News Flash

Washington Reviewing Our Ally—the French—1781 by Henry Alexander Ogden.
 The Society of the Cincinnati, Washington, DC.

Follow the French Tour, Saturday, May 20

• Visit three historic Revolutionary War sites in Westchester, where French troops camped during the final year of the war.
• Listen to the FREE AUDIO TOUR about the crucial French alliance with General George Washington and the Continental Army.
• Come learn about the French role in winning our war for independence, see their encampment sites, visit a historic tavern, meet Generals Rochambeau and Washington, tour a pop-up museum, and pet animals from the colonial period.
• This free family-friendly event will take place Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Each location will have family activities.

FREE AUDIO TOUR!
Download the free TravelStorys Follow the French audio tour and learn about the sites as you drive to each location. The audio launches automatically—hands-free—as you approach each site, without the need for cell service or Wi-Fi. You can also listen to the tour at home. Click here to download it. The tour will be available long after the event for tourists and history lovers to use.
  
TOUR SITE LOCATIONS
Audio tour works best in this order.
  
Smith’s Tavern Educational Complex
 440 Bedford Road, Armonk, NY
 Smith’s volunteers, in period costume, will welcome you with lots of fun for the whole family. There will be an optional self-guided tour of four ancient buildings: Historic Smith Tavern (a National Register of Historic Places site), a 1798 Quaker Meeting House, Brundage Blacksmith Shop and East Middle Patent One-Room School. Here you can see the correspondence between Washington, Rochambeau and Lauzun, pretend you are a soldier of Lauzun’s Legion or stand with Rochambeau. Learn about the Daughters of the American Revolution and all it does to promote American history.
  
Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters
 425 Ridge Road, Hartsdale, NY
 See artifacts from the museum-in-the-making, meet General Rochambeau and many of the camp followers. Costumed volunteers will offer children’s activities, a selfie booth and teach you how to make a model of Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters. Learn about the nearby encampment of the French and American armies, the crucial decision that was made at the house by Washington and Rochambeau and the ongoing restoration of this National Register of Historic Places site.
  
Rochambeau Park/Yorktown Grange Fair Grounds
 99 Moseman Road, Yorktown Heights, NY
 Meet French, Continental and British forces in uniform performing drills and firing muskets, participate in an encampment setup (for both adults and kids), learn to use a model musket, greet reenactors in period dress, and see farm animals from the period.
  
 Tour organized by the Friends of Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters, in collaboration with the North Castle Historical Society and the Yorktown Heritage Preservation Commission. Funding for TravelStorys audio tour provided by the Scarsdale Historical Society.

Fraunces Tavern Welcomes Friends of OHRH President Susan Seal

On April 12, the Manhattan chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held its monthly meeting at Fraunces Tavern and invited Susan Seal to present Saving a National Treasure, the Story of Odell House. It was delivered both in person at this historic site—the oldest restaurant in New York City—and via Zoom. This new presentation includes the most up-to-date information and photos about the restoration progress. You can watch it on our YouTube channel here.
  
Mini-Museum
 During the past year we have been have increasing our contacts with local schools. The mini-museum recently spent two days with the fourth graders at Richard J. Bailey Elementary School in Greenburgh, where all six social studies classes got to see the artifacts up close and answer questions about them. The mini-museum will be on display on May 20 during the Follow the French Tour and it will go to the Edgemont schools in June.
  
 We are also developing high school projects using Odell family documents saved from the house that are now at the Westchester County Historical Society. Letters from Dyckman Odell during his time with the Lincoln Cavalry during the Civil War and letters from his sister Margaret, describing her time teaching at the first academy for girls in Alabama in the 1840s, are targeted as projects.
  
Restoration Progress
 The new roof is almost completed. By May 20 the tarps will be removed, and you will see authentic cedar shakes in place. The chimney has also been repaired and the plans are completed for the next phase of restoration work.
  
 The Cultural Landscape Plan is almost ready for public comment. A meeting will be scheduled for everyone to see the draft and the plans will be on display during the Follow the French event.
  
 The Town of Greenburgh and the Friends continue to work toward applying for a New York State charter to run the museum. That should be completed this summer.
  
We hope to see you at the Follow the French event!

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