The Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum presents Forty Acres & The American Revolution; Stories of Independence & Servitude, a public talk with three leading scholars: Friederike Baer, a historian of 18th-century Hessian soldiers, Marge Bruchac, a scholar of local Indigenous histories, and Charmaine Nelson, director of the Slavery North project at the University of Massachusetts. Together, these scholars expand the narrative of the American Revolution and the many folks who lived and worked at Forty Acres during the Revolutionary Era, including enslaved, indentured and free persons. The talks will be held in the Museum’s Corn Barn on Sunday, June 29th at 2 pm. The program is free and open to the public.
The accompanying exhibit, Forty Acres & The American Revolution; Stories of Independence & Servitude, commemorates the 250th anniversary of the American revolution by sharing new research on the lives and labor rooted in Hadley through the Revolutionary Era. This exhibit connects those that were enslaved or indentured at Forty Acres to Fort Ticonderoga, the Green Mountain Boys, the Scottish Highlands, Prussia and beyond, widening our view of the Revolutionary battlefield. The exhibit is free, and open to the public Saturday to Wednesday 1pm-4pm through October 2025.
