The American Friends of Lafayette

The American Friends of Lafayette

Current Events & News:

AFL's Annual Meeting to be held on June 12 - 14, 2008 in Concord and Portsmouth, New Hampshire!

May also be viewed here in PDF format.

A Message from AFL President William Kirchner,

May also be viewed here in PDF format.

AFL Celebrated Lafayette's 250th Birthday at Lafayette College on September 6, 2007.

The 250th Birthday Celebration Was A Big Hit!
Stay tuned for upcoming news story. 75th anniversary edition is now available online - view it here: gazette75th.pdf (Caution! Large, 12.7mb PDF file. 28 pages.)

Exhibit at Lafayette College about Generals Lafayette and Washington entitled "A Son and His Adoptive Father", from Mt. Vernon's F.M. Kirby Foundation Gallery, will be moving to the New York Historical Society.
(See http://lafayette.edu/news.php/view/9466/).

Join us in France in 2007 for Lafayette's 250th Birthday Celebration!!
See the following website for details about this wonderful pilgrimage:
http://www.theperseus.com/Lafayette

74th Annual Meeting of The American Friends of Lafayette, June 8 - 10, 2006 in Troy, NY (By Janice Wolk)
Click here to read the full story in PDF format...

American Friends of Lafayette Members Attend Rochambeau Dinner

AFL members Janice Wolk, Caroline Lareuse, and Jean Hultgren attended and thoroughly enjoyed "General Rochambeau's Dinner Party" on September 15, 2006, sponsored by Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route New Jersey (WR3-NJ). The dinner was held at the Somerset Hills Hotel, on the route of the march, just south of the Bullion's Tavern campsite. And, as we can imagine from the attached photo, Janice's dance group was a big hit!

2007 Liberty Corner Dinner on 9/7.

AFL's Participation at the 225th Anniversary of the Victory at Yorktown, October 18 - 22, 2006 - a report by William Kirchner, AFL's President

AFL's Participation at the 225th Anniversary of the Victory at Yorktown, October 18-22, 2006 - a report by William Kirchner, AFL's President AFL's "delegation" for the 225th Anniversary Celebration of the Sept.-Oct. 1781 Battle at Yorktown included some of our more recent members... Mrs. Janice Wolk, (NJ), now our Corresponding Secretary; Alan Hoffman, (NH), who will publish his translation of Auguste Levasseur's "Lafayette en Amerique1824-25" in '07; and Mr. Enoch O'D. Woodhouse II, (MA), Lt. Col. (ret.), USAF. Enoch, a member for some years, has been at our last three annual meetings and has been elected as AFL's second vice president. Active members from the Yorktown-Norfolk area who attended were Mrs. Anne Hazen, Mr. John Scotton, and Mrs. Betty McPherson, who is AFL's representative to The Yorktown Day Association. Betty's home is a little more or less than a football field's length from the 1881 Yorktown Victory Monument. Also attending were Bill Kirchner, President since 2002, and Mrs.Linda Kirchner, (TN); Phil Schroeder, AFL Treasurer, and Mrs. Barb Schroeder, (PA); and completing the group were Mrs. Jean Hultgren (NJ) and Mrs. Caroline Lareuse, (NJ), who until recently served as Honorary Consul of France for New Jersey. On Yorktown Day, October 19, Caroline served as AFL's honorary flag bearer during the traditional and impressive wreath-laying ceremony at the Victory Monument.

The three most significant anniversary celebrations of the victorious 1781 siege of Yorktown were the 1881 Centennial ceremonies, the 1931 Sesquicentennial, and the 1981 Bicentennial. The 2006 Yorktown celebration and related programs were spread over four very full days; a major departure, decidedly, from the usual two day observances in years between major half-century celebrations. It would seem Yorktown 2006 got swept up in Virginia's carefully planned and spectacular celebrations for the state's 400th Anniversary, next year, in 2007. It was May of 1607 - four centuries past - when the first settlement of English colonists/adventurers was successfully established on the banks of the James River. Check out the internet site www.Americas400thAnniversary.com. Aha, so then... Yorktown 225 is "An America's 400th Anniversary Signature Event."

The 2006 Yorktown Victory Celebration was designed to serve as the "kickoff event" for a series of diverse and spectacular historical programs and ceremonies which will chronicle and interpret the material, cultural, social and religious, and political life and history of the state of Virginia and her significant influence on the course of America's history as a nation. The following printed material is taken from an 8x11 twelve page brochure... 225th Yorktown. It should provide a really good idea of the events and programs... many of which were very, very good.
Please click here to view the Schedule of Events in PDF format.

Some of you may find it "curious" that a 2007 Four Hundredth Anniversary Celebration began in 2006. I for one did so. Will it lap over into 2008? I wouldn't be surprised. Friday afternoon Linda and I visited the old Custom House on Main St. It had been restored by the Comte de Grasse Chapter, NSDAR, of Yorktown, in the early 20th Century; we were looking for a good-sized bronze tablet which had been dedicated there in Oct. 1931 during the Sesquicentennial Celebration. We knew what it would say. Mary Ann Philyaw, chapter member, let us in. She had been doing tours. It took several minutes to locate it .. affixed to the outer North wall on a side porch. It was difficult to read .. " For Freedom... A Swiss Nobleman .Baron Gaspard De Gallatin .. Aide-De-Camp To Comte de Rochambeau .. Led the French Grenadiers in their Attack on Pigeon Quarter Oct. 6, 1781... Erected by the State of Virginia D.A.R.... 1931."

Ms. Philyaw had not known of it. The 1931 ceremony had been brief... Music at the outset by the U.S. Coast Guard Band; Then a Dedicatory Address by Hon. Hiram Bingham, U.S. Senator from Conn. Followed by the Unveiling... done by Mrs. George D. Chenoweth, Regent, Comte de Grasse Chapter, D.A.R. ... Official Ceremony concluded... Music by U.S. Coast Guard Band.

Baron Gaspard Gabriel de Gallatin was born 1758 in Geneva (a year after Lafayette), he was a fifth cousin of Albert Gallatin... remember the fine Annual Meeting, 2004 . Pittsburgh; hats off to Al Oberst and Donald Miller. Senator Bingham's address in full can be found in: THE YORKTOWN SESQUICENTENNIAL... published in cloth by the U.S. Government Printing Office, Wash. D.C. 1932 (382pp.) beginning on p. 255, concludes p.268. (p. 254 "Tablet to Baron Gaspard de Gallatin). An American living in France, Warrington Dawson, discovered a hand-written journal by Gallatin, unknown for almost 150 yrs., carefully compiled by Rochambeau's aide in 1781, and persuaded a family descendant of 2nd Lieutenant Gallatin to allow it to be reproduced by Dawson. Dawson had the French Department at William and Mary translate it into English. It was then published by GPO as Senate Doc. No. 322, 71st Congress, 3rd session.

Just as I came upon a few pages of the translation in a display case at the Custom House, given by Dawson (and an 18th century engraving of Gallatin and his wife), Linda spied one of our 1934 bronze Flanagan medallions in another corner of the display case. A yellowed paper strip described it as a gift from the French Government in 1931. We told Ms. Philyaw the medallion wasn't cast until May of 1934.

The following afternoon a few of our AFL group returned to the Custom House for a private session with Ms. Philyaw and the Regent, Mrs. Marion Clayton. Pictures were taken on the porch under the Tablet, and I retold the story. Ms. Philyaw asked me to send her a written account, which I did a couple of weeks after returning to Chattanooga. Warrington Dawson was a member of AFL in 1933 and subscribed for one of our Flanagan Medallions in 1934. Interestingly, I also found Mrs. George D. Chenoweth, Regent of the Yorktown Chapter... who had unveiled the Tablet in 1931, as a member of AFL in 1934; she also purchased one of the Lafayette Medallions in 1934.

Friday evening, our group attended a lovely, spirited reception and cocktail/light hors d'ouevres party at Betty McPherson's home on Bacon St. Several of her friends and neighbors interested in Lafayette came also. The Yorktown Park Superintendent and his wife stopped by for a few moments. All enjoyed themselves.

(William Kirchner)

David Clary's latest book, Adopted Son.

AFL member Dave Clary's latest book, Adopted Son, has been published by Bantam Dell/Random House. It is a Featured Alternate of the History Book Club, an Alternate of the Book of the Month Club, an Alternate of the Military Book Club, an Alternate of the American Compass Book Club, and of others. General Lafayette will be getting considerable attention in his 250th year, it appears.

http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=74028

Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825 by Auguste Levasseur, General Lafayette's Private Secretary during his trip, has been translated by AFL member Alan R. Hoffman and will be published soon. This hardcover book, which contains an introduction by Mr. Hoffman, is 572 pages in length and includes 13 black-and-white illustrations.
http://www.lafayetteinamerica.com/

In the words of Diane Windham Shaw, Special Collections Librarian at Lafayette College, "Alan R. Hoffman has done a masterful job of reacquainting us with a classic text that deserves wider recognition. Auguste Levasseur's account of Lafayette's visit to America in 1824-1825 is a ringside seat at one of the great events in American social and cultural history. Through this fine new English translation, we are able to come along as Lafayette travels to all twenty-four states in the Union, accepts the adulation of a nation, and has adventures aplenty, including a harrowing shipwreck. What makes the account all the more valuable as a commentary on America is that it reveals how very fitting was Lafayette's sobriquet 'The Nation's Guest,' as he insisted on spending time not just with the country's elite, but also with ordinary citizens, African Americans, and American Indians."

Mr. Hoffman's book is available for $30 plus $5 shipping ($24 for 10 or more copies) by writing Alan R. Hoffman, Lafayette in America, Order Department, 45 Hardy Road, Londonderry, NH 03053, USA), or by email at arhesq@aol.com, or telephone, 603-432-3440 (fax 603-432-7211).

The 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Friends of Lafayette
June 9-11, 2005, Alexandria, VA and Washington, D.C.

Click here for a full report by AFL member Janice Wolk...

"Jason Lane's gripping biography, "General and Madame de Lafayette, Partners in Liberty's Cause in the American and French Revolutions," gives a fascinating account of the lives of both Lafayette and his wife, Adrienne."

LAFAYETTE was known as "The Hero of Two Worlds. "He held the gratitude of Americans for his help in their War of Independence and the veneration of French liberals for his battle to liberate his countrymen from a venal nobility --a battle he waged despite being a noble himself. Now the story of his life and that of his wife is told in compelling detail in this fascinating account by historian Jason Lane.

Click HERE for more information...

The Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette is now online.
You may view and download the Gazette in Adobe PDF format by clicking the links below.
Special 75th Anniversary Edition, September, 2007. (Caution! 12.7mb file, 28 pages.)
Issue No. 69, August, 2007
Issue No. 68, May, 2006
Issue No. 67, May, 2005
Please be patient while these large files load.

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer in order to view these files.

Harlow Giles Unger's biography tells the remarkable and dramatic story of Lafayette's life.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=0BZ3D9OAZP&isbn=0471394327

Valley Forge Welcome Center--Grand Opening

Superintendent of Valley Forge National Historical Park Arthur Stewart with John Wynn (representing the American Friends of Lafayette) at the Grand Opening of the Welcome Center ,October 10th 2002.

Excerpts from The Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette:

Library of Congress Filmed Documents Loaned by Count Rene de Chambrun

Washington .DC. It was in 1956 that the count Rene de Chambrun found a large collection of papers of his ancestor, the Marquis de Lafayette, at La Grange, the 15th century chateau, which he had acquired. The cache was found in one of its towers behind fake walls and fake cabinets.

According to an article by Sarah Booth Conroy in the Washington Post September 11, 1995, the collection amounted to 50,000 papers containing long hidden, barely rumored secrets of the American, French, and at least three other revolutions as well as impassioned love letters.

The Library of Congress greeted the Count who had made arrangements for the national library to film these valuable documents. They include a secret code used by Washington and Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, a letter from John Adams to Lafayette in which he informs the French nobleman of this defeat in the Presidential election of 1800, and a handwritten note by Lafayette of the siege of Yorktown.

Dr. James Billington, the librarian of the Library of Congress and the one who organized a team to travel to France to microfilm the remarkable discovery, arranged accommodations for the Count de Chambrun at the Hotel Madison.

The filming was completed recently and scholars will soon be able to research this extraordinary treasure.

Annual Lafayette Day Celebration in Pennsylvania every September 6.

View the Senate of Pennsylvania official proclamation dated June 13, 2000.

Professor Lloyd Kramer's 1996 Book Continues to Make a Valuable Contribution to Scholarship about Lafayette

Dr. Lloyd Kramer's exceptional book, "Lafayette in Two Worlds, Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolution," published in 1996 by the University of North Carolina Press (www.uncpress.unc.edu), offers a unique interpretation of the cultural and political significance of the career of the Marquis de Lafayette, which spanned the American Revoltion, the French Revolutions of 1789 and 1830, and the Polish Uprising of 1830-31. Moving beyond traditional biography, Kramer traces the wide-ranging influence of Lafayette's public and personal life, including his contributions to the emergence of nationalist ideologies in Europe and America, his extensive connections with liberal political theorists, and his close friendships with prominent writers, many of them women. Kramer places Lafayette on the cusp of the two worlds of America and France, politics and literature, the Enlightenment and the Romantic movement, public affairs and private life, revolution and nationalism, and men and women. He argues that Lafayette's experiences reveal how public figures can symbolize the aspirations of a society as a whole, and he stresses Lafayette's important role in a cultural network of contemporaries that included Germaine de Staël, Benjamin Constant, Frances Wright, James Fenimore Cooper, and Alexis de Tocqueville. History/Biography

A member of The American Friends of Lafayette, Lloyd Kramer is Dean Smith Distinguished Term Professor and chair of the history department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His books include Threshold of a New World: Intellectuals and the Exile Experience in Paris, 1830-1848 and Nationalism: Political Cultures in Europe and America, 1775-1865.