News & Events
Mark your calendar for AFofL's Annual Meeting in Charlottesvile, Virginia, June 16- 18, 2O11!
Annual Meeting
Charlottesville, Virginia
June 16-18, 2011
Alan Hoffman has planned an excellent program for us for our annual meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Thursday through Saturday, June 16-18. Please put the dates on your calendar and make your reservations as soon as possible and send in your registration fee! Here are the details:
After our arrival on Thursday, and an informal ‘on your own’ dinner at one of several restaurants near the English Inn, there will be a program at 8:00 p.m. in a hotel conference room as follows: 1) Chuck Schwam will present a slideshow of photos taken during his French sojourn which included several sites associated with Lafayette, LaGrange being one; 2) Diane Shaw will unveil the new Lafayette digitization project of images of Lafayette; and 3) Marc Leepson, author of “Saving Monticello” and, hot off the presses, “Lafayette, the Idealist General,” will talk about Lafayette. His books will be available for purchase.
On Friday, our day of touring will begin with an early coach-ride to the recently refurbished home of James Madison, Montpelier. We then travel to Monticello, stopping for lunch at the Michie Tavern. Our visit to Monticello will include both the regular tour and the behind the scenes tour.
After Monticello, we travel to the University of Virginia and visit the Small Special Collections Library where various items relating to Lafayette will be displayed for us. For example, one of the items will be Jefferson's autographed presentation copy to Lafayette of his Notes on the State of Virginia. After a brief stop on the Lawn and a climb to the rotunda, where Lafayette was feted with a banquet in November of 1824, we will return to the hotel.
Our banquet will be held at the hotel. Our keynote speaker will be Philander Chase, the retired editor-in-chief of the Washington Papers Project co-sponsored by UVA and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association; he is also the top authority on Baron Steuben. Also at the banquet as our special guest will be his predecessor as Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Papers Project and editor of the Washington diaries, Dorothy Twohig (her edition of the diaries is available in paperback; so bring your copy to be autographed).
Our business meeting will be held at the hotel at 9:30 Saturday morning.
Questions about the program may be emailed to Alan Hoffman, <arhoffman@lynchbrewer.com>. Questions about the annual meeting agenda may be emailed to: Robert Crout, President, <rcrout1@aol.com>. Questions for the Treasurer may be emailed to Philip Schroeder, <schroedp@lafayette.edu>.
Other events (optional) are a wine and cheese reception at a private home in Charlottesville, created out of the former train station, at which Alan Hoffman will talk about Lafayette as a Symbol of Franco-American Friendship. This event will be held at 7:00 p.m. on the 18th (Saturday) and is being hosted by the Alliance Française of Charlottesville. There will be a charge of $10.00 per person, none of which, Alan assures us, will go to the speaker.
For Saturday afternoon, Rob Raffety will be arranging an informal outing to a few of the nearby wineries. Further information will be made available at the conference, and if you're interested in participating, feel free to email Rob at: <rraffety@gmu.edu>.
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A registration fee of $135 per person will cover meeting registration, the coach tour on Friday, admission to all sites, luncheon and dinner on Friday including gratuities, and speakers.
Checks should be payable to ‘The American Friends of Lafayette’ and sent to:
The American Friends of Lafayette
Farinon College Center -- P. O. Box 9463
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042-1798
A block of rooms has been reserved at our headquarters for the weekend, The English Inn of Charlottesville, 2000 Morton Drive, Charlottesville, VA 22903, <www.englishinncharlottesville.com>. Reservations for rooms in our block are available at the rate of $90/day for one or two persons, double or king beds. Reservations must be made by May 16. The reservation number is 434-971-9900.
See you in Charlottesville!
Dues Notice - 2012
| Active Member (annual) | $30 |
| Sustaining Member (annual) | $40 |
| Family Membership (annual) | $50 |
| Individual Life Membership | $200 |
| Institutional Life Membership for Educational, Patriotic, & Cultural Organizations | $250 |
| Corporate Membership (annual) | $250 |
| Benefactor | $l,0OO (or______ ) |
| Contribution to the General Fund | _______ |
The Amerian Friends of Lafayette is a non-profit organization [exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code as a public charity, contributions to which are deductible to the extent allowed by law]. Present Honorary Members, Life Members, and Benefactors are not required to pay annual dues. All members are requested to consider tax-exempt donations in addition to their membership dues. Please also consider disposition of your Lafayette memorabilia, books, artifacts, relics, prints, paintings, etc. in your will to The American Friends of Lafayette.
Checks should be made payable to The American Friends of Lafayette and sent to: The American Friends of Lafayette, Farinon College Center, P.O. Box 9463, Lafayette College, Easton, PA 18042-1798. Address changes (both USPS and email) should be sent to the above address or by email to the Membership Co-Chairs, Drs. Almut and Paul Spalding at <aspaldi@ic.edu>.
Do we have your email address? If you have an email address but have not been receiving occasional AFL communications over the last year, such as The Gazette newsletter, please email your address to <aspaldi@ic.edu>.
A message from the President of The American Friends of Lafayette
In the wake of our annual meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia, which was attended by over 50 members and guests, we can review the past year with satisfaction and look forward to 2011-2012 with anticipation.
This July, Benoit Guizard represented The American Friends of Lafayette at the ceremonies at Lafayette’s tomb in Paris. Just last month he undertook this responsibility again and attended the Picpus ceremonies with members Myriam Waze and Joyce Good. Please see their excellent report on pages 6 and 7 of the Gazette.
As you may know, AFL is one of 13 sponsoring members of the Yorktown Day ceremonies on October 18 and October 19. The number of our members attending this event seems to grow each year, and the cocktail reception at member Bill Cole’s bed and breakfast in 2010 drew, perhaps, the largest crowd in memory! For those of you who have not participated in the “Surrender Day” events, please consider joining us this year. On a sunny day, the march of the 13 flags of the sponsoring members and the flags of the 50 states to the music of a military band is very special indeed.
Janice Wolk, our newly elected Second Vice President, will be reporting on last month’s Annual Meeting in Charlottesville so I will not steal her thunder.
AFL completed a major overhaul of its website this year which included streaming video, additional links to Lafayette-related websites and enhanced interactivity. We believe that our new and improved website is at least partially responsible for the recent growth of the organization. At the annual meeting, our membership chair reported that we have been joined by 18 new members in 2009 and 2010 and a whopping 21 new members in 2010-2011. Additionally, 13 existing members have upgraded to life memberships in the 2009-2011 period. Our census of 158 current members, representing thirty states and France, may well be the zenith for the modern era.
A number of these members are a generation or two removed from the “baby boomers” of which I am one. For example, our First Vice President, Rob Raffety, who teaches at George Mason University, is in his early 30’s; and our Gazette editor, Daniel Fitzpatrick, who took over this important duty from Len Panaggio who decided to pass the torch this year, is in his 20’s!
I truly believe that, despite the stagnant economy, 2011 finds AFL in a very good place as an institution poised to carry out its mission into the future.
The planning for our 2012 annual meeting has begun. Rob Raffety and our new Treasurer, Chuck Schwam have undertaken to plan and implement the meeting in “Washington City” with a side trip to Mount Vernon. They tell me that there are enough Lafayette-related sites to have three or four annual meetings there.
I want to give you advance notice of two additional projects that we are considering in 2011-2012.
1) A Scholarly Publication
According to the By-laws, one of the objects and purposes of AFL is to “promote historical research with respect to the life and time of General Lafayette, …” Over the course of its existence, AFL has published pamphlets periodically containing original works by recognized scholars involving Lafayette and/or his time. The last one was published in 1999. It is time for another AFL publication. We have among our members a number of serious and nationally recognized Lafayette scholars including President Emeritus Robert Crout of the College of Charleston, Diane Shaw, Chief Archivist of the Skillman Library of Lafayette College, and Paul Spalding, of Illinois College (Jacksonville), the author of Lafayette: Prisoner of State, University of South Carolina Press, 2010. Each has agreed to contribute an article. The contemplated publication will, we hope, be another vehicle to “spread the word” and educate the American people about Lafayette, his work and his times.
2) Moland House Statue
The Moland House in Warwick, PA was Washington’s headquarters for a time in August of 1777 when Lafayette joined “Washington’s family” and started his military career in the American Revolution. It has been lovingly restored, at great expense, and is now a fitting monument to the friendship of these two great men. See www.moland.org
On July 5, 2011, Warwick township passed a resolution to permit Gregory Marra, a member of AFL, and a Bucks County Pennsylvania sculptor, to build a statue of General Lafayette to be sited on the Moland House property. The 6' tall bronze statue will be placed on the lawn of the Moland House. The designs are being finalized and perfected. To visit the artist’s website go to www.gregmarrastudios.blogspot.com.
Contributions to this project may be sent to the Warwick Township Historical Society at the Moland House. 1641 Old York Rd., Hartsville PA., 18974.
Alan R. Hoffman, President
American Friends of Lafayette
A Message from the President of The American Friends of Lafayette
by
Robert Rhodes Crout
As the celebrations of the Lafayette 250th anniversary begin to fade, we turn to the exciting possibilities of renewal and growth that the American Friends of Lafayette face in the coming year. As relations between the United States and France continue to warm, as Americans talk more and more about this country’s founders, founding principles, legacies, we recall the close role that Lafayette played to many of those people and events. When Americans have found themselves in difficult times in its history and looked back to its purpose, they have found strength and renewal. And this is true of the AFL also. We see what a great opportunity we have to reach across the Atlantic and to honor what unites us at home and abroad. In this spirit I encourage all who live near a children’s cancer facility in the U.S. to support Bernard Caillot’s and Benoit Guizard’s initiative to find an American hospital interested in setting up contacts with the hospital in Clermont Ferrand, France, so that children who are patients in these institutions may write to each other by mail or email and become pen pals. Further information may be obtained by contacting Benoit Guizard by email at benoitguizard@yahoo.com. We are also investigating the possibilities of closer contacts with organizations that celebrate those brave people who served our common cause in World War One such as the Lafayette Escadrille.I hope that you will be able to travel to Newport in June as we have another opportunity to celebrate a great American and Frenchman. For those of you who haven’t yet attended an AFL “annual meeting,” it isn’t just a meeting, it’s a reunion! For those traveling by plane, check out connections through Providence airport. Or travel by train. There are special plans to see the sites Lafayette visited in the Newport area, to learn about the life of one of his closest friends, Nathanael Greene, and to acknowledge again the contributions of Rhode Islanders Len and Monique Panaggio to the AFL.
We are fortunate to see a new generation of budding Lafayette scholars as we also look for ways to involve a new generation of college students in learning about the Great Man and his causes. We thank our benefactors who have so generously supported the activities of the AFL. And we applaud the selfless members who tirelessly serve on the committees and in the offices that allow the work of the AFL to continue and to flourish. “It’s all about you” and them, and him.
Bon courage,
Robert (Crout), President