All events are FREE and open to the public - some events do require pre-registration
2024 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, October 17
10am – 5pm: SENATE HOUSE TOURS
Tour the home where the first New York State Senate met in the fall of 1777, just prior to the Burning of Kingston. (NOTE: NYS museum has admission fee – all other events and activities during weekend are free to the public)
For additional info on Burning of Kingston events at the Senate House >
6:30pm – 8:30pm: LGBTQ+ LIFE IN COLONIAL TIMES
Old Dutch Church, Dr. Megan Rhodes Victor, Prof. Anthropology at CUNY Queens College presents. Reception following at the Hudson Valley LGBTQ+ Center (300 Wall Street) 1 block from the Old Dutch Church.
“”But Among Our Own Selves We'll Be Free”
A presentation by Professor Dr. Megan Victor, CUNY Queens College - with Q&A and reception following. Free and open to the public.
Located within eighteenth-century taverns of the English Colonial World, molly houses were clandestine locations wherein gay men and cross-dressing individuals could meet and participate in elaborate gendered performances. They served as spaces to interact, to socialize with others ‘like them’, to engage in more intimate relations, and to participate in complex rituals simulating births, ballroom dances, marriages, and tea parlor gatherings.
As taverns, molly houses were places where individuals could conduct social negotiation and form bonds of community. Taverns were largely male-coded drinking spaces in the eighteenth century, and yet these were also one of the few places where women – especially unmarried or widowed women – could work and even manage (or own) a business. This apparent gender contradiction may have played a role in taverns and inns serving as the location for molly houses.”
Friday, October 18
10am - 5pm: SENATE HOUSE TOURS
6:30pm - 8:30pm: LOYALTY AND ZEAL - ALGONKIANS OF THE REVOLUTION (1774-1783)
Old Dutch Church, (open at 6pm with music), Drew Shuptar- Rayvis, a citizen and cultural ambassador of the Pocomoke Indian Nation presents.
Drew Shuptar- Rayvis , a citizen and cultural ambassador of the Pocomoke Indian Nation - Drew will talk about the contributions, struggles and sacrifices made by Algonkian peoples during the War of American Independence. This program will focus on Algonkian people and some Iroquoian of the period. Learn about material culture of Algonkian people during the revolution as well as trade; sit and listen about the complex political paths of patriotism, toryism and neutrality that shaped the history of many Algonkian and Iroquoian people in order to preserve their ways of life. Experience the realities of the deviation of Sullivan Campaign as well as the contributions made by numerous Algonkian people both patriot and loyal.
About Drew Shuptar-Rayvis - Drew Shuptar-Rayvis (Pekatawas MakataweU “Black Corn”) holds a cum laude Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Sociology from Western Connecticut State University and a Certificate Degree in Archaeology from Norwalk Community College. A true American of the mid-Atlantic region, his family includes indigenous Pocomoke heritage, Pennsylvania Dutch, Welsh, Swiss, English, Scots-Irish, Boyko Ukrainian and Ashkanazi Jewish, he honors all of his ancestors as a practicing living historian and regularly participates in colonial era reenactments, interpretations and public educational events. He has studied and become proficient in the reading of Wampum and works diligently in the research and preservation of the Eastern Woodland languages, particularly Renape and Mahican and is educated in the many European languages at use in the Colonial Period.
Saturday, October 19
10am - 5pm: COLONIAL CAMP RE-ENACTMENTS
Visit the British encampment at the DAR/Henry Sleight House (Crown and Green Streets). Visit the Colonial Militia encampment at the Persen House (John and Crown St)
10am - 4pm: OPEN HOUSES AT THE PERSEN HOUSE AND DAR/HENRY SLEIGHT HOUSE
Includes exhibits and demonstrations of life during colonial times
10am - 5pm: SENATE HOUSE TOURS
Tours and special activity
10am: WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE BURNING?
Senate House, NYS Site Manager Aaron Robinson presents
11am: MAMA NUCHWE, PEACEMAKER OF KINGSTON
Persen House, Evan (Abachbahamedtch) Pritchard, descendant of the Mi'kmaq people, talks about the Chief of the Esopus Munsee Nation (Lenape), 100 years before the Burning.
12pm - 3pm: AN AFTERNOON WITH MARTHA WASHINGTON
Senate House, hear tales about the Revolutionary War and life and times of her and her husband George
3pm: COLONIAL RE-ENACTMENT STREET BATTLES [refer to map for locations].
Uptown, colonial re-enactors demonstrate
(please note, event has loud sounds of gunfire and cannon)
4pm - 5pm: STORIES FROM GHANA BEFORE THE SLAVE TRADE
St James Church, Maxwell Kofi Donker and the Sankofa Dancers and Drummers
5pm – 5:45 pm: BLACK PATRIOTS: HEROES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Film Screening. From the initial sparks of revolution in Boston to the climactic Siege of Yorktown and beyond, this HISTORY documentary paints a comprehensive picture of the African American experience during the Revolutionary War. Hear about the war within the revolution through the true stories of some of the most crucial and significant African American figures of our country’s foundation including Crispus Attucks, Peter Salem, Phillis Wheatley and James Armistead Lafayette. Narrated by NBA legend, best-selling author and esteemed activist Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
St James Church, a film screening
6pm - 7pm: PLIGHT OF SLAVES DURING THE BURNING OF KINGSTON - JAZZ VESPERS
A jazzoetry event with poems, stories, and writings based on local archival data and research by Dr. AJ Williams Meyers and Erin von Holdt-Gilbert featuring Ulster County Poet Laureate Kate Hymes and storyteller Evelyn Clarke accompanied by Kitt Potter, vocals; Joe Vincent Tranchina, piano; Paul Marienthal, flute; Eli Winograd, bass; and Hector B, percussion.
7pm: COLONIAL GRAND BALL & RECEPTION
Old Dutch Church, learn how to dance to the real oldies, 18th century music and re-enactors
Sunday, October 20
9 - 11:30am: CAPITAL TO CAPITAL 5K RUN/WALK
Starting at Front St & Washington Ave to Historic Hurley, a commemoration of Kingston refugees flight to Hurley
*A frequently running Shuttle Bus will run from 11am - 3pm between Uptown Kingston (the parking lot at the front door of Ulster Savings Bank on Washington and Schwenk Drive) and Hurley (at the corner of Russell Road and Route 209 at the Rail Trail Parking Lot).
The Capital-to-Capital run commemorates the human history of the Burning of Kingston when over 2,000 Kingstonians, mostly women, children, the elderly, and the enslaved fled to the town of Hurley seeking refuge as British soldiers burned Kingston to the ground. Participants will follow the same path as those who fled over 240 years ago in this 3.1-mile timed race. Pre-registration required to participate. (pre-registration required to participate)
10:30am: 18th CENTURY STYLE CHURCH SERVICE
Old Dutch Church, 18th century service with Henry Cooke, followed by a Wreath Laying Ceremony
12 - 3pm: HISTORIC HURLEY WALKING TOURS
Hurley, tours of historic Main Street’s stone houses, at 12 and 2pm - pre-registration required - register online. (shuttle-bus from Uptown Kingston to Hurley available). The Hurley Heritage Society Museum will be open from 10am - 4pm, free and open to the public (52 Main Street, Hurley, NY)
*A frequently running Shuttle Bus will run from 11am - 3pm between Uptown Kingston (the parking lot at the front door of Ulster Savings Bank on Washington and Schwenk Drive) and Hurley (at the corner of Russell Road and Route 209 at the Rail Trail Parking Lot).
3 - 5pm: CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR PERIOD
BARD CONSERVATORY ENSEMBLE AND CHORALE
St. James Church, music from 18th century and premier of new compositions
Pre-Concert talk by Frank Corliss, Director – Bard Conservatory of Music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata in G Major, K 379 (1781)
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges: Sonatas 1 in Bb Major & 2 in A Major (1781)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Sonata in B-flat Major, K. 378 (1781)
Intermission
Sammuel Mutter: World Premiere for four voices written exclusively for the Burning of Kingston (2024)