Bradford House and W&J to present ‘An Evening with the Marquis de Lafayette’
The Bradford House Museum in Washington and Washington & Jefferson College will be presenting “An Evening With the Marquis de Lafayette” on Friday, March 31, at the Chapel at Old Main on the W&J campus.
It will be part of this year’s Symposium on Life and Customs in Western Pennsylvania. The Marquis de Lafayette will be portrayed by actor Ben Goldman. In 2007, the American Historical Theatre tapped Goldman to portray the young Lafayette. Lafayette, whose full name was Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, left a life of privilege in his native France and traveled to the United States to fight against the British in the Revolutionary War.
Lafayette was the last surviving general of the war and, in 1824, he traveled to the United States and was celebrated by large crowds everywhere he went. His travels brought him through Washington, and he stayed at the Globe Inn on South Main Street, just a few doors down from the Bradford House. The next morning, he had breakfast at the Century Inn with Albert Gallatin, an old friend.
Lafayette’s cross-country tour also took him to Louisiana, where he visited David Bradford’s widow, Elizabeth.
Doors and displays open at 6:30 p.m. Speakers start at 7 p.m. and a reception is set for 9 p.m.
Tickets will be available at the door on the site Eventbrite, www.eventbrite.com.