Fifth Annual War of 1812 Heritage Talks April 26-27, 2013

Once again the Fort La Présentation Association offers a varied fare from a wide geography for those interested in the War of 1812. From the Midwest to the Atlantic Coast, militia, regulars, religion and women, Native allies, the navy and privateers barely define the seminars offered by our seven American and Canadian speakers.
In 2013 we are forgoing the closing banquet and dinner speaker. Our participant survey told us people want more time for networking and more opportunity to take in the displays, of which there should be more from local museums and heritage organizations in 2013.
As in the previous years, we have all the facilities of Ogdensburg’s Freight House Restaurant, from the side rooms to the banquet hall to the bar.  Friday evening, there will be the customary meet and greet with hors d'œuvres.  Saturday, a continental breakfast and buffet lunch are in order, and the Freight House will offer a special menu for those who stay for dinner.
You can expect a lower registration fee when online registration will be active in early January 2013.
Here is an alphabetical glimpse of our presenters.

Chancey's Impact on Western Operations 
Sandy Antal holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario, Carleton University and the University of Toronto. After twenty years’ service, he left the Canadian Forces as a major and turned to research, writing and teaching. Mr. Antal’s latest book is Invasions – Taking and Retaking Detroit and the Western District during the War of 1812 and its Aftermath. He first was A Wampum Denied: Procter’s War of 1812, which received the American Library association “Choice Award” and is in its third printing. He has presented internationally and has appeared in TV documentaries. Mr. Antal co-authored Duty Nobly Done: the Official History of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment.

John Norton and the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Experience in 1812
Dr. Carl Benn, Chair of the Department of History at Ryerson University, Toronto, will speak on John Norton and the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Experience in 1812. Dr. Benn’s main areas of academic interest centre on Euroamerican and First Nations history in eastern North America before the 20th century. He has published extensively in journals and other venues, and his books include Historic Fort York (1993); The Iroquois in the War of 1812 (1998); The War of 1812 (2002); and Mohawks on the Nile: Natives Among the Canadian Voyageurs in Egypt, 1884-85 (2009). He currently is completing two books on aboriginal memoirs from 1812-15.

The War of 1812 in the West
James Brenner, a retired U.S. Army colonel with 30 years of service, will take a topical perspective on the War of 1812 in the west, primarily as it relates to Ohio with a view to generally familiar events and people. Col. Brenner has published on the Ohio Militia, Ohio Militia Clothing and Ohio’s Regular Army Infantry Regiments, 1812 to 1815. He currently works with Leonie Industries, a defense contractor in Afghanistan. He holds an MA in American military history from Ohio State University, as well as a Masters in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA.

The Battle of Stoney Creek
James Elliott is a Canadian journalist and author with a keen interest in early North American history. Mr. Elliott will discuss the pivotal Battle of Stoney Creek. His book Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek won the Ontario Historical Society J. J. Talman Award as the best book in 2011 on Ontario’s social, economic, political and cultural history. With the Hamilton Spectator, he wrote widely on the War of 1812 on subjects ranging from the Bloody Assizes to the Burlington Races. He worked on several episodes of the CBC’s award-winning Canada: A People’s History as a consultant and a special-skills extra.

Religion and the War of 1812 
T.R. (Ray) Hobbs (B.D., M.Th., Ph.D.) will delve into Religion and the War of 1812. Dr. Hobbs taught at McMaster Divinity College and McMaster University, Hamilton, where he was Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation from 1969 until 1995. He is the author of three books and several articles on Theological and Biblical subjects, with special emphasis on the social and cultural background to the Old and New Testaments. He enjoys his early retirement from ‘regular’ work, but writes much and lectures occasionally. His special interest is ancient military history, especially as it applies to biblical interpretation.

Privateering in Atlantic Canada
Dr. Faye Kert is the author of Prize and Prejudice: Privateering and Naval Prize in Atlantic Canada in the War of 1812. This is standard work on the subject and will be the basis of Dr. Kert’s presentation. She is the book review editor of the Canadian Nautical Research Society's journal The Northern Mariner. She also authored Yankee Sails: Pirates and Privateers of New Brunswick. Dr. Kert worked on two important underwater archaeological projects: the discovery, survey and excavation of a 16th-century Basque whaling vessel at Red Bay, Labrador, and the raising of Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose.

Women in the War of 1812
Susan Spencer will present on Women in the War of 1812. Ms. Spencer, the proprietress of Spencer’s Mercantile in Hamilton, Ontario, has had a lifelong passion for history. As a Western Canadian, her first interests were centered on the late 19th century - however, with a move to Ontario in 1988, her in-depth study of the War of 1812 period began. An active member within the War of 1812 re-enactment community, she participates in some 30 period events each year, as well as giving presentations, lectures, and workshops on period subjects.

The War of 1812 and the Rise of the U.S. Navy: Developing the Book
David A. Taylor is co-author, with Mark Collins Jenkins, of The War of 1812 and the Rise of the U.S. Navy (National Geographic, 2012). Mr. Taylor will speak about the process of developing the book: working with the Navy's historians and primary materials, visits to the Navy's underwater archaeological work in search of the U.S.S. Scorpion, and the illustration design research that followed. He will also discuss a few profiles highlighted in the book. His other books include Ginseng, the Divine Root (Algonquin, 2006), and Soul of a People (Wiley, 2009), ranked among the Best Books of 2009. His articles have appeared in Smithsonian, The Washington Post, Chesapeake Bay, The American Scholar and Science. He has written and co-produced documentary films for National Geographic and the Smithsonian Channel, including the film of Soul of a People. He lives in Washington, DC and teaches at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.

For more information click here.

New York History: War of 1812: Carrying the Great Rope

New York History: War of 1812: Carrying the Great Rope: During the War of 1812, control of Lake Ontario was one of many issues considered critical by both sides. A key position for the British was...

Ogdensburg War of 1812 Symposium Supported by the NY Council for the Humanities

The Fort La Présentation Association’s third annual
War of 1812 Symposium is supported by a grant of $2,900 from the NY Council for
the Humanities.
“Without the Council’s support, we’d be hard pressed to bring to
Ogdensburg the seven scholars who are presenting at our symposium, hosted by the
FreightHouseRestaurantApril29-30,” said Barbara O’Keefe, President of the Fort
La Présentation Association. “From the traditional music at the Friday evening
meet-and-greet through the Saturday seminars and after-dinner speaker, all the
presenters are experts in their own right.”
The historians, academics and published authors from New Yorkand
Ontarioheadlining the symposium will provide insights into the War of 1812 as
the conflict impacted the international border region from LakeOntarioto Lake
Champlain.
“Beyond the expected interest in the War of 1812 indicated by the
registrations from New Yorkand Ontario, we have two people making the drive from
Connecticutto attend our symposium,” said O’Keefe. “Registrations continue to
come in. We hope all people planning to attend register in advance.”
Information on the War of 1812 Symposium and how to register is on
the Fort La Présentation Association’s web page, www.fort1749.org.

THE BATTLE OF OGDENSBURG RE-ENACTMENT

February 19-20

Fought February 22, 1813

Saturday

10:00 A.M. Ceremony at Ogdensburg Cemetery: Placing of the wreath on Sheriff York’s grave.

1:30 P.M. Battle re-enactment at Lighthouse Point. Fort Wellington, Prescott, Ontario will fire artillery to launch the British attack.

2:30 P.M. Walking tour of the 1813 battleground through the streets of Ogdensburg with Jim Reagen. Starts at the parking lot at Lighthouse Point.

3:30 P.M. Lecture at Freight House Restaurant: How to Dress as an 1812 Civilian by Sue McLean.

7:30 P.M. Winter Ball (English Country Dance) at Freight House

Sunday

1:30 P.M. Battle re-enactment at Lighthouse Point. Fort Wellington, Prescott, Ontario will fire artillery to launch the British attack.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The Fort La Présentation Association is pleased to support

the Battle of Ogdensburg Re-enactment and the organizers, Forsythe’s Rifles.

WAR OF 1812 SYMPOSIUM BRINGS INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS TO OGDENSBURG, NEW YORK

OGDENSBURG, NY 31 January 2011 – During the War of 1812 the dogs of war barked and bit along the U.S. northern frontier from Lake Ontario to Lake Champlain as American forces tangled with their British and Canadian counterparts for two-and-a-half years.

The War of 1812 in this region, and its wider implications, will be topics at the third annual War of 1812 Symposium April 29-30 in Ogdensburg, NY, sponsored by the Fort La Présentation Association.

The five presentations by authoritative Canadians and Americans are: Ogdensburg and Prescott during the War of 1812, Paul Fortier; American supply efforts on Lake Ontario: “Cooper’s Ark,” Richard Palmer; “Colonel Louis” and the Native American role in the War of 1812, Darren Bonaparte; The war on the St. Lawrence River, Victor Suthren; and Excavation of American Graves at the 1812 Burlington Cantonment, Kate Kenny. The post-dinner address by Patrick Wilder is the Battle of Sackets Harbor

“We established the symposium in advance of the war’s 2012 bicentennial to help develop a broader public understanding of the War of 1812, so important to the evolution of the United States and Canada,” said Barbara O’Keefe, President of the Fort La Présentation Association. “The annual symposium is a vibrant forum of scholars from both sides of the boarder presenting informative seminars to an enthusiastic audience of academics, history buffs and re-enactors.”

The cost of the symposium is $100 for the Saturday seminars and after-dinner speaker, including a light continental breakfast, a buffet lunch and a sit-down dinner. The Friday evening meet-and-greet with period entertainment by Celtic harpist Sue Croft and hors d’oeuvres is $10.

The symposium and dinner fee for Fort La Présentation Association members is $90, and they will pay $10 for the meet-and-greet.

Other pricing options are available: $80 for the Saturday seminars without dinner; and $35 for the dinner with speaker.

Seminar details and registration instructions on the Fort La Présentation Association Web page www.fort1749.org.

The Fort La Présentation Association is a not-for-profit corporation based in Ogdensburg, New York. Its mission is to sponsor or benefit the historically accurate reconstruction of Fort de la Présentation (1749) in close proximity to the original site on Lighthouse Point.



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For information, please contact;

Barbara O’Keefe

President, Fort La Présentation Association

Ogdensburg, NY 13669

315-393-3315



Backgrounder attached.

THIRD ANNUAL WAR OF 1812 SYMPOSIUM

BACKGROUNDER



Seminar Presenters



Darren Bonaparte from the Mohawk community of Ahkwesáhsne on the St. Lawrence River is an historical journalist. He created the Wampum Chronicles website in 1999 to promote his research into the history and culture of the Rotinonhsión:ni—the People of the Longhouse. Mr. Bonaparte has been published by Indian Country Today, Native Americas, Aboriginal Voices and Winds of Change, and he has served as an historical consultant for the PBS miniseries The War That Made America; Champlain: The Lake Between; and The Forgotten War: The Struggle for North America.

Paul Fortier, of Kingston, ON, worked 10 years as a military curator and historian for Parks Canada and a following 10 years as a manager at the National Archives of Canada. While living in Prescott, ON, the home he restored was the Stockade Barracks, British military headquarters on the St. Lawrence River during the War of 1812. Mr. Fortier is a founder of the re-enacted Regiment of Canadian Fencible Infantry. He owns Jessup Food & Heritage, providing period food services at Upper Canada Village, Fort Henry and Fort York.

Kate Kenney is the Program Historian at the University of Vermont Consulting Archeology Program. She supervises historic artifact analyses and also helps supervise field work, particularly at historic sites. She is the senior author of Archaeological Investigations at the Old Burial Ground, St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Ms. Kenny has organized and conducted UVM CAP public outreach, including presentations to elementary and high school students. Personal research projects involve Vermont history from the earliest settlement through to the Civil War.

Richard F. Palmer of Syracuse is a senior editor of “Inland Seas,” the quarterly of the Great Lakes Historical Society, and has written some 40 articles for the publication, covering more than 250 years of Lake Ontario’s maritime history. His presentation on “Cooper's Ark,” is the story of a short-lived floating fortress built in Oswego during the War of 1812, but lost in a storm while sailing to Sackets Harbor. He’ll also recount the attempt to raft lumber for the construction of ships from Oak Orchard to Sackets Harbor; the delivery was intercepted by the British.

Victor Suthren, from Merrickville, Ontario, is an author and historian. He served as Director General of the Canadian War Museum from 1986 to 1998, and is an Honorary Captain in the Canadian Navy and advisor to the Directorate of Naval History and Heritage, Department of National Defence (Canada). He has worked as an advisor to film and television productions and has voyaged extensively as a seaman in traditional “tall ships.” Mr. Suthren has published several works of historical non-fiction, as well as two series of historical sea fiction.

Patrick Wilder is an historian retired from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. He is the author of The Battle of Sackett’s Harbour, 1813.



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The Civil War of 1812

Just started reading this book, but noticed it mentioned the Battle of Ogdensburgh! Hooray!!!!

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