BHA Speaker Series: The Revolutionary War Memoir of James Selkirk

Program Type:

Author Talk, Performance, Other

Age Group:

Adults
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Event Details

Writing in the Service of His Country: The Revolutionary War Memoir of James Selkirk

Video of this event is available on the Library's YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/6FzcRlDYOyk

Please note:

  • Registration is optional, but is advised due to limited seating.
     
    • Registered patrons will have a seat.
       
    • Waitlisted patrons are invited to use standing room.
       
    • Walk-ins will be admitted if space allows
       
  • Doors open at 6:30pm. Presentation begins at 7pm.
     

Description of Program: Historian Robb Haberman will speak on the experiences of Selkirk before, during and after the conflict against Britain in his presentation “Writing in the Service of His Country: The Revolutionary War Memoir of James Selkirk.”

Haberman will discuss the manuscript memoir alongside a local patriot association, a regimental orderly book, and Selkirk’s own discharge papers. In doing so, he will show how these varied primary sources illuminate the political affiliations, wartime duties and post-war hardships of Selkirk, and how they also shed light on the collective experiences of enlisted soldiers who served in the New York Line during the Revolutionary conflict.

Haberman is currently editing the Revolutionary War manuscript memoir of James Selkirk in collaboration with Susan Leath and the Selkirk family. A Scottish immigrant, Selkirk served six-and-a-half years as a sergeant in the Continental Army and settled in Bethlehem following the conflict. Seeking to produce a scholarly edition of Selkirk’s memoir, Haberman has received fellowships to research Selkirk’s life from the American Philosophical Society and the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Haberman is a historian of early America who received his doctorate in history from the University of Connecticut. He has held visiting lectureships at Trinity College in Hartford and Colby College in Maine and currently serves as an adjunct assistant professor at Fordham University. His work on politics, media and memory in Revolutionary-era New York has appeared in several print and online publications, including the peer-reviewed journals New York History, Early American Studies, and American Periodicals. Robb also worked for seven years at Columbia University as an associate editor for the John Jay Papers. During this period, Robb helped produce volumes four through seven of The Selected Papers of John Jay, which were published by the University of Virginia Press and which also appear on Founders Online, a free and open-access database created by the National Archives.


About This Series: About This Series: The Town of Bethlehem Historical Association (BHA) has been incorporated as a not-for-profit membership organization since 1965. Along with upkeep of collections and exhibits at the Cedar Hill Schoolhouse Museum at 1003 River Rd. Selkirk, the BHA is pleased to continue its long tradition of presenting fall and spring series of talks by distinguished local speakers on a variety of topics designed to stimulate an appreciation of our historic heritage. This series of historical talks is presented through a partnership with the Town of Bethlehem Historical Association.

 

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