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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260508T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260508T203000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260211T195115Z
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SUMMARY:PERFORMANCE | American Contemporary Dances with The Hartford Dance Collective
DESCRIPTION:Purchase Tickets\n\n  \nJoin us in the intimate Webb barn for the Museum’s first commissioned dance performance! Experience dance in-the-round\, featuring new and established works by The Hartford Dance Collective. Rooted in themes of female empowerment\, the dances explore strength\, resilience\, and self-expression through bold physicality and nuanced storytelling. Inspired by America’s 250th anniversary\, the Collective enriches the story of our nation’s founding by amplifying women’s voices and experiences. Surrounded by history and audience alike\, the dancers invite viewers into a shared space where past and present converge—where the courage to claim one’s voice echoes the spirit of those who shaped a new nation within these very walls. \nAbout This Commission In commissioning this work\, the Museum celebrates both a milestone and a continuation: bringing contemporary artists into dialogue with a site where questions of identity\, purpose\, and collective future have always lived. \nPERFORMANCE | Friday\, May 8\, 7 PM \n\n5:30 PM | VIP Ticketholders Talkback with Hartford Dance Collective\n6:15 PM | Doors open\n6:15-7:00 PM | Cash bar available\, furnished by Vino Crudo\n7:00 PM | Performance in-the-round\n\nTICKETS | $18 / $25 / $30 / $45 \nStudents (16-22) | $18 \nMembers | $25 \nGeneral Admission | $30 \nInner Circle VIP | $45 \n\n\n\nPremiere seating: first two rows\nPre-performance talk-back with dancers and choreographers of Hartford Dance Collective\nEarly-admission\nReserved Parking\nAccess to one open rehearsal (April TBD)\n\n\n\nHartford Dance Collective | The Hartford Dance Collective bridges the gap between dance and community by curating unique and accessible performances led by female identifying choreographers and offering open adult movement classes that foster artistic expression\, connection\, and inclusivity. \nSince July 2017\, the Hartford Dance Collective has curated performances in unique settings\, featuring female choreographers from across the nation. We have shared dance at the Connecticut Convention Center\, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art\, Mortensen Riverfront Plaza\, ShapeShifter Lab\, Real Art Ways\, TheaterWorks Hartford\, Dunkin Park\, Parkville Market\, & multiple breweries around the Connecticut\, to name a few; and we aim to continue to share the art form with a wide range of demographics. Along with many small programs that we present throughout the year\, \nThe Hartford Dance Collective curates the annual Hartford Dance Festival in Elizabeth Park with 25 performing groups\, which is the largest free dance festival in Connecticut. Our studio space in Hartford\, Connecticut\, provides creatives with a home to hone in on their movement vocabulary and the opportunity for us to bring professional dancers to Hartford including dancers from Pilobolus\, David Dorfman Dance\, the Limon Company\, the Radio City Rockettes\, Doug Varone and Dancers\, the Merce Cunningham Trust\, and the Brooklynettes\, to name a few. We hold the belief that everyone can dance and everyone should. Our professional and inspiring studio hosts open adult movement classes for the community featuring the Collective’s Resident Artists and Guest Instructors. A perfect place for a dancer to train\, a former dancer to reignite their love for movement\, or a member of the community looking to practice dance movement as a form of exercise\, art\, or meditation. Movement allows us to escape\, which drives our commitment to curating experiences that allow for discovery and connection.
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/americancontemporarydance/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Performance,Members,Special Event,Dance,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/American-Contemporary-Dances_HDC_2026.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260509T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260509T153000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260212T013758Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260319T011032Z
UID:10000107-1778335200-1778340600@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:PERFORMANCE | American Contemporary Dances with The Hartford Dance Collective
DESCRIPTION:Purchase Tickets\n  \n\nJoin us in the intimate Webb barn for the Museum’s first commissioned dance performance! Experience dance in-the-round\, featuring new and established works by The Hartford Dance Collective. Rooted in themes of female empowerment\, the dances explore strength\, resilience\, and self-expression through bold physicality and nuanced storytelling. Inspired by America’s 250th anniversary\, the Collective enriches the story of our nation’s founding by amplifying women’s voices and experiences. Surrounded by history and audience alike\, the dancers invite viewers into a shared space where past and present converge—where the courage to claim one’s voice echoes the spirit of those who shaped a new nation within these very walls. \nAbout This Commission In commissioning this work\, the Museum celebrates both a milestone and a continuation: bringing contemporary artists into dialogue with a site where questions of identity\, purpose\, and collective future have always lived. \nPERFORMANCE | Saturday\, May 9\, 2 PM \n\n12:30 PM | VIP ticket holders talkback with Hartford Dance Collective\n1:15 PM | Doors open\n1:15-2:00 PM | Cash Bar\, furnished by Vino Crudo\n2:00 PM | Performance in-the-round\n\nTICKETS | $18 / $25 / $30 / $45 \nStudents (16-22) | $18 \nMembers | $25 \nGeneral Admission | $30 \nInner Circle VIP | $45 \n\n\n\nPremiere seating: first two rows\nPre-performance talk-back with dancers and choreographers of Hartford Dance Collective\nEarly-admission\nReserved Parking\nAccess to one open rehearsal (April TBD)\n\n\n\nHartford Dance Collective | The Hartford Dance Collective bridges the gap between dance and community by curating unique and accessible performances led by female identifying choreographers and offering open adult movement classes that foster artistic expression\, connection\, and inclusivity. \nSince July 2017\, the Hartford Dance Collective has curated performances in unique settings\, featuring female choreographers from across the nation. We have shared dance at the Connecticut Convention Center\, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art\, Mortensen Riverfront Plaza\, ShapeShifter Lab\, Real Art Ways\, TheaterWorks Hartford\, Dunkin Park\, Parkville Market\, & multiple breweries around the Connecticut\, to name a few; and we aim to continue to share the art form with a wide range of demographics. Along with many small programs that we present throughout the year\, \nThe Hartford Dance Collective curates the annual Hartford Dance Festival in Elizabeth Park with 25 performing groups\, which is the largest free dance festival in Connecticut. Our studio space in Hartford\, Connecticut\, provides creatives with a home to hone in on their movement vocabulary and the opportunity for us to bring professional dancers to Hartford including dancers from Pilobolus\, David Dorfman Dance\, the Limon Company\, the Radio City Rockettes\, Doug Varone and Dancers\, the Merce Cunningham Trust\, and the Brooklynettes\, to name a few. We hold the belief that everyone can dance and everyone should. Our professional and inspiring studio hosts open adult movement classes for the community featuring the Collective’s Resident Artists and Guest Instructors. A perfect place for a dancer to train\, a former dancer to reignite their love for movement\, or a member of the community looking to practice dance movement as a form of exercise\, art\, or meditation. Movement allows us to escape\, which drives our commitment to curating experiences that allow for discovery and connection.
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/performance-american-contemporary-dance-with-the-hartford-dance-collective-2/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Performance,Members,Special Event,Dance,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/American-Contemporary-Dances_HDC_2026.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260514T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260514T200000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260220T054609Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T060348Z
UID:10000112-1778785200-1778788800@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:LECTURE | The Art of Collecting
DESCRIPTION:LECTURE | The Art of Collecting with Ned Lazaro \nThursday\, May 14\, 7:00 PM \nPurchase Tickets \nWhat drives someone to seek out a two-hundred-year-old sampler—and what does that impulse tell us about who we are? Join textile historian Ned Lazaro\, Associate Curator of Textiles and Costumes at The Wadsworth Atheneum and former curator of textiles at Historic Deerfield for a moderated discussion on the history of collecting schoolgirl samplers and other forms of needlepoint in the United States. From early needlework to printed broadsides\, discover how these rescued objects shaped our understanding of material culture—and why they still matter. \nTickets: $15 |$12.50 Virtual | $10 Members \nThis lecture will be offered in person and via Zoom. \n*Zoom link will be provided in advance of the lecture to Members and Virtual ticket holders. \n  \nNed Lazaro | David E. (Ned) Lazaro is the Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford\, Connecticut. He manages a collection of roughly 7\,500 items\, including costumes and textiles ranging from Egyptian artifacts to contemporary fashion. Lazaro specializes in interpreting fashion history\, including 18th-to-20th-century deportment. 
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/lecture-art-of-collecting/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Antiques & Collectibles,Colonial History,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Maryann-Bacon-Sampler_Litchfield-Historical-Society.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260220T051902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260402T155648Z
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SUMMARY:FEUDING FOUNDERS COLLECTIVE | Feuding Founders: The Untold Drama of Silas Deane\, John Jay\, and the Lees of Virginia
DESCRIPTION:Purchase Tickets \nWe tend to remember the founders as marble men — monumental\, unified\, certain. The truth is messier and more interesting. The Feuding Founders Collective is a multi-site public history initiative that humanizes Silas Deane\, John Jay\, and the Lee brothers of Virginia — men who were in conversation\, in collaboration\, and sometimes in conflict with one another. \nPresented in partnership with Jay Heritage Center (NY)\, Friends of John Jay Homestead\, and Menokin and Stratford Hall (VA)\, this series destabilizes the one-dimensional portraits we’ve inherited and invites audiences to sit with the full complexity of these lives: the ambition and the insecurity\, the idealism and the grudges\, the smear campaigns and the shared cause. \nIn an era of weaponized media and public takedowns\, these 250-year-old stories feel less like history and more like a mirror — and understanding how the founders navigated political polarization\, character assassination\, and the tension between principle and self-interest may be one of the most useful things the past can offer us right now. Three sites. Three perspectives. Not a story of heroes and villains\, but of imperfect people trying to build something that had never existed before. \nWethersfield Symposium: The Making of Silas Deane \nHow does a man of middling origins rise to become America’s first diplomat? The Wethersfield symposium focuses on the early lives and backgrounds of Silas Deane\, John Jay\, and the Lee brothers — what shaped them before they shaped the republic. What did it take for Deane to climb from a Connecticut schoolteacher to the halls of Versailles\, and then plummet to disgrace? How did the Lee brothers leverage Virginia’s planter aristocracy into political influence\, and how did their personal relationship drive or derail their decisions? How did Jay’s legal prowess and New York connections place him at the center of revolutionary diplomacy? \nThis is a day for people who want the real story—not the tidy one. Join us and fellow curious minds for a daylong adventure into the past.  Walk the rooms of the Webb and Deane Houses first — stand where political debates unfolded\, where military strategy was weighed\, where Deane may have sat alone calculating his next move. Let the spaces work on you before the conversation begins. Keep the energy and the intrigue alive over a shared meal in the barn. Then hear from scholars representing each partner site as they paint a more layered\, more human picture of Jay\, the Lees\, and Deane — their relationships to power and to one another. The day closes with a walk to the Wethersfield Cove Warehouse\, guided by the Wethersfield Historical Society — the very waterfront where Deane built the merchant trade that launched everything. \nSCHEDULE \n10:00 AM: Welcome & Orientation | 211 Main Street \n10:30 AM: Tour the historic Webb and Deane Houses \n12:00 PM: Lunch in the Webb Barn \n1:00 PM: Roundtable Discussion \nTICKETS  \nFull Day + Lunch: $55 | $50 Members of Webb Deane Stevens\, Jay Heritage Center\, Menokin\, and Stratford Hall \nHouse Tours & Roundtable Discussion: $20 In Person | $15 Members \nVirtual Roundtable Discussion: $8 \n\nAttend All Three! \nEach roundtable discussion will be livestreamed on Zoom. Attend all events onsite\, online\, or a combination! \nWebb Deane Stevens Museum | Silas Deane:  May 16\, Connecticut \nJay Heritage Center | John Jay: September 26\, New York \nRegister your interest with an email to Suzanne Clary: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com \nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee Brothers: November 14\, Virginia
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/feuding-founders-collective/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Trips,Colonial History,Special Event,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Simpletix_Feuding-Founders-1.png
ORGANIZER;CN="WDS Museum":MAILTO:info@wdsmuseum.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260523T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260523T160000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260220T044709Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260220T045952Z
UID:10000110-1779530400-1779552000@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:FREE EVENT | Wethersfield 250 Jubilee: Revolutionary War Encampment & Traditional Trades Fair
DESCRIPTION:FREE EVENT| Wethersfield 250 Jubilee: Revolutionary War Encampment & Traditional Trades Fair \nSaturday\, May 23\, 2026\, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM \nJoin us for a free\, family-friendly day that celebrates our Colonial heritage and the traditional trades that built America. \nThis year\, our beloved Revolutionary War Encampment joins forces with the Traditional Trades Fair for a full day marking America’s 250th anniversary on the museum grounds. Watch the 5th Connecticut Regiment set up camp with musket demonstrations\, a battle skirmish with invading British Marines\, open hearth cooking\, and a children’s march with wooden muskets. Listen to traditional Colonial music and speak with a camp surgeon about his gruesome profession. Try your hand at centuries-old games like graces\, or eavesdrop on military maneuvers. \nAlongside the encampment\, skilled artisans demonstrate timber framing\, weaving\, carpentry\, and historic restoration—the craftsmanship that built the nation and keeps our oldest buildings standing. Witness live preservation projects\, try hands-on workshops\, shop our vendor market for everything from tools to keepsakes\, and discover centuries-old skills through family-friendly demonstrations\, Colonial games\, and activities. Whether you’re interested in history\, restoration\, or simply love beautiful craftsmanship\, this immersive experience showcases the dedication and artistry behind preserving our architectural heritage. \nBring the whole family for hands-on workshops\, Colonial games\, food vendors\, and a day spent surrounded by the sights\, sounds\, and skills of the founding era. \nThe free festivities will begin on the Museum grounds immediately following the Town of Wethersfield Memorial Day Parade. \n10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Demonstrations throughout the day will include*: \n\nColonial music\nChildren’s colonial games\nSurgeon’s table\nWoodworking\nMasonry\nTextile weaving\nOpen hearth cooking and food\nFlag displays and history programs\nWeaving and sewing\nSoldier’s tent and display of equipment\nColonial clothing and textiles\nLife of a Privateer\nButter churning\nCamp tours and information about the 5th Connecticut Regiment and its history\n\nSchedule (in formation) \n10:30 AM  Musket and drill demonstration \n11:00 AM Children’s wooden musket drill \n11:30 AM Reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride”  \n12:00 PM Midday nooning \n1:00 PM  Demonstrations of 18th-Century battle tactics\, including musket firing and bayonet practice \n2:00 PM Canon firing demonstration \n2:30 PM Reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride” \n4:00 PM Camp Closes \n  \n*Schedule and demonstrations subject to change.
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/free-event-wethersfield-250-jubilee-revolutionary-war-encampment-traditional-trades-fair/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Performance,Kids Free,Colonial History,Preservation,Special Event,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/camp60.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T193000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260320T012849Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260320T021314Z
UID:10000117-1789063200-1789068600@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:LECTURE | Civic Stitches: Early American Needlework and National Identity 
DESCRIPTION:LECTURE | Civic Stitches: Early American Needlework and National Identity  with Emily Whitted\, Guest-Curator\, American Girlhood: Needlework\, Memory\, and The Making of a Nation  \n\nThursday\, September 10\, 6:00 PM \nPurchase Tickets\nThis companion lecture to the exhibition American Girlhood by guest curator Emily Whitted will explore the larger history of needlework as part of early American education for girls. In the aftermath of the American Revolution\, female education was a critical space for civic development\, and needlework was one educational medium in which girls processed their own identities within the new nation. This lecture will connect needlework within the exhibition with pieces from other public collections\, and broadly trace the rich lives of early American girls engaged in crafting a nation.  \nTickets: $15 |$12.50 Virtual | $10 Members \n*This lecture will be offered in person and via Zoom. Zoom link will be provided in advance of the lecture. \nAbout the Curator | Emily Whitted is a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the guest curator of American Girlhood: Needlework\, Memory\, and the Making of a Nation. Her research broadly explores the history of textiles\, women’s history\, and material culture in early America. Her current and past work includes projects with the New Bedford Whaling Museum\, the National Park Service and National Council on Public History\, the Mercer Museum & Fonthill Castle\, and the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation. She also holds an M.A. in American Material Culture from the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware. 
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/lecture-americas-tapestry-fiber-arts-the-revolution/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Antiques & Collectibles,Colonial History,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/MSB-Sampler.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T150000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260312T115143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T122534Z
UID:10000114-1790416800-1790434800@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:FEUDING FOUNDERS COLLECTIVE | Jay Heritage Center - The Untold Drama of Silas Deane\, John Jay\, and the Lees of Virginia
DESCRIPTION:Tickets on sale March 2026. Register your interest with an email to Renee Dumouchel: rdumouchel@wdsmuseum.org \nThis event takes place at Jay Heritage Center in Rye\, NY. Attend the full day in person\, or purchase a virtual ticket for the roundtable discussion.  \nWe tend to remember the founders as marble men — monumental\, unified\, certain. The truth is messier and more interesting. The Feuding Founders Collective is a multi-site public history initiative that humanizes Silas Deane\, John Jay\, and the Lee brothers of Virginia — men who were in conversation\, in collaboration\, and sometimes in conflict with one another. \nPresented in partnership with Jay Heritage Center (NY)\, Friends of John Jay Homestead\, and Menokin and Stratford Hall (VA)\, this series destabilizes the one-dimensional portraits we’ve inherited and invites audiences to sit with the full complexity of these lives: the ambition and the insecurity\, the idealism and the grudges\, the smear campaigns and the shared cause. \nIn an era of weaponized media and public takedowns\, these 250-year-old stories feel less like history and more like a mirror — and understanding how the founders navigated political polarization\, character assassination\, and the tension between principle and self-interest may be one of the most useful things the past can offer us right now. Three sites. Three perspectives. Not a story of heroes and villains\, but of imperfect people trying to build something that had never existed before. \nRye Symposium: John Jay – Diplomat and Spymaster \nHow did our earliest American diplomats accomplish their secret and very delicate assignments abroad? The Jay Heritage Center symposium will focus on the interactions of John Jay\, Silas Deane and the Lee brothers\, Arthur and William\, as illustrated by the decipherable records and cyphers that they left behind. What was the Jay-Deane code and why is John Jay credited by the CIA as being the first chief of US counterintelligence? What controversy put Jay at the center of a legal defense of Deane’s actions in France?  Learn firsthand about the security concerns that prompted the Lee brothers of Virginia to launch public accusations that Deane was a traitor. \nThis is an experience for people who want to hear our whole history. Join us and fellow history lovers for a daylong exploration of 18th century political quandaries and fragile allegiances.  Stand on the very spot where Jay looked out at the horizon during the Stamp Act and imagined a new nation and his own role in shaping it. Contemplate the contradictions he faced in seeking freedom from British rule while his family denied freedom to others who worked the land. Tour the historic Jay Estate gardens followed by lunch at the same place where Jay celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War and his negotiation of the Treaty of Paris. Then hear from scholars representing each partner site as they paint a more layered\, more human picture of Jay\, the Lees\, and Deane — their relationships to power and to one another. The program closes with a walk of the property that inspired James Fenimore Cooper’s Revolutionary War novel\, “The Spy.” \n  \n10:00 AM: Welcome and Orientation (210 Boston Post Road) at Jay Mansion  \n10:30 AM: Jay Mansion Tour  \n11:00 AM: Jay Estate Gardens and Grounds Tour  \n12:00 PM: Lunch break on the Veranda  \n1:00 PM: Round Table Discussion at the Wachenheim Center  \nHour long round table discussion plus Q&A.  Discussion will focus on the early lives and background of the Lee Brothers\, Silas Deane and John Jay.  Each site will give a brief introduction to their founding father(s) and historic site(s).   \n3:00 pm: Tour of the 18th century Lyon Farmhouse exterior and archaeological area.  \n  \nAttend All Three! \nEach roundtable discussion will be livestreamed on Zoom. Attend all events onsite\, online\, or a combination! \nWebb Deane Stevens Museum | Silas Deane:  May 16\, Connecticut \nJay Heritage Center | John Jay: September 26\, New York \nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee Brothers: November 14\, Virginia
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/feuding-founders-collective-jay-heritage-center-the-untold-drama-of-silas-deane-john-jay-and-the-lees-of-virginia/
LOCATION:Jay Heritage Center\, 210 Boston Post Road\, Rye\, 10580
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Trips,Colonial History,Special Event,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Feuding-Founders-Collective_Updated.png
ORGANIZER;CN="WDS Museum":MAILTO:info@wdsmuseum.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261114T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261114T180000
DTSTAMP:20260423T010737
CREATED:20260312T113657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260420T145429Z
UID:10000113-1794650400-1794679200@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:FEUDING FOUNDERS COLLECTIVE | Stratford Hall & Menokin\, VA: The Lee—Deane Conflict and the Political "Bloodbath" of 1778
DESCRIPTION:This event takes place at Stratford Hall and Menokin in Virginia. Attend the full day in person\, or purchase a virtual ticket for the roundtable discussion.  \nPresented in partnership with Jay Heritage Center (NY)\, Friends of John Jay Homestead\, and Menokin and Stratford Hall (VA)\, this series destabilizes the one-dimensional portraits we’ve inherited and invites audiences to sit with the full complexity of these lives: the ambition and the insecurity\, the idealism and the grudges\, the smear campaigns and the shared cause. \nHow did a diplomatic dispute become one of the first political media storms in American history? \nJoin us at Stratford Hall in Montross\, VA for a Semiquincentennial conversation on the aftermath of the Lee—Deane Conflict. In 1776\, Silas Deane of Connecticut was sent to France to secure crucial wartime support. He came under fire when Arthur Lee\, a Virginian also posted in Europe\, accused Deane of profiteering and fraud. The matter exploded into the public sphere when Deane fired back\, charging Arthur Lee with spying for the British and sharing information with them. Virginia congressmen Richard Henry Lee and Francis Lightfoot Lee found themselves defending their family’s reputation amid a fierce smear campaign that played out in the pages of newspapers up and down the Eastern seaboard. John Jay\, then president of Congress\, was drawn into the dispute as well\, with consequences that would shadow his diplomatic career for years. As accusations and defenses spilled from private correspondence into newspapers\, the reputations of all four men were tested before a watching public. \nThis is a day for people who want to see how the Revolution unfolded not only in congresses and courts\, but in print and in public opinion. Begin the morning with a tour of Menokin\, Francis Lightfoot Lee’s home\, before traveling to nearby Stratford Hall to walk the grounds and tour the house where the Lee brothers grew up. Share lunch and conversation\, then hear from scholars representing all four partner sites—Menokin\, Stratford Hall\, the Webb Deane Stevens Museum\, and the John Jay Historic Site—as they examine how the Deane controversy reverberated through the early republic. This Affair affected the reputations of other “feuding fathers” including Thomas Paine\, Ben Franklin\, and John Adams. It offers a window into the rough-and-tumble politics of the 1770s—and a reminder that the tensions between press\, politics\, and personal reputation are as old as the republic itself. \nSCHEDULE (subject to updates) \n10:00 AM-11:30 AM: Tour Menokin house and grounds\, Warsaw\, VA \n12:00 PM-1:00 PM: Lunch at Stratford Hall\, Montross VA \n1:00 PM-2:30 PM: Hour long round table discussion plus Q&A on the Lee—Deane Conflict with representatives from the historic homes of John Jay (NY)\, Silas Deane (CT)\, Richard Henry Lee (VA) and Francis Lightfoot Lee (VA). \n3:00-4:30 PM: Tour of Stratford Hall \n5:00-6:00 PM: Wrap-up Reception and NNK Symposium Kick off\, Stratford Hall \n6:30-7:30 PM: Talk |  NNK Symposium Keynote [add-on $10] \nPricing: \n$30 | Sun\, 11/8 Day Pass: Includes Menokin tour\, Stratford tour\, Roundtable\, Reception \n$10 | Add-on: NNK symposium keynote on 11/8 and NNK Symposium ticket for 11/9 \n$15 | Roundtable only \n$5 | Virtual admission only to Roundtable \nSpecial: $60: Pass to 11/8 Feuding Founders Symposium + Pass to 11/9 NNK Symposium \nFor more information or to register interest\, email Connie Rosemont at crosemont@menokin.org or Hunter Peal at hunterp@stratfordhall.org \n  \nAttend All Three! \nEach roundtable discussion will be livestreamed on Zoom. Attend all events onsite\, online\, or a combination! \nWebb Deane Stevens Museum | Silas Deane:  May 16\, Connecticut \nJay Heritage Center | John Jay: September 26\, New York \nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee Brothers: November 14\, Virginia \n\nAbout Stratford Hall  \nStratford Hall brings together people from around the world to experience two-thousand acres of natural and human history\, preserved and presented so that we can all learn from the courageous struggles of our ancestors\, taking inspiration both from what they endured and what they accomplished. There are few places in America where people can travel down small\, rural roads to arrive at a vast site that preserves so many aspects of early-American life\, from the Great House where the influential Lee family helped to forge a new nation\, to the fields worked by enslaved Africans\, to the waters of the rivers that fueled trade\, to the ground\, which still yields secrets about the people and animals that lived before. Come experience this extraordinary place and learn about a layered history that began millions of years ago—a history that continues to educate\, inspire\, and influence Americans to the present day.  \nAbout Menokin \nThe Menokin Foundation uses the historic ruin of Francis Lightfoot Lee’s 18th-century home — and the surrounding built and natural environments — as a living laboratory for preservation and public engagement. Rather than recreating the past\, Menokin employs contemporary methods to invite visitors into an active exploration of how America was built and what that history means today. One of the most distinctive historic sites in Virginia\, Menokin reimagines what a house museum can be — and what honest\, provocative engagement with our nation’s founding ideals and realities looks like on the ground. \n 
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/feuding-founders-collective-the-untold-drama-of-silas-deane-john-jay-and-the-lees-of-virginia/
LOCATION:Stratford Hall\, 483 Great House Road\, Stratford\, VA\, 22558
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Trips,Colonial History,Special Event,America 250
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ORGANIZER;CN="WDS Museum":MAILTO:info@wdsmuseum.org
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