of storage boxes inscribed with the owner's name: Patrick Henry. More digging unearthed estate and auction records verifying the books belonged to the Founding Father known for his "give me liberty or give me death" speech, and not someone with the same name.

"It's not just inventorying; some of it literally is you find a piece and 6 months later, a year later, you find something else," Stephenson said, "and you triangulate and boom – it's one plus one equals seven."
The collection was started by the Rev. W. Herbert Burk, an Episcopal minister and George Washington enthusiast who founded the Valley Forge Historical Society in the early 1900s. That group is the predecessor of the American Revolution Center, a nonprofit and non-partisan group working to raise $150 million to build the 110,000-square-foot museum.

The Oneida Indian Nation on Wednesday announced a $10 million gift to the museum in honor of Oneidas who fought alongside the Continental Army against British forces. The donation comes in response to a challenge from Philadelphia media magnate and American Revolution Center chairman H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, who last month said if the museum can raise $40 million he will match it.

Among the roughly 3,000 artifacts waiting in the wings include all manner of muskets and rifles, textiles, cups and canteens, art, books, periodicals and manuscripts.

The item that started the whole collection will be a highlight of the museum: Gen. George Washington's sleeping and office tent. The 20-foot-long canvas marquee – a little like an outdoor Oval Office – was purchased in 1909 from Mary Custis Lee, Martha Washington's great-great-granddaughter.

"The objects are the witnesses, the touchstones for stories about extraordinary people and circumstances that can be incredibly powerful," Stephenson said. "There's plenty of drama, plenty of things that resonate in our own lives, plenty of aspects that are completely foreign to the way we think or what we've experienced."
Experts are currently developing how the exhibits will look. The idea is to make the Revolutionary period real and relatable to visitors, "not just looking at a bunch of, you know, old brown things on a wall," Stephenson said.

"Although I do love those old brown things, absolutely," he said with a laugh. "But you can't just do a beautiful building and decorate it with objects. The era in which you could line up a bunch of tea cups on a shelf is just not with us anymore."

After a contentious plan was nixed to build the museum at Valley Forge, about 20 miles outside Philadelphia, the American Revolution Center and the National Park Service made a land swap that kept Valley Forge National Park as-is and brought the museum to Philadelphia. Its future home located steps from the National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Carpenter's Hall should benefit all the institutions through program collaborations and artifact exchanges, Stephenson said.

Gordon Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scholar of the American Revolution, said while Valley Forge is of especially keen interest to military buffs, the Revolution "infused into our culture everything we believe in: liberty, equality, constitutionalism, all our noblest ideals."

"It should be in Philadelphia because that's really where it all began," Wood said. "It's going to be more than the military history, that's a limited view of the Revolution and it has to be seen in its broadest context."

 

Pittsburg, Ks: Monumental Occasion

From Morning Sun: Monumental Occasion

PITTSBURG —

 

 

The old Military Highway, established in 1841 by Gen. Winfield Scott from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson, Okla., traced a path through Crawford County history that was almost forgotten for many years.

Members of Oceanus Hopkins Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, decided more than 70 years ago to see that this historic highway would have the commemoration that it deserved.

“The DAR is interested in anything that is related to historical preservation,” noted Jackie Casey, current Oceanus Hopkins Chapter secretary and honorary regent.

Chapter members thought they had accomplished their goal on June 19, 1935, when a handsome granite marker with bronze tablet was dedicated at the intersection of the old highway with Highway 57 (since renamed 171). Numerous local and state dignitaries attended and the road itself was closed during the ceremony.

“This was close to Cow Creek and the Kansas City Southern Railroad line near Kniveton,” said George  Dockery, Kansas Department of Transportation area engineer.

But times change, and the marker has accumulated an interesting history of its own.

In 1968 the marker was moved due to highway work and construction of an overpass.

“We moved it to where we had a piece of land at a port of entry,” Dockery said. “It was not very visible, but the DAR maintained it.”

Just about everybody else forgot the marker  existed, until last year, when it attracted the wrong kind of attention.

“Someone broke the monument and was getting away with the plaque,” Dockery said. “Evidently it was too heavy or something spooked them and they threw it into the weeds. One of our mowers found it.”

Casey believes she knows what the motive was.

“That was when the cost of copper was rising, and I think somebody took a crowbar and peeled the plaque off the marker,” she said. “They left it about 50 yards from where the marker was situated, which was where the road curves and goes one way  to Joplin and the other to Opolis.”

Dockery had the plaque in his office for a time, then Casey took it to her home.
“We had a good time entertaining it in our home,” she said.

Dockery and KDOT did some repairs to the stone marker.

“We sandblasted the stone and did little repairs to it,” he said. “I understand that the granite had been one of the pillars at the old Pittsburg Post  Office.”

According to 1935 newspaper accounts, the stone had been thrown away and was rescued from the city dump.

KDOT also re-set the plaque, which was the work of two students at Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg, now Pittsburg State University. Ralph Nair designed the plaque, Craig Blevins made the pattern, and other work was done by the United Iron Works.

In May 2011 the refurbished marker was placed at the  junction of US 69 and K 171 Highways, at the end of 220th Street, long known as Langdon Lane. It  was installed on a cement pad and there is a small parking area around it.

“We had kind of wanted a bench there, and Mr. Dockery found a little bench and put it there for us,” Casey sad. “I was completely blown away by how much they did for us.”

Dockery said that this portion of Langdon Lane had been KDOT property, but the right-of-way was deeded back to Crawford County.

“The access to the marker is from Langdon Lane, not from the highway, for safety reasons,” he said. “It’s not exactly where the  Military Highway was, the actual location is about 1 1/2 miles east of there, but it’s where people can view it.”

Dockery hopes this increased visibility will help deter any future vandalism.

Casey said that a new plaque has been received indicating that the marker has been relocated, and it will be placed on the marker as well.

“Now we’re trying to get a grant from the National Daughters of the American Revolution to do some landscaping and possibly have a flag pole there,” she said. “But if we have a flag pole, that would be a lighting situation. This is something that you can’t just leap into.”

Dockery said the Military Highway will soon be getting a little more recognition.

“69  Highway is a state historic byway for the military route, and there will soon be signs up and down the route,” he said, though there is no exact time line yet.

There will also be a re-dedication of the marker at some point, though Casey said it probably won’t be until sometime next year.

“I think about those ladies who worked so hard back in 1935,” she said. “I think it’s because of their dedication that we are able to continue their project.”                            

Boston: After Costly Delays, Boston Tea Party Museum Set to Reopen

This is actually from June25, 2012: 

New York Times: After Costly Delays, Boston Tea Party Museum Set to Reopen

The Boston Tea Party Museum is set to reopen on Tuesday after a stalled and costly renovation, The Boston Globe reports. The floating museum, on the historic industrial Fort Point Channel, includes replicas of three ships and a recreation of the events of the night of Dec. 16, 1773, that helped foment the American Revolution (and, a few centuries later, birth a political movement).

The reopening, more than a decade after the original museum burned after being struck by lightning, was slowed by permitting and funding problems, the museum’s executive director, Shawn Ford, told The Globe. It was saved by a $28 million state loan financed by hotel taxes and other fees derived from tourists.

Visitors to the interactive museum, which boasts a holographic vision of colonists and British soldiers arguing on a Boston street corner, and a signature tea blended by a tea historian, will have the chance to heave a chest of tea overboard themselves. No word on whether Fox News cameras will be around to catch it.

 

Everyday People and the American Revolution

From the Canada Free Press:  Everyday People and the American Revolution

We elevate the events of the American Revolution to near-mythical status all too often and forget that the real revolutionaries were people just like you and me. Caught up in the drama of Red Coats marching, muskets exploding and flags waving in the night, we lose sight of the enduring significance of the Revolution and what makes it relevant to our world today. Those revolutionaries, by and large, were neither agitators nor hotheads. They were not looking for trouble or trying to start a fight. Like many today, they were simply trying to make it from one day to another, a task that was increasingly difficult as Britain’s rule became more and more oppressive.

The American Revolution did not so much start with a bang as with a whimper—a literal cry for relief from people groaning under the weight of Britain’s demands. The seeds of discontent had been sown early on. By the time the Stamp Act went into effect on November 1, 1765, the rumbling had become a roar.

The Stamp Act, passed by the British Parliament with no representation from the colonies (thus raising the battle cry of “no taxation without representation”), required that revenue stamps be affixed to all printed materials. It was an onerous tax that affected every colonist who engaged in any type of business. Outraged at the imposition, the colonists responded with a flood of pamphlets, speeches and resolutions. They staged a boycott of British goods and organized public protests, mass meetings, parades, bonfires and other demonstrations.

Mercy Otis Warren was an active propagandist against the British and a prime example of the critical, and often overlooked, role that women played in the Revolution. Historian Nina Baym writes, “With the exception of Abigail Adams, no woman in New England was more embroiled in revolutionary political talk than Mercy Otis Warren.” Warren penned several plays as a form of protest, includingThe Group in 1775. As Baym writes: “The Group is a brilliant defense of the revolutionary cause, a political play without a patriot in it. In letting the opposition drop their masks of decency, Warren exposes them as creatures of expediency and selfishness, men who are domestic as well as political tyrants.”

Although Parliament repealed the Stamp Tax in 1766, it boldly moved to pass the Townshend Acts a year later. The Townshend Acts addressed several issues. First, any laws passed by the New York legislature were suspended until the colony complied with the Quartering Act, which required that beds and supplies be provided for the king’s soldiers. And duties (or taxes) were imposed on American imports of glass, lead, paint, paper and tea.

Americans responded in outrage through printed materials and boycotts. In Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer, which appeared in newspapers and pamphlets, attorney John Dickinson argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes for revenue. He also cautioned that the cause of liberty be advanced with moderation. But as historians George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi write, “Such conciliatory language led John Adams to dismiss Dickinson as a ‘piddling genius.’” Samuel Adams responded by organizing protests in Boston. And in 1768, Samuel Adams and James Otis circulated a letter throughout the colonies that reiterated their concerns about the illegality of British taxation and asked for support from the other colonists. When an official in London ordered that the letter be withdrawn, they refused. By 1773, Samuel Adams had convinced the Boston town meeting to form a “Committee of Correspondence,” a group of protesting American colonists. The Committee issued a statement of rights and grievances and invited other towns to do the same.

Thereafter, Committees of Correspondence sprang up across Massachusetts. And in 1773, the Virginia Assembly proposed the formation of Committees of Correspondence on an inter-colonial basis. A network of committees spread across the colonies, mobilizing public opinion and preventing colonial resentments from boiling over. As a result, the Committees of Correspondence played a critical role in the unification of the colonies. Author Nat Hentoff writes:

In 1805, Mercy Otis Warren—in her History of the Rise and Progress and Termination of the American Revolutions, emphasized: “Perhaps no single step contributed so much to cement the union of the colonies, and the final acquisition of independence, as the establishment of the Committees of Correspondence . . . that produced unanimity and energy throughout the continent.” These patriots spread the news throughout the colonies about such British subversions of fundamental liberties as the general search warrant that gave British customs officers free reign to invade homes and offices in pursuit of contraband.

We would do well to remember that, in the end, it was the courage and resolve of common, everyday people that carried the day. Courage was a key ingredient in the makeup of the revolutionaries. The following vignette offers a glimpse of one man’s strong stand in the face of the British army.

Two months before the battles of Lexington and Concord, the British sent Colonel Leslie with 240 men to seize arms and ammunition which the rebels had stored in Salem. As the troops approached town, residents halted their progress by lifting the Northfield drawbridge. Several inhabitants climbed onto the raised leaf of the bridge and engaged in a shouting match with Colonel Leslie on the other side. William Gavett, an eyewitness, reported the incident:

In the course of the debate between Colonel Leslie and the inhabitants, the colonel remarked that he was upon the King’s Highway and would not be prevented passing over the bridge.

Old Mr. James Barr, an Englishman and a man of much nerve, then replied to him: “It is not the King’s Highway; it is a road built by the owners of the lots on the other side, and no king, country or town has anything to do with it.”

Colonel Leslie was taken aback, but he pressed the issue; James Barr held firm, knowing he was in the right. In the end, Leslie promised to march only fifty rods “without troubling or disturbing anything” if the residents of Salem would lower the bridge. The bridge came down, Leslie kept his word, and the opening battle of the American Revolution was postponed. Old James Barr had taken on the British empire with a few simple words.