This year’s July 4th walking tour led by Jim Kaplan may well be sold out already, but here’s an excerpt from the New Yorker‘s Above & Beyond calendar listings in the July 7 & 14 issue just out:
“Harking back to the tall-ship display that graced New York Harbor for the nation’s bicentennial, in 1976, an elaborate Fourth of July celebration is set for downtown this year. Spearheaded by James S. Kaplan, a lawyer, historian and walking-tour guide, and presented in conjunction with the Fraunces Tavern Museum, the Sons of the Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Park Service, and many other organizations, the festival includes a fifty-gun salute near Castle Clinton, readings at Federal Hall of the Declaration of Independence, walking tours, and other events. . . . Kaplan likes to get started early on the Fourth of July: for the past seventeen years he’s led a pre-dawn tour of downtown on that day. This year, he’s leaving at 3 a.m. (For more information, visit july4thinnewyork.com.)”
Jim Kaplan reports on the July 4 events in Lower Manhattan:
Notwithstanding the threat of heavy thundershowers, more than 50 people showed up at 3 a.m. for the all night walking tour, and almost 40 were there four hours later when we began the wreath laying ceremony at Trinity Churchyard ( a much higher than usual retention). Preliminary comments from, among others, Abby Suckle (who was taking the tour for the fifth time), indicate that the tour was one of the best ever, and ironically the weather, which was much cooler than last year, turned out to be an asset. Jane Campbell of the New York City DAR eloquently spoke about General Horatio Gates in laying a wreath on the recently placed DAR marker, and Ambrose Richardson of the Sons of the Revolution gave his usually cogent analysis of Alexander Hamilton at Hamilton’s Tomb. Chris Marlar, on behalf of the National Democratic Club, laid a wreath (brought down by Steven Ferraro) on the grave of Marinus Willett, about whom I spoke. Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer did graciously attend the end of the ceremony and we should have pictures of her with the key participants.
As I was asleep for the 50-gun salute at the Battery and the National Park Service program at Federal Hall, I do not know exactly how it went, but I encourage those who were involved to circulate pictures or other materials to everyone on this list.
The 3pm reading of George Washington’s letter to the Jewish Congregation in Newport in front of Fraunces Tavern, sponsored by the Temple of Universal Judaism, similarly was a significant success. Despite some initial confusion because of the rain, which was then falling somewhat heavily, the group gathered under the arches of the former Goldman Sachs building at 85 Broad Street to hear Barry Freifertig, the President of the Temple, describe the importance of the letter’s message of tolerance to the Temple’s current mission. Temple officer Sue Plastrik spoke about the early history of the Jews in New York, noting that the first synagogue in North America was located two blocks away where the Icon parking garage is today, and that the secret marriage in 1746 of Phila Franks (daughter of the President of Jewish Congregation) to Oliver Delancey, whose father owned the mansion on the site of Fraunces Tavern, shocked their parents, as interfaith marriages sometimes do today.
Jonathan Pollak then spoke about Gershom Mendes Seixas, the patriot rabbi at the time of the Revolution, and then Caroline Elizabeth Hogan Kaplan, student at NYU’s Tisch School, read the text of the Newport Letter. The ceremony was widely reported on WNYC public radio, which ran an excerpt of the reading of the Letter. We are indebted to the Temple of Universal Judaism for making the effort to put together this program which publicizes this important but often overlooked document in our early American history.
In addition, at 6:30 pm, Wes Oler sponsored a pre-fireworks dinner at Fraunces Tavern, which was widely attended by members of the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution and others (including my daughter and her boyfriend). . . . I believe we achieved our goal of creating a broad base of quality patriotic activities in Lower Manhattan on July 4, something which had not been done in the previous 40 years. . . .
I further believe our effort has created a solid base for further more extensive efforts in the future. In fact, one member of our committee has suggested that we form a Lower Manhattan Historical Society to act as an umbrella to encourage this kind of activity in the future.