Lost Stories: How the NYC Fire of 1776 Illuminates Unfamiliar Lives of the American Revolution

Thursday, May 18 from 02:30pm EDT - 04:30pm EDT
In-person and Online
Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004
Presented By Benjamin L. Carp
Sponsored by the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society <span style="color:#000000"><br><br><strong><em>Note: Doors open at 6pm EDT</em></strong></span>

This event is free and can be attended online or in person.

On September 21, 1776, five days after the British occupied New York City, a devastating fire burned down about one-fifth of the City. This mystery brings together a startling cast of characters from around the Atlantic World: soldiers and officers, but also Loyalists, women, and people of African and Indigenous descent. The Great Fire of 1776 offers opportunities to think about the lives and actions of people who have been marginalized or forgotten, and it requires historical context as well as genealogical research to fully unravel its mysteries.

Please join the NYG&B as we welcome author Benjamin L. Carp to explore these themes in the context of his new book, The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution. Dr. Carp holds the Daniel M. Lyons Chair in American History at Brooklyn College and is affiliated Faculty in the History Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He specializes in the history of the American Revolution and the eighteenth century, particularly in the seaport cities of eastern North America.

This event will be held in person at the Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10004, and also livestreamed online. All in-person attendees will receive a copy of the book. 

Program Support

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

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