Join historian and author Claire Bellerjeau for a one-hour program as she discusses the discovery of a new founding figure named Elizabeth, or Liss. Liss was enslaved by the Townsend family of Oyster Bay, New York, whose most famous member was Robert Townsend aka “Culper, Jr.”, George Washington’s lead spy in Manhattan during the Revolutionary War. As Robert and Liss’s story unfolds, prominent figures cross their path, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Benedict Arnold, John Graves Simcoe, John André and John Adams; as well as the Culper Spy Ring, the Boston Massacre, the Battle of Long Island, and the Benedict Arnold treason plot. Liss’s escape with the British, re-enslavement in Manhattan and later Charleston, and her complex struggle for freedom gives new insight into the country’s founding era, through the eyes of an enslaved Black woman seeking liberty in a country fighting for its own.
About Claire Bellerjeau:
Claire Bellerjeau is a historian and the co-author of “Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth”, published in May 2021. In 2022, she co-founded a nonprofit organization called Remember Liss, with the mission of educating the community about Liss’ extraordinary life and times. Through the nonprofit, she co-wrote and published a student version of Liss’ story, titled Remember Liss, in March 2023. She has been researching the Townsend family and those they enslaved for over 20 years and works with teachers to develop curriculums to share Liss’ story, using primary documents from her research. Both of her books will be for sale at this event, “Espionage and Enslavement” and the YA version “Remember Liss” .
Please register, so we can set the community room up with appropriate seating.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.