Fraunces Tavern Museum

On Monday, January 22, 2024, SRNY commemorated 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. Our featured speaker was Eric Schnitzer, co-author of a recent book, Campaign to Saratoga - 1777. This book was created jointly by master historical painter Don Troiani and Eric Schnitzer, who is an historian. Mr. Schnitzer also serves as an interpretive ranger at the Saratoga National Historical Park. *The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

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. 1776 was the year when revolution came to Long Island, and in particular the future Long Island City. The failures, defeats and eventual occupation of the area at the hands of the British forged the resolve and strength of character that would later ensure Patriot victories on distant battlegrounds throughout the rest of the colonies. The British did not evacuate western Queens County until November of 1783, but the events of 1776 would not soon be forgotten during the seven long years of occupation afterword. Join author Richard Melnick as he charts the military, political and cultural history 1776 in Long Island City. This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Thursday, November 16, 2023. *The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily repres

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. Guests included lower class men, French officers, and Black women and men. By throwing parties, Hancock gained social and political power among myriad groups, which repeatedly paid dividends. He was consistently elected to political office and when he smuggled madeira into Boston, one of the most memorable and violent mobs during colonial resistance defended him. In this forty-five-minute talk, Brooke Barbier discusses an oft-ignored aspect of colonial life: the high rate of alcohol consumption. Listen to lively and evocative stories 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. This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Muse

In this lecture, Christian McBurney speaks 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. This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Thursday, October 5, 2023. *The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. celebrates the signing of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, featuring special guest Justice Mark Dillon, author of The First Chief Justice: John Jay and the Struggle of a New Nation, published March 1, 2022. This lecture was recorded for SRNY's Constitution Week celebration on Monday, September 18, 2023 at Fraunces Tavern® Museum. *The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

In this lecture recorded September 10, 2023, 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.

In this virtual lecture, recorded July 27, 2023, 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.

It is a truism that Lower Manhattan has been America’s town square since its founding in 1524, even though its history is much deeper. Virtually every aspect of global, local and national significance can be in some manner traced to this Downtown stage. Some have been forgotten and some have been transformative in our culture and many have fallen between. It Happened Here captures the multiple and overlapping stories that are woven throughout our city’s life. It embraces America’s history as the museums, monuments and memorials that dot its streetscape do. It highlights many of the concerns, events and places that the people who lived, fought, worked and visited here thought were important at their moment in time. The July 4, 2023 program at Fraunces Tavern Museum was the first of many prequels to the United States’ upcoming 250th birthday and a 4-day It Happened Here celebration the weekend of July 4, 2025 and included speakers on the following topics: Fraunces Tavern: Its Revolutionary Story; The Birch Tr

In this lecture, recorded June 12, 2023, 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.

etween 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, recorded April 3, 2023, 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, recorded March 16, 2023, 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, recorded March 11, 2023, 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.

On Monday, January 23, 2023, SRNY commemorated 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. Our speaker was Alyssa Loorya, Ph.D., RPA, 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 presented “Revolutionary New York: An Archaeological Perspective”.

There is always something new to be found in America’s past that also brings greater clarity to our present and the future we choose to make as a nation. In this lecture, recorded November 10, 2022, Adam Van Doren explores well-known and lesser-known historic sites in the 13 original North American colonies, accompanied by his paintings. From the Bunker Hill monument in Massachusetts to the Camden Battlefield Site in South Carolina, this is a tour of an American cultural landscape with a curious, perceptive, and insightful guide.

In this lecture, recorded October 27, 2022, Keith Beutler will discuss how surviving reported locks of George Washington’s hair in the holdings of more than 100 public archives and historical museums, including Fraunces Tavern Museum, offer clues about influential, but often forgotten performances of patriotic memory in the early United States.

In this lecture, recorded October 6, 2022. Nancy Rubin Stuart reveals the long-neglected voices of the women Ben loved and lost during his lifelong struggle between passion and prudence. Weaving detailed historical research with emotional intensity and personal testimony, Nancy Rubin Stuart traces the life of Deborah Reed Franklin—Ben’s common-law wife and partner of 44 years— and those of Ben’s other romantic attachments through their personal correspondence, giving an intimate look into the lives of these larger forgotten women.

Join us for a jam-packed opening night as we explore the pop culture career of our first Top Gun—George Washington—featuring keynote speaker, former Marvel Editor in Chief, Jim Shooter. Discover how Washington’s persona has been showcased throughout pop history, going from traditional reenactments of famous events to appearances in modern times with the likes of Superman, Captain America and other famous heroes—becoming a mythical figure in his own right and a metaphor for good and justice in these tomes. This exhibition highlight Washington's continued relevance to our collective past, present, and future. He is really, if you think about it, our FIRST super hero! The exhibition is guest-curated and written by Renee Witterstaetter of Eva Ink Artist Group and Pros & Cons Celebrity Booking and is based on her book of the same name.

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.