
Flashback to Park Slope, Brooklyn in August of 1776. Thousands of British troops were quickly advancing on General George Washington from the east, when General Alexander and Smallwood’s Marylanders of the Continental Army decided to make a stand — despite only numbering 400. This is the incredible story of how a group of young men from Maryland saved the rest of Washington’s forces, and as Historian Thomas Field wrote in 1869, was “an hour more precious to liberty than any other in history.”
Join New York Adventure Club and OSH Director of Education Maggie Weber as we explore the incredible story surrounding the Old Stone House, a reconstructed Dutch farmhouse in today’s Brooklyn neighborhood of Park Slope that was the site of the culmination of the Battle of Brooklyn in August of 1776.
Our virtual journey surrounding the battle that saved America will include:
– The beginnings of the American Revolution and the British army’s strategy once they made landfall in South Brooklyn
– Detailed accounts of the Battle of Brooklyn, and the role the Maryland 400 played in giving General George Washington enough time to escape from sure defeat
– How to the current Old Stone House came to be, which was a 1930’s WPA reconstruction of the original Vechte-Cortelyou House
– Stories around the former clubhouse for the Brooklyn Baseball Club — the team that later became the Brooklyn Dodgers — which once stood on the site in Washington Park
– A look at today’s Old Stone House activities, which include everything from environmental workshops in the garden space, and community theater, visual arts, and music events
Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A session with Maggie — any and all questions about the Battle of Brooklyn or the Old Stone House are welcomed and encouraged!
Sign up here to reserve your spot!