Special opening event, April 21, 2025
Open to the public, April 22, 2025
Mesick Gallery
Fraunces Tavern was a witness to history throughout the Revolutionary War Era. Among the many historic events that took place there, Fraunces Tavern served as a meeting place for the Sons of Liberty, a site for trials that were part of a process that led to the emancipation of thousands of Black Loyalists, and the setting for Washington’s farewell to his officers. Two hundred fifty years later, Fraunces Tavern Museum will honor this history with a new special exhibition: Path to Liberty: The Emergence of a Nation. Commemorating the United States Semiquincentennial, Path to Liberty will be a chronological, multi-year exhibition telling the history of the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783, with a distinctive focus on what occurred in New York State and the surrounding areas.
“Path to Liberty,” Craig Hamilton Weaver, co-chairman of the SRNY Museum & Art Committee, observes “will be all the more exceptional because the visitor will learn about the conflict in a unique setting where Revolutionary War events actually happened. Indeed, the roof of Fraunces Tavern, Manhattan’s oldest building, was hit by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War.”
Opening to the public on April 22, 2025, the first segment of the exhibition will focus on the years 1775 to 1776. Personal letters, artifacts, and works of art from the Museum’s permanent collection will paint a picture of the Revolutionary War’s early defining moments, such as the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Declaration of Independence. This first segment will have a particular focus on the Battle for New York, including the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn), the Battle of Harlem Heights, and the Battle of White Plains.
