History, Natural History & the Arts
At noon on November 25, 2014 about 25 people gathered at the flag poles at the north end of Manhattan’s Bowling Green to raise a specially designed flag with 13 stars and stripes.
It was a replica of the flag which was raised at the same spot on November 25, 1783 (Evacuation Day) when George Washington’s Continental army had marched into New York City officially ending the American Revolutionary War. [Read more…] about A Short History of New York City’s ‘Evacuation Day’
The Fraunces Tavern Museum will host “American Rebels: How the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy Families Fanned the Flames of Revolution,” a virtual lecture looking at the connections between leading families of the American Revolution on Thursday, November 11th. [Read more…] about American Rebels: Hancock, Adams & Quincy Families (Virtual Lecture)
Today, Germantown is a busy neighborhood in Philadelphia. On October 4, 1777, it was a small village on the outskirts of the colonial capital whose surrounding fields and streets witnessed one of the largest battles of the American Revolution.
The bloody battle represented George Washington’s attempt to recapture Philadelphia, but has long been overshadowed by better-known events like Brandywine, Saratoga, and Valley Forge.
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.
[Read more…] about Washington and the Battle of Germantown (Free Virtual Lecture)
The Fraunces Tavern Museum will host “Samuel Fraunces: Revolutionary Tavernkeeper and Patriot,” a presentation by Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli on Monday, September 13th. [Read more…] about Samuel Fraunces, Revolutionary Tavernkeeper Free Virtual Talk
In 1719, Étienne [Stephen] De Lancey built his house on a site at 54 Pearl Street on the corner of Broad Street which had been given to him by his father-in-law Stephanus van Cortlandt, New York’s Mayor. The small yellow bricks used in its construction were imported from the Dutch Republic.
In 1762, his heirs sold the property to Samuel Fraunces who converted the home into a tavern, first named the Queen’s Head and later known as Fraunces Tavern. [Read more…] about Rise and Fall of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica
On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced capture or annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts, who saved the army by navigating the treacherous waters of the river. 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. [Read more…] about American Revolutionary Soldier-Mariners
The Fraunces Tavern Museum will host author Claire Bellerjeau for a talk about her new book Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution (Lyons Press, 2021) on Thursday, July 8th. [Read more…] about Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution
The Fraunces Tavern Museum has announced two new exhibitions, An American Emblem of Magnanimity and To the Beat of Their Own Drums: Regimental Flags of the American Revolution, set to open on Friday, April 2nd. [Read more…] about Black Patriots’, Gadsden, Rev War Flags Subject of Exhibit
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
The new book 1774: The Long Year of Revolution (Knopf, 2020) by Mary Beth Norton keenly focuses on the sixteen months during which the traditional loyalists to King George III began their discordant “discussions” that led to their acceptance of the inevitability of war against the British Empire and to the clashes at Lexington and Concord in mid-April 1775. [Read more…] about 1774: The Long Year of Revolution
The Pilgrims first brought carrots to North America, intending to harvest them in the colonies. Carrots were an easy vegetable to grow and were an integral part of nourishing humans and animals alike.
In 1787, George Washington wrote in a letter to Benjamin Fitzhugh Grymes, “I am convinced that in proper soil the culture of carrots will be found very advantageous for feeding farm horses and every piece of stock. I am inclined to think that rows of carrots will yield 5 to 8 bushels of carrots to one corn.” [Read more…] about Carrots: A Culinary History Virtual Presentation