The third of Lafayette’s trips into New York differed from his first two trips. In those, New York City had served as his base: first along the Boston Post Road to New England and second up the Hudson River to Albany/Troy. The third occurred after he undertook a long junket across the United States. He […]
State of New York State History
Lafayette in New York Bicentennial: His Second Trip
Lafayette’s second trip in New York was in a different direction. In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the first trip. He left New York and followed the Boston Post Road to Boston and the interior of New England. In this blog, I provide the stops on his second […]
Lafayette in New England Bicentennial: His Second Trip
Lafayette made two trips to New England during his 1824-1825 visit. In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the 1824 visit. In this blog, I provide the stops on his 1825 visit. As you see, the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit in 2025 coincides with the 250th anniversary of […]
Should Chief Daniel Nimham Be Honored or Erased?
Chief Daniel Nimham was the last grand Sachem of the Wappinger Confederacy. While Nimham and other Wappingers fought against the French in the French and Indian War, their lands [in what became] Putnam County [NY] were usurped by Adolph Philipse. In 1766, Nimham traveled to England to challenge these fraudulent land titles in the British […]
The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?
The Marquis de Lafayette returned in 1824-1825 to visit the country he helped create. Those dates mean his bicentennial begins even before the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775. In the last few weeks, I have begun working with some French organizations including: American Friends of Lafayette American Society of […]
Should Historians Leave the Ivory Tower and Become Social Advocates?: The Political Consequences
Should historians leave the ivory tower and become social advocates? The question was raised in the current issue of American Historical Review (AHR) in an article by Karlos K. Hill entitled “Community-Engaged History: A Reflection on the 100th Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.” Much of the article chronicles the author’s own participation […]
Are You Part of a History Community Conversation?: The Massachusetts Template
For the past 18 months many of us have been confined to quarters. We have attended no conferences in person. We have gone to no talks in person. We have participated in no workshops in person. Now that period is ending. We are starting to attend hybrid conferences. We even can imagine full-scale in-person conferences […]
New York City Council Endorses Donald Trump for President: This Isn’t an April Fools Joke
In a stunning and surprising move the Public Design Commission in New York City voted to endorse Donald Trump for the presidency in 2024. Amazingly, this action was taken three years before the election. It occurred in a jurisdiction that voted overwhelmingly against him in both 2016 and 2020. One might legitimately wonder why the […]
Afghan Women: Then and Now
Since iconic pictures are in the news, I thought I would resurrect two Afghan pictures that have not been featured lately. AFGHAN GIRL NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC The picture of this green-eyed Afghan girl took the world by storm when it appeared back in 1985. The world was different then. The United States remained locked in a […]
What Are You Doing for the Indian Citizenship Act (1924) Centennial?
The 2020’s is a decade of many historical anniversaries. One that has received little attention so far as best I can determine is the Indian Citizenship Act signed into law on June 2, 1924, by President Calvin Coolidge. As the very title of the legislation states, the act made all Indians in the United States […]