Event
Agrippa Hull: A Revolutionary Life
Fee:
Free.Location: LAT/LONG: 43.012212, -73.648927
Saratoga National Historical Park Visitor Center
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Description
Agrippa Hull was a free African American resident of Stockbridge, MA. He enlisted in the Continental Army in May 1777 and served for six years, first with General John Paterson of the Massachusetts Line and then with Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish military engineer. Declining Kościuszko’s offer to settle in Poland after the war, Hull returned to Stockbridge where he became a pillar of the community. Agrippa Hull’s story is remarkable for what he did during his lifetime and how much documentation remains from which we can extrapolate. Through letters, diary entries, land deeds, and even accounts in mercantile ledgers the story emerges of a member of the African American community in 18th century Berkshire County – a community whose stories can otherwise be difficult to trace.
Speaker Talya Leodari is the Curator at the Stockbridge Library Museum and Archives in Stockbridge, MA and has worked in the cultural heritage field for over twenty years. She holds an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Newcastle University in the UK. Her career has spanned many fields, but her focus throughout has been an interest in stories: whose stories get told and by whom, which stories are remembered and how. She is honored to be able to do this work at the Stockbridge Library.
Support for the Fall Lecture Series is provided by Friends of Saratoga Battlefield. Reservations are required due to limited space. Email us (SARA_Reservations@nps.gov) to reserve your seat!