Expanded Emancipation Exhibition To Open At Fraunces Tavern Museum This Fall With Funding From Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation

Fraunces Tavern Museum to Open Expanded Emancipation Exhibition with Funding from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation

Editor’s note: Fraunces Tavern Museum has a permanent exhibition about emancipation before the Civil War. Many Americans are unaware that there were some, even among the aristocracy benefiting from slavery, who wanted it abolished as long ago as the 1700s while this country was forming. 

The description of the book Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: “In January 1785, a young African American woman named Elizabeth was put on board the Lucretia in New York Harbor, bound for Charleston, where she would be sold to her fifth master in just twenty-two years. Leaving behind a small child she had little hope of ever seeing again, Elizabeth was faced with the stark reality of being sold south to a life quite different from any she had known before. She had no idea that Robert Townsend, a son of the family she was enslaved by, would locate her, safeguard her child, and return her to New York—nor how her story would help turn one of America’s first spies into an abolitionist. Robert Townsend is best known as one of George Washington’s most trusted spies, but few know about how he worked to end slavery. As Robert and Elizabeth’s story unfolds, prominent figures from history cross their path, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Benedict Arnold, John André, and John Adams, as well as participants in the Boston Massacre, the Sons of Liberty, the Battle of Long Island, Franklin’s Paris negotiations, and the Benedict Arnold treason plot.”

Riverhead, NY: Fraunces Tavern Museum, located in the oldest building in Manhattan, will unveil a vastly expanded permanent exhibition entitled “The Birch Trials at Fraunces Tavern” on October 23, 2024. The enlarged exhibit will highlight the museum’s role in the emancipation of thousands of Black Loyalists at the end of the Revolutionary War.

The exhibition expands upon one opened at the museum in June, 2023 and recognizes the creation of the Book of Negroes – a record of those who evacuated with the British army – as well as the thousands of Black patriots who fought to further the cause of American independence.

Major funding for the expansion was provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. “Once again Fraunces Tavern is the site of a seminal moment in the American Revolution. This story of Black Loyalists adds another level to the importance New York played in American history,” said Kathryn M. Curran, Executive Director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

The previous exhibition attracted visitors from around the world, including large numbers of school children. Relocating the exhibition to a larger permanent gallery will enable the Museum to provide a better visitor experience as well as include recent new discoveries concerning the identities of individuals participating in the Birch Trials and their inclusion in the Book of Negroes.

“This exhibition is the most comprehensive ever organized on this tremendously significant event in the history of Black emancipation in the United States and is made all the more compelling because it can be viewed within the very walls of the building within which the events occurred,” said Craig Hamilton Weaver, Chief Curator of the exhibition.

In 1783, as the Revolutionary War was drawing to a close, a joint British and American Commission met weekly at Fraunces Tavern from April until November. The proceedings of the Commission are known as the “Birch Trials,” named after Brigadier General Samuel Birch who oversaw the proceedings. The Commission deliberated upon the eligibility of some Black Loyalists to evacuate with the British Army. Testimonies were provided to enable the Commissioners to render final decisions. The names would later be inscribed neatly into the final Book of Negroes by staff. Visitors to the exhibition will observe chairs and a table arranged as if waiting for the Commissioners to enter the room and hear cases.

ABOUT THE ROBERT DAVID LION GARDINER FOUNDATION

The mission of the Foundation is to educate, cultivate and encourage the study and understanding of Long Island and New York’s historic role in the American experience. The Foundation also supports scholarships and historic preservation, including study, stewardship and promotion of Long Island’s historic educational aspects. The Foundation was established by Robert David Lion Gardiner in 1987. Robert David Lion Gardiner was, until his death in August 2004, the 16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner’s Island, NY. The Island was obtained as part of a royal grant from King Charles I of England in 1639. The Gardiner family and their descendants have owned Gardiner’s Island for 385 years. The Island remains private and is owned and maintained by direct Gardiner descendants to this day. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation remains inspired by Robert David Lion Gardiner’s personal passion for Long Island and New York history. Since 2015, the Foundation has awarded over $45 million to support historical societies, museums, archives, research, scholarships and renovation, restoration and adaptive reuse of historic sites.

ABOUT FRAUNCES TAVERN

Fraunces Tavern, at 54 Pearl Street, was constructed in 1719, and restored to its 18^th Century appearance in the early 1900s by its owner, Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York, Inc. It is the oldest building in Manhattan. Today, a restaurant operates on the lower levels, and Fraunces Tavern Museum operates on the upper levels.

ABOUT FRAUNCES TAVERN MUSEUM

Fraunces Tavern Museum’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history of the American Revolutionary era through public education. This mission is fulfilled through the interpretation and preservation of the Museum’s collections, landmarked buildings, and varied public programs that serve the community. Featured in the opening scenes of the musical “Hamilton” as the meeting place of the Sons of Liberty, Fraunces Tavern boasts the original “rooms where it happened.” Today, guests can visit the rooms where General George Washington bid farewell to his officers and where John Jay negotiated treaties with foreign nations. Additional galleries focus on America’s War for Independence and the preservation of early American history.

Banner Image: Fraunces Tavern Museum exhibition. Image Credit – Fraunces Tavern Museum