The Friendship of Lafayette and the Oneida Nation

FREE TO THE PUBLIC BUT SEAT RESERVATION IS REQUIRED. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

2:15 Alan Hoffman, President AFL: Welcome and Introductions

2:30 Nora Slonimsky, Iona University

Title: “Fact, Fiction, and the Legends of Lafayette: Lessons from Teaching Historical Memory in the Age of Revolutions”

Abstract: Thanks to a reappearance in popular culture over the last few years, the Marquis de Lafayette has been a renewed subject of interest amongst students I have taught at Iona University.  Whether it is the ebullient performance of Daveed Digs in the musical phenomenon Hamilton, or through the eyes of Adrienne de Noailles, his wife, who features prominently in the novel, The Women of Chateau Lafayette, Lafayette is a figure very much of his time, and yet some of his experiences have a contemporary resonance that speak to directly to today. This talk will consider the ways in which Lafayette has been remembered over time, alongside the historical memory of James Armistead Lafayette and others with whom Lafayette had a connection, and discuss how those specific memories help us to better understand the Age of Revolutions and aspects of commemoration today.

Bio: Dr. Nora Slonimsky is an associate professor of history at Iona University, where she is also the director of the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS). Dr. Slonimsky is the social media editor of the Journal of the Early Republic and reviews editor for SHARP News, with other service appointments at the Organization of American Historians (OAH) and the Society for the History of the Early American Republic (SHEAR). She is the author of the forthcoming The Engine of Free Expression: Copyrighting the State in Early America, which won the SHEAR prize for best manuscript, and co-editor of American Revolutions in the Digital Age, which will be published open-access on August 15th, 2024

3:00 James Kirby Martin, University

Title: Major General Marquis de Lafayette: “The Nobility of Virtue”

Abstract:

Lafayette grew up in the self-serving, selfish world of favored aristocratic status in monarchical France. Somehow, during his teenage years, he went through a profound transformation in rejecting his life of immense personal privilege in favor of an unbreakable commitment to selfless service on behalf of the liberation of humanity. What caused this personal transition, and why did it matter so much in shaping the realities of the American Revolution? What did Lafayette actually accomplish in his unwavering commitment to liberty and the practice of public virtue? Why do his remarkable accomplishments still matter so much today?

Brief Bio:

James Kirby Martin earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin before embarking on a teaching career at Rutgers University and the University of Houston. He gained emeritus status at UH, having recently served as the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of History. He has also held distinguished visiting professorships at The Citadel and the United States Military Academy at West Point. Martin is the author or editor of more than a dozen books, among them Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero (1997); Forgotten Allies (2006) with J. Glatthaar about the Oneida; and A Respectable Army (2015) with M. Lender. Martin has also been involved in developing and producing historical film projects, and he has served as a historian advisor to the Oneida Indian Nation of New York.

3:30 Ray Halbritter, Representative of the Oneida Indian Nation and the Chief Executive Officer of its enterprises

Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter will speak about the Oneida people’s friendship with Marquis de Lafayette and their important role in the Revolutionary War, where they became America’s First Allies. Among these contributions, he will discuss the role of Oneida warriors in supporting Lafayette’s troops during the Battle of Barren Hill. Halbritter will also address Lafayette’s return to the United States 50 years after the Revolutionary War and his disappointment that many Americans had forgotten the Oneida people’s critical contributions to the country’s founding.

4:00 Panel Discussion

4:15 Audience questions