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X-WR-CALNAME:Webb Deane Stevens Museum
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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Webb Deane Stevens Museum
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260516T150000
DTSTAMP:20260508T175353Z
CREATED:20260220T051902Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T175353Z
UID:10000111-1778925600-1778943600@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:FEUDING FOUNDERS COLLECTIVE | Wethersfield Symposium: The Making of Silas Deane
DESCRIPTION:Walk the rooms where history unfolded. Then hear from the historians who know them best. \nSCHEDULE \n10:00 AM | Welcome & Orientation \n10:30 AM | Tour: Webb and Deane Houses \n12:00 PM | Lunch in the Webb Barn \n1:00 PM | Historian Roundtable \n3:00 PM | Walk to Wethersfield Cove Warehouse with the Wethersfield Historical Society \nRoundtable also available via Zoom—$8 \n\nTICKETS  \nFull Day + Lunch: $55 | $50 Members \nHouse Tours & Roundtable Discussion: $20 In Person | $15 Members \nVirtual Roundtable Discussion: $8 \nMember pricing available to members of all four partner institutions. \nPurchase Tickets \n\nAbout the Symposium \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. \nMeet the men behind America’s founding in this daylong exploration of Deane and his relationship to John Jay and the Lee brothers. Tour the Webb and Deane Houses\, then join a roundtable featuring historians from Jay Heritage Center (NY)\, Menokin & Stratford Hall (VA)\, and the Webb Deane Stevens Museum (CT). This is the first in a three-part series across three states. \nHow does a man of middling origins rise to become America’s first diplomat—then plummet to disgrace? How did the Lee brothers leverage Virginia’s planter aristocracy into political influence? How did Jay’s legal prowess place him at the center of revolutionary diplomacy? This is a day for people who want the real story—not the tidy one. \nBegin with a guided tour of the Webb and Deane Houses—stand in the rooms where political debates unfolded and military strategy was weighed. Share a meal in the Webb Barn. Hear from historians representing each partner institution as they build a more layered\, more human portrait of Jay\, the Lees\, and Deane—their relationships to power and to one another. The day closes at the Wethersfield Cove Warehouse\, the very waterfront where Deane built the merchant trade that launched everything. \nIn an era of weaponized media and public takedowns\, these 250-year-old stories feel less like history and more like a mirror. \n\nAttend All Three \nEach roundtable discussion will be livestreamed on Zoom. Attend all events onsite\, online\, or a combination! \nWebb Deane Stevens Museum | The Making of Silas Deane—May 16\, Wethersfield\, CT\nJay Heritage Center | John Jay\, Diplomat and Spymaster—September 26\, Rye\, NY [Register your interest with an email to Suzanne Clary: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com]\nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee—Deane Conflict and the Political “Bloodbath” of 1778—November 8\, Stratford\, Virginia \n\n 
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/founders/
LOCATION:WDS Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT\, 06109
CATEGORIES:Learning Series,Lecture,Members,Trips,Colonial History,Special Event,America 250
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ORGANIZER;CN="WDS Museum":MAILTO:info@wdsmuseum.org
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260926T150000
DTSTAMP:20260508T175912Z
CREATED:20260312T115143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T175912Z
UID:10000114-1790416800-1790434800@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:FEUDING FOUNDERS COLLECTIVE | Jay Heritage Center\, NY: John Jay\, Diplomat and Spymaster
DESCRIPTION:Register your interest with an email to Suzanne Clary: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com \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 | The Making of Silas Deane:  May 16\, Connecticut \nJay Heritage Center | John Jay\, Diplomat and Spymaster: September 26\, New York \nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee—Deane Conflict and the Political “Bloodbath” of 1778: November 8\, 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
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261105T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261108T160000
DTSTAMP:20260904T043324Z
CREATED:20260904T023219Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260904T043324Z
UID:10000139-1793898000-1794153600@wdsmuseum.org
SUMMARY:WDS TRAVEL | Four Days in Virginia's Northern Neck
DESCRIPTION:RESERVE YOUR SPOT\nPayment via check or Zeffy. Read below for instructions on using Zeffy to pay via credit card.  \nJoin our small-group journey to Virginia’s Northern Neck\, where George Washington’s early world meets the landscapes that shaped the Revolution. This travel program extends our work at the Webb Deane Stevens Museum beyond Connecticut\, connecting preserved sites\, primary stories\, and daily life in the 18th century. \nWe begin at Fredericksburg\, on the stretch of river where Washington grew up\, and follow the Rappahannock down to Westmoreland County\, where he was born. Seven houses along the way\, four of them private and opened for us by arrangement\, welcome us in to linger among the details of fine objects and architecture. Mornings under extraordinary plaster ceilings\, lunch in river towns\, a night at Stratford Hall\, and a closing roundtable on the families who built these houses and then came apart over independence. \nOur group\, kept intimate by design\, is led throughout by TR Revella-Hamilton\, our Director of Preservation & Collections\, and Brenton Grom\, Executive Director. \nTruncated itinerary* \nThursday\, November 5—Arrival and check-in in downtown Fredericksburg. Evening open. \nFriday\, November 6—A private Georgian house on the heights\, held by one family since the 1730s. Kenmore\, for the finest eighteenth-century plasterwork in the country. Lunch downtown. Belmont\, the Gari Melchers home and studio. Dinner together in Fredericksburg. \nSaturday\, November 7—Three private houses down the river\, among them the first neo-Palladian villa raised in the colonies\, built of stone in a country that built in brick. Lunch in Tappahannock. Night at Stratford Hall. \nSunday\, November 8—Menokin\, the 1769 house of Declaration signer Francis Lightfoot Lee\, being rebuilt in structural glass. Lunch and tour at Stratford Hall. Feuding Founders roundtable. Ends 4:00 PM. \nDaytrips | Daytrip rates are available for those who wish to join us from the area. Contact TR Revella-Hamilton to discuss pricing and itinerary: trhamilton@wdsmuseum.org \n*Limited to 17. Itinerary subject to change. \nTICKETS  \nEarly Bird Rates through September 18.  \nMember Early Bird | $2\,800 \nGuest Early Bird | $2\,950 \nAfter September 18 \nMember Standard | $2\,950 \nGuest Standard | $3\,100 \nMail checks to: Webb Deane Stevens Museum\, 211 Main Street\, Wethersfield\, CT 06109 \n\nPayment Via Zeffy \nZeffy is an online platform for accepting payments and donations. It is free to you\, and to WDS (no fees!). Follow the instructions below to avoid paying fees on your purchase. \n\nVisit Zeffy to purchase tickets for an event. \nUse this link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/wds-travel-virginias-northern-neck\nOnce you’ve selected your tickets and are on the payment screen\, scroll down to the bottom to “Summary”. You will see a drop-down menu with a 7-9% fee.\nClick on the down arrow in the box that shows the fee. You will see other options (example: 10%\, 15%\, 18%\, 20%\, Other).  \nScroll to the bottom of the options and choose “other”.\nA blank box with the title “contribution” will appear. Type $0.\nSelect your payment method.\nClick the button that says “buy.”\n\nNeed assistance? We’re happy to help. Please call us at 860-529-0612 x108\, and can guide you through the process.
URL:https://wdsmuseum.org/event/wds-travel-four-days-in-virginias-northern-neck/
LOCATION:Stratford Hall\, 483 Great House Road\, Stratford\, VA\, 22558
CATEGORIES:Trips,Antiques & Collectibles,Colonial History,Preservation,Special Event,America 250
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/webp:https://wdsmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Travel-Program-VA-Northern-Neck-2026.webp
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261108T100000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261108T180000
DTSTAMP:20260508T180219Z
CREATED:20260312T113657Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260508T180219Z
UID:10000113-1794132000-1794160800@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 | The Making of Silas Deane:  May 16\, Connecticut \nJay Heritage Center | John Jay\, Diplomat and Spymaster: September 26\, New York \nStratford Hall & Menokin | The Lee—Deane Conflict and the Political “Bloodbath” of 1778: November 8\, 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
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
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