Founding Father John Jay was descended from three generations of slavers. Jay himself is something of an enigma: he argued for abolition in the new state of New York as early as 1777, but he did not abolish slavery in his own household for another four decades. Yet his legacy included three generations of descendants who were abolitionists and civil rights activists. This illustrated program, presented via Zoom, examines the arc of slavery through seven generations of the Jay family.  It is a story that goes back almost to the introduction of slaves into the Dutch colony that became New York, and ends just months before the 13^th Amendment abolished slavery everywhere in the nation.

*If you registered for this event, you should have received a link to the lecture this evening. Please check your spam folders if you do not see it. If you did not receive a link, please e-mail heidi.stryker@johnjayhomestead.org*

Brenda Wineapple,The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation 

Pro-Union Democrat and the only senator from a Confederate state not to resign at his state’s secession, Lincoln’s running mate on the National Union ticket and an “accidental President” after Lincoln’s assassination, impeached but not convicted, Andrew Johnson became a vivid example of a defiant, erratic and highly unpopular President deeply at odds with his Congress through a period of disruptive social and political change.

Wineapple is an award-winning author, currently teaching at Columbia University and the New School in New York City. Her books include Ecstatic Nation, about the tumultuous period before the Civil War, as well biographies of Hawthorne and Gertrude and Leo Stein and an exploration of the friendship between Emily Dickinson and the abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, which was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.  She was previously Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at The Graduate School, CUNY, and its Writer-in-Residence.

Part of the 2021 Lecture Series for John Jay Homestead, Seats of Power.

This series will be in webinar format on Zoom beginning promptly at 7:00pm.

Registration is free but required. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees the day before the lecture.

To join the Lecture Committee, click here.

James S. Shapiro, Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future

Shapiro chooses eight moments in American history when Americans claimed (or conscripted) Shakespeare as an authority in the political and culture struggles of the time, ranging from race, to immigration, to international politics, to class warfare, to assassination and sex.  Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia, member of the board of directors of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Scholar-in-Residence at the Public Theater in New York, he was consultant to the 2017 Public Theater production of Julius Caesar in Central Park, and the 2020 Free Shakespeare on the Radio podcast of Richard II.  Shakespeare in a Divided America was just named one of the New York Times Ten Best Fiction and Non-fiction Titles of 2020.

Part of the 2021 Lecture Series for John Jay Homestead, Seats of Power.

This series will be in webinar format on Zoom beginning promptly at 7:00pm.

Registration is free but required. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees the day before the lecture.

To join the Lecture Committee, click here.

Joan Biskupic, The Chief:  The Life and Turbulent Times of Chief Justice John Roberts

Joan Biskupic has written a wide-ranging and insightful biography of Chief Justice John Roberts, drawing on her coverage of him over several years and more than 20 hours of in-person interviews. She discusses his family background, legal career, and his views on the roles of judges and approach to the Constitution.  She is currently a full-time CNN legal analyst; before CNN she was an editor-in-charge for Legal Affairs at Reuters and, previously, the Supreme Court correspondent for the Washington Post and for USA Today. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism in 2015. In addition to her Roberts biography, Biskupic is the author of books on Justices O’Connor, Scalia, and Sotomayor.  She holds a law degree from Georgetown University and lives in Washington, D.C.

Part of the 2021 Lecture Series for John Jay Homestead, Seats of Power.

This series will be in webinar format on Zoom beginning promptly at 7:00pm.

Registration is free but required. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees the day before the lecture.

To join the Lecture Committee, click here.

Join us one last time before the end of our season for a special Pre-Thanksgiving Farm Market – A convenient way to pick-up or purchase fresh produce and artisan goods for your holiday dinner in our open-air market!

Featuring:

In order to comply with all the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets guidelines, we have instituted the following new rules and procedures for the 2020 season for the safety of our patrons, vendors, and staff:
• Please follow the signs for our separate entrance and exit.
• Masks must be worn at all times by everyone attending the market. Vendors are also required to wear gloves. Each vendor stall will have hand sanitizer; additional hand sanitizer will be available at the market manager’s table.
• Only one patron may be in a vendor booth at once; each vendor will have a waiting line with 6-foot spacing.
• No sampling allowed. Products will be pre-packaged to the extent possible. Contactless forms of payment are preferred.
• We ask that you refrain from socializing and do not linger while in the Market area.
Please follow the guidance outlined in the NY STATE TRAVEL ADVISORY

Kick-start your New Year’s resolutions with a First Day Hike on the grounds of John Jay Homestead. Pick up a self-guided landscape tour from our Holiday Shop in the Glass Porch of the Main House between 1:00pm and 3:00pm where all holiday merchandise is on sale for 15% off. For weather based cancellation information please check our website after 10:00am on the day of the program. Free admission.

All holiday merchandise is 15% off. Browse our expanded selection of merchandise, including many gift items featuring images of John Jay’s Historic Bedford House, Bedford Farm, and the newly installed historic wallpaper found in John Jay’s Office. Books for history lovers; John Jay Homestead Christmas ornaments; 18th & 19th century toys and games; note cards and housewares are also available. The holiday gift shop is located in the Ballroom of the Main House.

All holiday merchandise is 15% off. Browse our expanded selection of merchandise, including many gift items featuring images of John Jay’s Historic Bedford House, Bedford Farm, and the newly installed historic wallpaper found in John Jay’s Office. Books for history lovers; John Jay Homestead Christmas ornaments; 18th & 19th century toys and games; note cards and housewares are also available. The holiday gift shop is located in the Ballroom of the Main House.

Browse our expanded selection of merchandise, including many gift items featuring images of John Jay’s Historic Bedford House, Bedford Farm, and the newly installed historic wallpaper found in John Jay’s Office. Books for history lovers; John Jay Homestead Christmas ornaments; 18th & 19th century toys and games; note cards and housewares are also available. The holiday gift shop is located in the Ballroom of the Main House.

Browse our expanded selection of merchandise, including many gift items featuring images of John Jay’s Historic Bedford House, Bedford Farm, and the newly installed historic wallpaper found in John Jay’s Office. Books for history lovers; John Jay Homestead Christmas ornaments; 18th & 19th century toys and games; note cards and housewares are also available. The holiday gift shop is located in the Ballroom of the Main House.

Browse our expanded selection of merchandise, including many gift items featuring images of John Jay’s Historic Bedford House, Bedford Farm, and the newly installed historic wallpaper found in John Jay’s Office. Books for history lovers; John Jay Homestead Christmas ornaments; 18th & 19th century toys and games; note cards and housewares are also available. The holiday gift shop is located in the Ballroom of the Main House.

WE NO LONGER REQUIRE RESERVATIONS.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF PATRONS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE MARKET AT ONE TIME; THERE MAY BE A LINE AT THE ENTRANCE.

In order to comply with NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets guidelines, we have instituted the following new rules and procedures for the 2020 season for the safety of our patrons, vendors, and staff:
• Please follow the signs for our separate entrance and exit.
• Masks must be worn at all times by everyone attending the market. Vendors are also required to wear gloves. Each vendor stall will have hand sanitizer; additional hand sanitizer will be available at the market manager’s table.
• Only one patron may be in a vendor booth at once; each vendor will have a waiting line with 6-foot spacing.
• No sampling allowed. Products will be pre-packaged to the extent possible. Contactless forms of payment are preferred.
• We ask that you refrain from socializing and do not linger while in the Market area.
• NY STATE TRAVEL ADVISORY

Please note that these rules are subject to change as we see changes in allowable activities and the re-opening of New York.

WE NO LONGER REQUIRE RESERVATIONS.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF PATRONS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE MARKET AT ONE TIME; THERE MAY BE A LINE AT THE ENTRANCE.

In order to comply with NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets guidelines, we have instituted the following new rules and procedures for the 2020 season for the safety of our patrons, vendors, and staff:
• Please follow the signs for our separate entrance and exit.
• Masks must be worn at all times by everyone attending the market. Vendors are also required to wear gloves. Each vendor stall will have hand sanitizer; additional hand sanitizer will be available at the market manager’s table.
• Only one patron may be in a vendor booth at once; each vendor will have a waiting line with 6-foot spacing.
• No sampling allowed. Products will be pre-packaged to the extent possible. Contactless forms of payment are preferred.
• We ask that you refrain from socializing and do not linger while in the Market area.
• NY STATE TRAVEL ADVISORY

Please note that these rules are subject to change as we see changes in allowable activities and the re-opening of New York.

WE NO LONGER REQUIRE RESERVATIONS.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF PATRONS WILL BE ALLOWED IN THE MARKET AT ONE TIME; THERE MAY BE A LINE AT THE ENTRANCE.

In order to comply with NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets guidelines, we have instituted the following new rules and procedures for the 2020 season for the safety of our patrons, vendors, and staff:
• Please follow the signs for our separate entrance and exit.
• Masks must be worn at all times by everyone attending the market. Vendors are also required to wear gloves. Each vendor stall will have hand sanitizer; additional hand sanitizer will be available at the market manager’s table.
• Only one patron may be in a vendor booth at once; each vendor will have a waiting line with 6-foot spacing.
• No sampling allowed. Products will be pre-packaged to the extent possible. Contactless forms of payment are preferred.
• We ask that you refrain from socializing and do not linger while in the Market area.
• NY STATE TRAVEL ADVISORY

Please note that these rules are subject to change as we see changes in allowable activities and the re-opening of New York.

John Jay began developing approximately 750 acres of land in the Bedford area as an income-producing farm in 1787, strictly as an investment at first; later to become his home in retirement. His descendants lived here into the 1950s. As you walk around the property on this guided tour, you will see many features developed by the different generations of the Jay family. Advanced registration required. Offered Wednesday through Sunday at 10am and 12pm through October.

The tour will step off promptly, departing from the front of the Carriage Barn.