On Tuesday, May 24 at 7 PM, author Brendan McConville will visit Washington Crossing Historic Park to discuss his book, The Brethren: A Story of Faith and Conspiracy in Revolutionary America. Less than a year into the American Revolution, a group of North Carolina farmers hatched a plot to assassinate the colony’s leading patriots, including the governor. The scheme became known as the Gourd Patch or Lewellen Conspiracy. The men called themselves the Brethren. McConville's The Brethren (Harvard University Press, 2021) tells the dramatic story of ordinary people who came to fear that their Revolutionary leaders were trying to undermine Read More

On Sunday, September 18 at 1:30 PM, join author Aaron Sullivan as he discusses his book The Disaffected. He will explore the British occupation of Philadelphia, chronicling the experiences of a group of people who were pursued, pressured, and at times persecuted, not because they chose the wrong side of the Revolution but because they tried not to choose a side at all. For these people, the war was neither a glorious cause to be won nor an unnatural rebellion to be suppressed, but a dangerous and costly calamity to be navigated with care. Both the Patriots and the British Read More

Join us on Wednesday, November 9 from 7 to 8 PM at the Washington Crossing Historic Park Visitor Center for a lecture with Kevin J. Weddle on his book, The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution. This book is the recipient of the 9th annual , Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History which is bestowed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in recognition of the best book in the field of military history published in English during the previous calendar year. In the late summer and fall of 1777, after two years of indecisive fighting on both Read More

The American Revolution was fought by a diverse group of people covering all ranks of society. From privates to generals, and those who supported the army, many of these patriot's stories have gone untold. Join museum curator Kimberly McCarty as she highlights some of the individuals who participated in Washington's legendary crossing of the Delaware on December 25, 1776. This event will be held in-person in the Visitor Center Auditorium. It will also be live-streamed over Zoom. If COVID restrictions are required, it will be changed entirely to virtual. Registrants will be notified of changes. Registration is required. Register on Read More

On Sunday, March 19 at 1:30 PM, join Carrie Fellows, Executive Director of the Hunterdon County (NJ) Cultural & Heritage Commission as she examines the life of the women who followed the Continental Army during the revolution. Through glimpses found in period references, writings, and images, this talk will explore the reasons why women left reasonably secure situations for the uncertainty of following the army. It will describe some of the duties women performed and how they were compensated for them once they were “on the rolls.” How has popular culture portrayed women in this situation, and how have those Read More

On Sunday, May 7 at 1:30 PM, Washington Crossing Historic Park welcomes curators Annie Halliday and Clint Flack from the Mercer Museum to discuss the notorious Doan gang, their background, and activities early in the revolution. The Doan gang was a group of British loyalists, the most notorious members being five brothers and one cousin from the Doan family of Plumstead. The gang was composed of around 30 members who were accused murderers, attainted traitors, horse thieves, and ferried British prisoners of war to British lines. They were also guilty of robbing tax collectors, their most famous crime being the Read More

On Thursday, June 1 at 7 PM, Ricardo A. Herrera will discuss his new book, Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2022) at Washington Crossing Historic Park. In this major new history of the Continental Army’s Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Herrera uncovers what daily life was like for soldiers during the darkest and coldest days of the American Revolution: the Valley Forge winter. Here, the army launched its largest and riskiest operation—not a bloody battle against British forces but a campaign to feed itself and prevent Read More

On Sunday, June 4 at 1:30 PM, join Stuart Leibiger as he discusses his book Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic. Dr. Leibiger analyzes the rise and fall of the friendship and political collaboration between these two Revolutionary Statesmen. After teaming up to help win American Independence, Washington and Madison cooperated on the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. When Washington took office as first president, Madison was his right-hand man and confidant, providing advice on policy and precedents. With the rise of the Federalist and Republican parties, however, Washington and Madison Read More

On Wednesday, September 27 at 7 PM, Norman E. Donoghue II will discuss his new book, Prisoners of Congress: Philadelphia's Quakers in Exile at the Washington Crossing Historic Park Visitor Center Auditorium. The event is free to attend but registration is required. Click here to register. In 1777, Congress labeled Quakers who would not take up arms in support of the War of Independence as “the most Dangerous Enemies America knows” and ordered Pennsylvania and Delaware to apprehend them. In response, Keystone State officials sent twenty men—seventeen of whom were Quakers—into exile, banishing them to Virginia, where they were held for Read More

On Sunday, October 15 at 1:30 PM, author Friederike Baer will discuss her book Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. The book examines the experiences of the estimated 30,000 German soldiers – collectively known as Hessians – that participated in the war on the British side. In 2002, Dr. Baer received a Ph.D. in early American history from Brown University. She served as a project archivist at the American Philosophical Society. Since 2010, she has been on the faculty of Penn State Abington College as an Associate Professor of History and Division Head for Arts and Humanities. Copies Read More