A Musical Hamilton

Just one note this week for our readers, from Round Tabler Ronald Blumer:

"THE PUBLIC THEATER ANNOUNCES HAMILTON WRITTEN BY LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA INSPIRED BY THE BOOK Alexander Hamilton BY RON CHERNOW; DIRECTED BY THOMAS KAIL"

New Musical To Premiere January 2015 at New York City's Public Theater.

More details to come.  See you next week!

All around the Round Table

Greetings!  This week, we learned from our Round Tabler Jack Kelly that his new book, Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers Who Won America's Independence is due to be published this September by Palgrave Macmillan.  More information can be found at bandofgiants.org.  One of our intrepid reviewers might just be talking about this book at a Round Table meeting later this year.  Stay tuned.

Jack also reports on (thwarted) Revolutionary War ties to the silver screen:  "When actor Marion Morrison was cast in an early Western, director Raoul Walsh suggested he be called Anthony Wayne after the famous Revolutionary War general. Studio executives thought the name Anthony sounded 'too Italian.' They settled on a more Anglo-Saxon moniker: John Wayne. Too bad Duke never got to play Mad Anthony."

More T-shirt slogan ideas from Lynne Saginaw, our Board member and Book Review Chair:

“... Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors.” -- Abigail Adams (1744-1818) in a letter to her husband John, March 31, 1776.

Portrait of Abigail Adams by Blythe

 “If this is Treason, Make the Most of It.” -- Patrick Henry, 1736-1799. Speech to the Virginia Convention, March 23, 1777 as recorded in the minutes: “...George the Third [Treason! cried the Speaker] — may profit by their example.”

Finally, did any of our readers attend the Hamilton commemorations last week?  If you'd care to post a comment here, please do, or post on our Facebook page:  American Revolution Round Table of New York.  See you next week!

Hamilton Commemorations and More

Statue of Alexander Hamilton at Columbia University

Starting today, there are many events related to the Hamilton-Burr duel, the life of Hamilton, and related topics in New York and New Jersey.  The most comprehensive listing is available at https://www.smore.com/apryr-celebratehamilton; you can print out a handy .pdf.

As summer goes along, other things of interest are taking place in the tri-state (New York) area.  You might want to visit http://hudsonrivervalley.com/ExploreHeritageArea (click on Revolutionary War to filter listings) information and ideas in the Hudson River Valley.  More postings to come.

Finally, our ice cream maven Lynne Saginaw (ARRT-NY Board member and Book Review chair) sent in some sartorial ideas for your summer T-sheet wardrobe.  Why settle for those old sports mottos?  Here are a few ideas from the eighteenth century:

Put THAT on your T-Shirt: A collection of Revolutionary Quotations (and their sources) suggested by Lynne Saginaw.  Perfect for teaching moments, too!

“Proclaim Liberty throughout the Land and to All the Inhabitants Thereof” (Leviticus 25:10), Inscription on the “Liberty Bell.” Cast by the firm of Lester and Pack of London at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1752. Purchased and still owned by the City of Philadelphia to hang in the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall. The National Park Service is the custodian in perpetuity.

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  Benjamin Franklin, (1706-1790). “Historical Review of Pennsylvania,” 1759.

“One if by Land, Two if by Sea.”  Paul Revere’s (1734-1818) instructions to the sexton of Christ Church (better known as the Old North Church), given April 16, 1775. This agreed-upon signal appeared in the church tower two days later, and sent Revere on his famous ride.

The Next Day ...

Good morning!  Presidential scholar and award-winning author -- and a long-standing member of ARRT-NY -- Willard Sterne Randall sends this link with his greetings:  http://time.com/money/2946473/financial-lessons-of-americas-founding-fathers/

Randall is one of the noted historians who were interviewed for the article, which ran yesterday.

If the link does not open in your browser, drop me a line at maria@mariadering.com and I will email you another version.

More to come soon ... And thanks to all who sent comments to me on our opening day!

Happy Independence Day!

Greetings from New York City!  Here's our first Revolutionary Round-up on the birthday of our Republic.  Thanks to Round Tablers Douglas Kiddie, Joanne Grasso, and Lynne Saginaw, who contributed to our summer kick-off.

Let's start with a few views of Revolutionary War sites you might want to visit.  First let's take the C train up to Washington Heights and Morris Jumel Mansion, 65 Jumel Terrace, Manhattan.  For more information, visit http://www.morrisjumel.org

Photos by Douglas Kiddie

Now let's head south to Annapolis.  Round Tabler Joanne Grasso reports from her visit there earlier this year: "Annapolis was a surprise to me because, I, like so many others, thought that Baltimore was the capital of Maryland.  Annapolis is also the beautiful city in which the Naval Academy resides.  It was great spending time in the historic section of Annapolis.  There is a myriad of shops, outdoor cafes, and historic inns.  It is not a bad drive from New York and it can also be accessed by bus or Amtrak as well.  It is well worth the trip to see one of our Revolutionary areas of the original thirteen states."  For more information, visit http://www.visitannapolis.org and click on "History and Heritage."

Two views of the gracious State House.  Photos by Joanne Grasso.

It's time for dessert!  Below, Round Tabler Lynne Saginaw reports on a favorite.

Cool Thoughts for a Hot Day

In the June 2014 issue of the ARRT newsletter, Editor Tom Fleming (yes, that Thomas Fleming), had a few things to say about the Founding Fathers’ favorite treat:

“In the 18^th Century, ‘Ice creem’ was a delicacy favored by the elite.  Thomas Jefferson loved it and so did George Washington.  A family needed enough money to devote a lot of milk to the product, plus quantities of imported sugar.  Also needed was ice, which had to be cut on a river or pond during the winter and kept in an ice house for use during the summer.  The final preparations took a lot of time that families without servants could not spare.  

"By the time George became our first president, he was a devotee.  His records reveal the purchase of an ice cream serving spoons and two ‘dble tin Ice Cream moulds.’  Next came twelve ‘ice plates’ and thirty-six ‘ice pots.’  The latter were small cups used for holding the ice cream which was more liquid than our 2014 version.  One writer compares Georges’ version to ‘a running ice cream cone o a hot day.’  The number of ice cream pots suggested that the President must have served the taste-treat at his formal dinner parties, where there were often two dozen or more guests.  No wonder he was a popular president!”

Those charming factoids got book review chair Lynne Saginaw, salivating, er thinking.  As a passionate devotee of the cold sweet stuff, she set out to learn and thing or two about ice cream in those days.  

She reports:  “According to Saveur Magazine, the ice-house-deprived were not out of luck if they lived in New York City.  In 1777, the May 12 edition of the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury sported an advertisement from one Phillip Lindsay (or Lenzi) for ice cream on sale in his confectioner’s shop in Manhattan. 

Dolley Madison, image courtesy of www.Wikipedia.com

"The IDFA (International Dairy Farmers’ Association) says that ice cream was introduced by Quaker colonists.  Popular flavors were sweetened lemon, cherry, raspberry, currant and strawberry.  In addition to Washington and Jefferson, Ben Franklin was a fan of ice cream, and of course, Dolley Madison reportedly served it in the White House, leading to that 20^th Century commercial tie-in.”

Lynne is looking for the location of Lenzi’s confectionary shop.  She thinks it deserves landmark status, or at least a plaque.  Might our readers have any ideas?  Post comments below.

And now, go out and celebrate our Republic!