Against the backdrop of a tumultuous election, a beloved hero of the American Revolution returned to America for the first time in forty years. From August 1824 to September 1825, the marquis de Lafayette traveled through the United States, welcomed by thousands of admirers at each stop along the way. Although the tour brought him to each state in the Union, the majority of his time was spent in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Public historian Elizabeth Reese traces Lafayette’s route throughout the National Capital Region, highlighting the locations and people the famous general held closest to his heart. This program accompanies our current exhibition, Fete Lafayette: A French Hero’s Tour of the American Republic, on view through December 31, 2024.
About the Speaker
Elizabeth Reese is a public historian whose work is focused on the American Revolution and early republic. In addition to receiving the 2015 Scott Hartwig Public History Fellowship at the Civil War Institute, she has spent over a decade as an interpreter at federal historic sites, including Hamilton Grange National Memorial and the United States Capitol. Throughout her career, she has developed programs on civil rights, women’s history, and America’s Founding era. Currently, Elizabeth is the associate manager of marketing at Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House. She is also the author of The Marquis de Lafayette Returns: A Tour of America’s Capital Region (The History Press, 2024) and the chair of The American Friends of Lafayette Bicentennial Committee for Washington, D.C.