Exhibit and Events to Highlight Recreation of Lafayette’s Ship

“The Hermione Sails to America: Past and Present” Lass Gallery, Skillman Library Through September 11, 2015

Skillman Library partakes in the celebration of the arrival of the Marquis de Lafayette’s ship on American shores this summer. Images of the Hermione, a recreated 18th-century frigate more than 15 years in the building, will be shown in Skillman Library’s Lass Gallery through September.

Lafayette sailed into Boston Harbor on board the original Hermione in 1780 after a year’s furlough in France bearing secret news for George Washington that would alter the course of the American Revolution: the French would enter the war on the side of the Americans. The first letter that Lafayette wrote to Washington upon arrival in Boston Harbor is in Skillman’s collection.

The recreated Hermione will set sail for America in mid-April, arriving at her first port of call, Yorktown, in early June. She will visit Alexandria, Annapolis, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Newport, and Boston. Various events are planned in conjunction with the visit, and Lafayette College will host alumni/parents/friends gatherings in several cities. Exhibits on the Marquis de Lafayette at the New-York Historical Society and Boston Athenaeum will feature items from Skillman’s collection.