From Deedy (Dorothea Jensen) who is still commandeering our blog. . .
* * *
OK, this is just an update on the post below.
$23,250 of the necessary $35,000 has now been received or pledged!
(Every dollar helps - please contribute and make a little history yourself.)
In historic Yorktown, Virginia, site of the final major battle of the
Revolution, there is a duet of statues honoring General George
Washington, commander of the combined American and French forces, and
French Admiral François De Grasse, commander of the French fleet that
"bottled up" the British troops under General Cornwallis at Yorktown.
These life-sized figures were created by Virginia sculptor Cyd Player.
Installed in 2005 and enjoyed by tens of thousands of visitors annually,
the statues commemorate two important meetings that took place on board
De Grasse’s flagship the Ville de Paris to plan the 1781 Yorktown
campaign and to explore plans for further operations.
The problem? It was supposed to be a quartet of sculptures. There are
two important figures missing! Also present for at least one of these
meetings were General Rochambeau, who led the French troops, and General
Lafayette, who had kept Cornwallis trapped at Yorktown until the
combined American and French troops had arrived. (He also served as an
interpreter at the meeting with Washington, Rochambeau, and De Grasse.)
The reason that Lafayette and Rochambeau are not represented here? There
was not enough funding to create all four statues at the same time.
Now the national organization dedicated to honoring the young Frenchman who did so much to help us gain our independence, the
American Friends of Lafayette,
is teaming up with the Celebrate Yorktown Committee of the Yorktown
Foundation, and other interested organizations and people, in order to
commission a statue of Lafayette. The new statue will accurately portray
this important historical event and provide an opportunity for visitors
of all ages to discover and recognize the role Lafayette played in
shaping America’s history.
The goal is to get the statue finished in time to be dedicated on in
October, 2017, at the annual celebration of the American victory at
Yorktown.
To date, over $20,000 of the necessary $35,000 has been pledged.
Please consider contributing to this exciting endeavor and helping to construct history!
To help make the Lafayette Statue a reality,
click here to donate via PayPal or mail a check (made out to American Friends of Lafayette) to:
American Friends of Lafayette
c/o Chuck Schwam
302 Hart Road
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
The AFL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and contributions are eligible to be tax-deductible.
P.S. Finally, you might want to become a member of the
American Friends of Lafayette.
The cost to join is minimal, and it is great fun to get together every
year to learn more about General Lafayette and other figures and events
of the American Revolution. There is also a great publication, "The AFL
Gazette", with information about Lafayette sent out to all members
several times a year.
