Lafayette: America's Promise of Equality 1824-2024
4-weeks (first 4) | Registration closed 9/1/2024
September 1824 marks the 200th anniversary of the late-in-life, local visit of the esteemed
Frenchman, and only living American Revolutionary War Major General at the time, the Marquis de Lafayette. Crowds of historic size (and diversity) met and cheered him in Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Red Hook, and Fishkill. Through the eyes of the audience that greeted him (including enslaved persons of color, Indigenous Peoples, women and disenfranchised working class Protestants) we examine why he became a litmus test and clarion call for so many seeking an equal seat at an increasingly diverse American table well into the 20th century.
Bill Jeffway
Bill Jeffway is the Executive Director of the Dutchess County Historical Society. His research and writing (which includes a biweekly column in the Northern & Southern Dutchess News) aims to represent a whole and diverse history. He serves on the research committee of the Poughkeepsie-based Celebrating the African Spirit, and on the external advisory board of Vassar College's Inclusive History Initiative. Jeffway has a degree in American Studies and English from Wesleyan University.