Event
Discover Liss - A New African-American Historical Figure
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Description
Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth
Join Historian and Author Claire Bellerjeau as she discusses the incredible life of an enslaved Black woman from New York named Elizabeth, or Liss. Liss was enslaved by the Townsend family of Oyster Bay, Long Island, whose son was Robert Townsend aka “Culper, Jr.”, George Washington's lead spy in Manhattan during the Revolutionary War. Mid-war, Liss escaped with a British commander, only to be re-enslaved in Manhattan by another enemy officer. As the Culper Spy Ring used secret codes and invisible ink to smuggle vital information to Washington, Liss may also have engaged in intelligence gathering for the Patriot cause. In Robert and Liss’s true story, prominent figures cross their path, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Crispus Attucks, John Jay, Jupiter Hammon, Benedict Arnold, John Graves Simcoe, John André and John Adams; as well as the Culper Spy Ring, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Long Island, and the Benedict Arnold treason plot. Liss’s escape with the British, re-enslavement in Manhattan and later Charleston, and her complex struggle for freedom sheds new light on the lives of thousands of other forgotten Black New Yorkers during the founding era.
This event is free and open to the public. No reservation is necessary.
On a first come basis.