Keeler In The Community
Revolutionary Perspectives Series Continues This Sunday: CCSU’s Forgotten Voices of the Revolutionary War
February 26, 2024
Ridgefield, Conn.— Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center (KTM&HC) will welcome scholars from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) this Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. in the Garden House to discuss their collaborative public history project, Forgotten Voices of the Revolutionary War. Featuring Dr. Kathy Hermes, Dr. Anthony Martin, and Andy King, the program highlights the fascinating research and storytelling efforts shedding new light on the Redding encampment. This is the third installation in KTM&HC’s new speaker series, Revolutionary Perspectives, which celebrates innovative approaches to how we discover, interpret, and share American history, with an emphasis on themes of memory and identity.
The Forgotten Voices of the Revolutionary War project explores the contributions of soldiers of color (Native, African, and African American) who spent the winter of 1778-79 in the three encampments at the Redding Encampment – now Putnam Memorial State Park – or on duty nearby. Professors and graduate students at CCSU conducted research that sought to uncover the lives and experiences of those men, their families, and those who interacted with them during and after the American Revolution. CCSU’s project has local ties: the Redding Encampment is only a few miles from KTM&HC and took place not long after Battle of Ridgefield. Register now to learn more about this compelling aspect of our local history!
Katherine Hermes is the publisher and executive director of Connecticut Explored, Inc. She received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law and her Ph.D. in Colonial American history from Yale University. She is professor emerita at CCSU in the history department, where she served as department chair and taught courses on Anglo-American legal history, Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands, the American Revolution, and other courses in Early America.
Anthony F. Martin is a retired army officer who earned his Ph.D. in anthropology with a subfield in historical archeology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 2017. He is currently an adjunct in the Department of Geography, Anthropology, and Tourism at CCSU.
Andy King is a Volunteer Coordinator at Mystic Seaport Museum. They received their B.A. in History with a minor in Public History from CCSU in 2021 with a President’s Citation for their exceptional involvement in student life, and they finished their M.A. in Public History from CCSU in 2023.
Registration is required for this in-person event, to be held in KTM&HC’s Garden House on Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. Parking is available onsite at 152 Main Street, Ridgefield. The program is free for all, thanks to a generous grant from the Wadsworth Lewis Fund.
The Revolutionary Perspectives speaker series alternates between in-person and virtual programs. Stay tuned – new programs in the series will be announced soon! To register for Sunday’s program or to see what’s happening at KTM&HC, head to our website: www.keelertavernmuseum.org/events.