Thanks to all involved in the Haddonfield Skirmish! See you next year - June 7, 2025!
Thanks to all involved in the Haddonfield Skirmish! See you next year - June 7, 2025!
PRESS RELEASE
April 24, 2024
For Immediate Release
Press Kit including images (IndianKingFriends.org/press) & Contact Link
Thomas Jefferson on Working with Friends & Foes to Protect Democracy
Insights on Working with Alexander Hamilton, John Adams & Aaron Burr
“Jefferson” Returns to Haddonfield after 2022 Sold-Out Show
HADDONFIELD, NJ (April 24, 2024) – The election of 1800 brought about a constitutional crisis that almost split the nation and undermined our fledgling government. That election was the first peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another under the new United States Constitution. In the opinion of our third president, Thomas Jefferson, that made it the culmination of the American Revolution. But it very nearly failed to turn out that way.
On Wednesday, May 15, Thomas Jefferson examines how the United States successfully navigated this first great test of our constitutional elective system. Join Steve Edenbo of the American Historical Theatre as Jefferson when he returns to Haddonfield after his 2022 sold-out show. “‘In the Course of Human Events’: Working with Friends and Foes to Protect Democracy” features Jefferson’s insights on navigating the political divides that defined our democracy.
“The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave,” wrote Jefferson in 1820. Through stories of his relationships with three men that he knew and worked with personally -- John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr – Jefferson shares his insights on how the founding generation avoided this near disaster. Then Jefferson contrasts American survival with the stories of three men that he knew well but not personally – Caesar, Gorgias and Napoleon – who represent a crucial Jeffersonian theory about the demise of their respective popular governments: the Roman Republic, the ancient Athenian democracy and France’s First Republic.
Covering 2,000 years of the human struggle to establish and nourish self-government, this visionary founder offers us something that was precious to him: hope. “Hope is so much pleasanter than despair, that I always prefer looking into futurity through her glass,” Jefferson optimistically wrote in 1807.
The May 15 show starts at 7 p.m. at the Haddonfield United Methodist Church, 29 Warwick Road in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Tickets are $17.76 and benefit the nonprofit Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum. Special tickets for a 6 p.m. pre-show “Meet and Greet with Jefferson” event are available for $40 while supplies last, and include general admission to the 7 p.m. show. These special tickets include light colonial-inspired fare, non-alcoholic “mocktails,” photo opportunities and a chance to speak with Edenbo as America’s third president.
This event is part of various Revolutionary-era activities that lead up to the annual Haddonfield Skirmish on Saturday, June 1. Other events include lectures on the Hessian legacy in the American Revolution and the complexity of choosing sides in a divided New Jersey during the conflict.
During the Haddonfield Skirmish on Saturday, June 1, colonial and Revolutionary history take over the Indian King Tavern Museum and Haddonfield. As one of the key market towns outside Philadelphia during the Revolution, the community found itself caught in the crossroads as various troops moved throughout the region. The historic tavern was the temporary home of New Jersey’s fleeing legislature and was where the colony transitioned into a state. Events start throughout town at 9 a.m. on June 1 and a skirmish battle – reminiscent of 1778 events -- takes place in front of the Indian King Tavern Museum at 2 p.m. The day ends with a closing lecture, “Taking Sides in Revolutionary New Jersey” with historian Maxine Lurie. For more information on the Haddonfield Skirmish or any of the lead-up events, go to IndianKingFriends.org.
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About the Program:
“‘In the Course of Human Events’: Working with Friends and Foes to Protect Democracy” [theatrical event]
Wednesday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
Haddonfield United Methodist Church, 29 Warwick Road, Haddonfield, New Jersey 08033
Tickets $17.76 (fundraiser benefiting Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum)
https://indiankingfriends.org/jefferson-event
About the American Historical Theatre (AHT):
Founded in 1992 (AHT) is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our Actor/Historians educate, entertain and inspire through Living History. For more than 25 years, our first person interpreters have encouraged audience members to encounter and interact with history, developing empathy and underscoring the role of choice. We hope that by creating a better understanding of the struggles and achievements of past generations, we can inspire the present to use these lessons and create a better history for the future. [text from the AHT website]
About the Haddonfield Skirmish and the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum:
The Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum is the “friends of” (FO) nonprofit organization for the state-owned Indian King Tavern Museum; The Haddonfield Skirmish team is part of the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum.
Each year, the Haddonfield Skirmish team organizes a series of Revolutionary-era events including free lectures, political debates and theatrical events -- and an annual skirmish reenactment coupled with town-wide events. The reenactment takes place on the first Saturday each June. IndianKingFriends.org
About the Indian King Tavern Museum:
It was in this American public house, in the heart of downtown Haddonfield, where New Jersey officially became a state in 1777. It is in this early American tavern that the newly formed New Jersey Legislature met during the first nine months of 1777 to discuss and vote upon issues of war, and where New Jersey’s official designation was changed from colony to state. The tavern became New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site in 1903. Today, the first and second floors of the site are open to the public.
Learn more at https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/indiankingtavern.html or IndianKingFriends.org.
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Press Kit including images (IndianKingFriends.org/press) & Contact Link
PRESS RELEASE
April 3, 2024
For Immediate Release
Hessians in the American Revolution: Red Bank Battlefield’s Mass Burials
Historians Share New Research on Buried Soldiers Uncovered in 2022
HADDONFIELD, NJ (April 3, 2024) – In the summer of 2022, a remarkable discovery was made at the nearby Red Bank battlefield: the remains of at least 15 Hessian soldiers buried for 245 years. Learn about the recent archaeological findings, the role of Hessians in the American Revolution, and what historians uncovered about the individual soldiers found at Red Bank.
“The Hessian Legacy and the American Revolution,” a free lectures series organized by the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum and the Rowan University Department of History, runs from April 22 to May 7 in historic Haddonfield.
"It is absolutely amazing for the public to hear about these discoveries as they are being researched!" exclaimed Michelle Hughes, historian at the Indian King Tavern Museum.
On April 22, meet the team in charge of the 2022 archaeological dig, historian Jen Janofsky and archaeologist Wade P. Catts of Rowan University. On April 29, Robert A. Selig shares the painstaking efforts undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic to document the recovered soldiers. Discover how Hessian soldiers and accompanying civilians – including hundreds of women and children – described the American war and the people with historian Friederike Baer of Penn State Abington College on May 7. Each lecture starts at 7 p.m. at The Haddon Fortnightly at 301 Kings Highway East in Haddonfield, New Jersey.
The lectures are part of various Revolutionary-era events that lead up to the annual Haddonfield Skirmish in Haddonfield on Saturday, June 1. Other events include a May 15 performance of Thomas Jefferson featuring his insights on working with friends and foes alike to protect democracy.
Then on Saturday, June 1, colonial and Revolutionary history take over the Indian King Tavern Museum and Haddonfield. As one of the key market towns outside Philadelphia during the Revolution, the community found itself caught in the crossroads as various troops moved throughout the region. The historic tavern was the temporary home of New Jersey’s fleeing legislature and was where the colony transitioned into a state. On June 1, events start throughout town at 9 a.m. and a skirmish battle – reminiscent of 1778 events -- takes place in front of the Indian King Tavern Museum at 2 p.m.
For more information on the Haddonfield Skirmish or any of the lead-up events, go to IndianKingFriends.org.
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About the Red Bank Battlefield Park and the Red Bank Battlefield Archaeology Project:
During the summer of 2022, the skeletal remains of multiple individuals were discovered in a shallow mass grave at Red Bank Battlefield Park in Gloucester County’s National Park.
Believed by historians and archaeologists to be the remains of Hessian soldiers killed during the Battle of Red Bank in 1777, the remains were uncovered during a public archaeology dig at the battlefield. The remains were excavated and taken to the New Jersey State Police Forensic Unit for study to help researchers identify their origin, to help tell the story of the lives lost, and, possibly eventually, to even find their descendants. [text from Rowan website - LINK]
About the Haddonfield Skirmish and the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum:
The Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum is the “friends of” (FO) nonprofit organization for the state-owned Indian King Tavern Museum; The Haddonfield Skirmish team is part of the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum.
Each year, the Haddonfield Skirmish team organizes a series of Revolutionary-era events including free lectures, political debates and theatrical events -- and an annual skirmish reenactment coupled with town-wide events. The reenactment takes place on the first Saturday each June.
About the Indian King Tavern Museum:
It was in this American public house, in the heart of downtown Haddonfield, where New Jersey officially became a state in 1777. It is in this early American tavern that the newly formed New Jersey Legislature met during the first nine months of 1777 to discuss and vote upon issues of war, and where New Jersey’s official designation was changed from colony to state. The tavern became New Jersey’s first state-owned historic site in 1903. Today, the first and second floors of the site are open to the public.
Learn more at https://nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/indiankingtavern.html or IndianKingFriends.org.
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Copyright © 2024 Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum - All Rights Reserved.
This site was created by the Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and funding educational programs related to New Jersey's treasure, the Indian King Tavern Museum in Haddonfield.
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