In this lecture, join author, photographer, and licensed NYC sightseeing guide Tommy Silk as he discusses how he decided on the 120 buildings that constitute the hidden landmarks of the five boroughs. Discover the histories of the city's remaining buildings from the 18th century and earlier, including Fraunces Tavern itself, and learn why so few of these structures remain today.*

This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, November 11, 2024.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

The Hidden Landmarks of New York

Clement Clarke Moore is known the world over for his masterpiece of juvenile fiction, Twas the Night Before Christmas — less well-known is Moore's own life story and the involvement of his parents and grandparents during the revolutionary period. Join author and historian Pamela McColl for a festive presentation on the life and times of Clement Clarke Moore (New York, NY 1779-1863) and the Moore and Clarke families' involvement in the Revolutionary War.*

This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, December 9, 2024.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Twas The Night: The Life and Times of Clement Clarke Moore

On Monday, January 27, 2025, SRNY commemorated the birthday of Frederick Samuel Tallmadge, the second President of the Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc., whose generosity enabled the Society to acquire Fraunces Tavern in 1904.

Our featured speaker was Richard Brookhiser,* author of Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution. This engaging book tells the life-story of John Trumbull, and also explains the significance of Trumbull’s celebrated Revolutionary War paintings, which reflected Trumbull’s personal experience as aide to George Washington and to Horatio Gates. 

Richard Brookhiser is a celebrated journalist and author who has written a series of biographies and other books on American founders and other leading figures in American history, including Alexander Hamilton, Governor Morris, George Washington, John Marshall, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and the Adams family dynasty.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. Tallmadge Day Meeting 2025

George Washington and Samuel Fraunces developed skills of risk-taking, judgement, and leadership through their entrepreneurial ventures that would later advantage them and the new nation when they chose to join the cause of American patriots. In this lecture, John Berlau spotlights the successes and struggles of both men in their respective business careers that intertwined at important points in American history.*

This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, March 3, 2025.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Entrepreneurs & Patriots: George Washington, Samuel Fraunces, and Their Bold Business Ventures

More than 3 years passed between the last battle in the North and the British surrender at Yorktown. In this lecture, Alan Pell Crawford tells what actually happened in those 3 too-little known years that forced the British to lose the war–and enabled America to win it.*

This lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, March 17, 2025.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

This Fierce People: The Untold Story of America's Revolutionary War in the South

Join author Kostya Kennedy for this lecture exploring the dramatic events of April 18 and 19, 1775—the night of Paul Revere’s famous ride. With new insights from archives, family documents, and contemporary accounts, discover how the legendary ride is far more complex than it is usually portrayed.*

This special 250th lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, May 5, 2025.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night that Saved America

On June 23, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. commemorated the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill with a reception and lecture by Dr. Samuel A. Forman*, author of Dr. Joseph Warren: The Boston Tea Party, Bunker Hill, and the Birth of American Liberty. 

At the 250th anniversary of the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, we recall the Battle of Bunker Hill, whose carnage and sacrifice set the stage for eight long years of war. What began as a dispute to assert British Constitutional rights within colonial North America, with New England often on the point of controversy, would eventually morph into a new country, with new forms of representative and accountable government.

Joseph Warren was an outstanding personality from the early and formative Revolutionary period. A physician, Mason, editorial writer and high Son of Liberty, Warren espoused an aspirational view of what America could and should be. Warren entered the national spotlight as more visible Patriot leaders left for the Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775. From writing the stirring Suffolk Resolves, to delivering riveting speeches, dispatching Paul Revere on that Midnight Ride, leading the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and coordinating the Siege of Boston in its earliest phase, Joseph Warren was often at the forefront. When it had become apparent that the dispute with England would be decided by force of arms, Warren became a militia organizer. Declining a medical role for that of a soldier, he fought valiantly at Bunker Hill.

By 1776, following the 9-month Siege of Boston, the war would come to New York with a vengeance and with the outcome far from certain.

This special 250th lecture was recorded on Tuesday, June 23, 2025.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

The Battle of Bunker Hill, a Seismic Early Revolutionary War Conflict, and Dr. Joseph Warren

It is a truism that Lower Manhattan has been America's town square since its founding in 1524, even though its history is much deeper. Virtually every aspect of global, local and national significance can be in some manner traced to this Downtown stage. Some have been forgotten and some have been transformative in our culture and many have fallen between. This is both a project in urban archaeology and a way of describing the city over time. It Happened Here captures the multiple and overlapping stories that are woven throughout our city's life. It embraces America's history as the museums, monuments and memorials that dot its streetscape do. It highlights many of the concerns, events, and places that the people who lived, fought, worked and visited here thought were important at their moment in time.

On July 5, 2025, Fraunces Tavern Museum hosted an afternoon of special programming exploring 19th century New York. Hear from speakers* on topics including the Marquis de Lafayette's return to America early in the century, immigration to New York, and the Gilded Age as we join cultureNOW's IT HAPPENED HERE program to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the founding of New York.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

Lafayette and the Gilded Age It Happened Here Symposium

It is a truism that Lower Manhattan has been America's town square since its founding in 1524, even though its history is much deeper. Virtually every aspect of global, local and national significance can be in some manner traced to this Downtown stage. Some have been forgotten and some have been transformative in our culture and many have fallen between. This is both a project in urban archaeology and a way of describing the city over time. It Happened Here captures the multiple and overlapping stories that are woven throughout our city's life. It embraces America's history as the museums, monuments and memorials that dot its streetscape do. It highlights many of the concerns, events, and places that the people who lived, fought, worked and visited here thought were important at their moment in time.

On July 4, 2025, Fraunces Tavern Museum hosted an afternoon of special programming exploring 18th century New York. Hear from speakers* on topics including the Museum's special 250th exhibition, Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation, as we join cultureNOW's IT HAPPENED HERE program to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the founding of New York.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

It Happened Here - July 4 Symposium at Fraunces Tavern Museum 2025

Spies, espionage, and intelligence operations during the American Revolution have long captured the public's imagination, thanks in part to popular books and television series. While these dramatizations highlight a captivating aspect of the Revolutionary War, they often blur the line between fact and fiction. Join historian Charles Dewey to uncover the real stories of the men and women—soldiers and civilians alike—who risked or sacrificed their lives for the cause.*

This special 250th lecture was recorded as part of Fraunces Tavern Museum's Evening Lecture series on Monday, August 11, 2025.

*The views of the speakers are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sons of the Revolution℠ in the State of New York, Inc. or its Fraunces Tavern® Museum.

The Spies, Spycraft, and Intelligence Operations of Greater New York

Fraunces Tavern Museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history of the American Revolutionary era through public education. This mission is fulfilled through the interpretation and preservation of the Museum's collections, landmarked buildings and varied public programs that serve the community. You can stand in the room where General Washington said farewell to his officers and explore seven additional galleries that focus on America's War for Independence and the preservation of early American history.

The Spies, Spycraft, and Intelligence Operations of Greater New York

Fraunces Tavern Museum

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