Lafayette Weekend Approaches
The culmination of a yearlong series of events exploring the life and legacy of General Lafayette will take place November 23-24.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Since March, the Advance has been previewing lectures and exhibits exploring the life of General Lafayette, his friendships with America’s founders, and his contributions to the causes of freedom and abolition.
It all leads up to the weekend of November 23-24—Lafayette Commemoration Weekend, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the general’s visit to Fredericksburg during his 1824 tour of the United States.
“This Commemoration is a wonderful opportunity to bring the Fredericksburg community together to collectively celebrate the close ties between Lafayette and the city and to reflect on the founding principles that unite all Americans,” said Lisa Durham, who with her husband David conceived of the Commemoration and have served as co-chairs of the planning committee, in a press release issued Tuesday.
The couple worked with the American Friends of Lafayette, the non-profit serving as the organizing body for the national celebration of the bicentennial of Lafayette’s tour, to plan the Fredericksburg events.
The Commemoration Weekend events are recreations of the events that took place during Lafayette’s visit two hundred years ago.
In the late 19th century, Rufus Merchant, who founded the Fredericksburg Star newspaper, published a detailed account of the three-day visit that was written in the November 27, 1824, edition of the Virginia Herald. This account was reprinted into a pamphlet titled “Reception of General Lafayette in Fredericksburg,” which David Durham read.
“The historical import of the visit and the incredible detail of the account in the pamphlet made me say to my wife Lisa that Fredericksburg had to recreate these events,” Durham said in the press release. “Knowing that our source was a contemporaneous record of historical events gave us complete confidence that we could use it as our blueprint.”
Commemoration Weekend will begin on Saturday, November 23, at 10 a.m., with a formal greeting of Lafayette (portrayed by Mark Schneider, who interprets the general for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation) in Market Square. There will be live period music and remarks based on Merchant’s account.
Following the welcome, Lafayette will greet visitors in the very room he used in 1824—then the Town Hall Council Chambers and now an exhibit room in the Fredericksburg Area Museum.
On Saturday afternoon, starting at 1 p.m. and running every half hour until 4 p.m., the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc. will conduct tours highlighting sites that were part of Lafayette’s visit.
The Masonic Lodge No. 4 will also be open for tours from 1 to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. The Lodge granted honorary membership to Lafayette during his visit and will recreate that ceremony on Sunday at 10 a.m.
The Lafayette Ball, taking place on Saturday evening from 6 to 9 p.m., is the single ticketed event of the entire Commemoration series. The sold-out event, which is a fundraiser for the Fredericksburg-Fréjus Sister City Association, will feature English country dance demonstrations by the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society and Regency Society of Virginia, as well as appearances by Lafayette and President James Monroe—who served in the Revolutionary War with Lafayette when both were teenagers.
Sunday’s events include a prayer service at St. George’s Episcopal Church. This event is also a recreation of a service of prayer and thanksgiving held in the general’s honor, which featured an address from the church’s then-rector, Edward McGuire. Current rector, Joe Hensley, will portray McGuire.
The final Commemoration Weekend event is a lecture at 2 p.m. on Sunday by author Chris Ruli on his book Brother Lafayette, which explores Lafayette’s ties to the Masons.
The Fredericksburg Lafayette Bicentennial Commemoration Committee partner organizations include Washington Heritage Museums, The George Washington Foundation, The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library, Fredericksburg Area Museum, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Historic Fredericksburg Foundation, Inc., Masonic Lodge No. 4, St. George’s Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg Sister City Association, Fredericksburg-Este Association, local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution, the City of Fredericksburg, and Fredericksburg City Public Schools.
Students from the city schools, King George schools, the University of Mary Washington, and Germanna Community College provided significant support.
More information is at the Bicentennial’s website.
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