Fraunces Tavern exhibit will explore revolutionary history to mark 250th anniversary of United States
A New York City bar that had a role in the Revolutionary War is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States with a special exhibition. This spring, the Fraunces Tavern Museum will open “Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation,” a chronological, multi-year installation exploring the historic events that took place at the tavern and in New York throughout the American Revolution. Opening on April 22, the exhibit will also showcase the tavern’s role in history, from hosting the Sons of Liberty to serving as the site of trials that led to the emancipation of thousands of Black Loyalists.
The first part of the exhibition focuses on the years 1775 to 1776, featuring personal letters, artifacts, and artwork from the museum’s permanent collection. These items will illuminate key events from the early stages of the Revolutionary War, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
There will be a particular focus on the Battle for New York, including the Battle of Long Island, the Battle of Harlem Heights, and the Battle of White Plains.
Museum visitors will learn the stories of everyday people who fought for their beliefs through historic artifacts. A letter from Nathan Hale to his brother Enoch, his last known letter before the British hanged Hale as a spy, will offer a perspective of a man willing to give his life for his country.
“Mrs. Murray Entertaining the British Officers, thereby Saving General Putnam’s Army, 1776,” will highlight the pivotal role a New York woman had in winning the Revolutionary War. A letter from quartermaster Sidney Berry to his wife, written after the Battle of Trenton, will transition visitors to the next phase of the exhibition, offering a glimpse into how soldiers communicated home during the war.
The exhibition will include a selection of treasures from the museum’s vast 8,000-piece collection. This includes recently conserved works, such as a John Mackie Falconer painting depicting the house where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, and a Henry Hintermeister painting, “Retreat to Victory,” which portrays George Washington overseeing the evacuation of troops from Brooklyn after the Battle of Long Island.
The exhibition will also feature three-dimensional objects, like a piece of the original wrought iron fence placed around Bowling Green, where a statue of King George III was toppled after a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
“Path to Liberty” kicks off the Fraunces Tavern Museum’s Liberty 250 celebrations, a series of programs and events that include a lecture series aligned with key moments featured in the exhibition.
The Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc.—the owner and operator of the tavern—will celebrate the exhibition’s opening on April 21 with its annual Battles of Lexington and Concord Dinner.
“Path to Liberty will be all the more exceptional because the visitor will learn about the conflict in a unique setting where Revolutionary War events actually happened. Indeed, the roof of Fraunces Tavern, Manhattan’s oldest building, was hit by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War,” Craig Hamilton Weaver, co-chairman of the SRNY Museum & Art Committee, said.
Located at 54 Pearl Street, the Fraunces Tavern was constructed in 1719 and restored by the Sons of the Revolution to its 18th-century appearance in the early 1900s. Today, visitors can see the rooms where Washington bid farewell to his officers, and where John Jay negotiated treaties with foreign nations.
The “watering hole for many of the Founding Fathers” remains a bar and restaurant today, with several bars serving up beers, cocktails, whiskey and both American and U.K. fare.
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