NRCA’s Annual Exhibit at the NRPL
On exhibit at the New Rochelle Public Library through 27th; reception and gallery talk Sunday, March 15th at 3 pm.
In October 1776 British General William Howe amassed nearly 10,000 troops in New Rochelle, in preparation for the critical Battle of White Plains. New Rochelle’s population of less than a thousand people would soon experience seven long years as part of the so-called “Neutral Ground” that was Westchester, north of British-occupied New York and south of Patriot-held land. During this period of instability families and friends were pitted against one another, many taking up arms to fight for independence, while many others fought with the British as loyalists. These were tumultuous, lawless times, when marauders of Skinners (loyalists) and Cowboys (patriots) roamed the county, looting, threatening, and even killing fellow civilians, with no legal repercussions.
NRCA’s exhibit “It Happened Here” examines the impact of this period on New Rochelle through early records, maps, and eyewitness accounts culled from the Westchester County Historical Society’s McDonald Interviews juxtaposed with a series of modern images by noted photographer Adam Pape. The public can view the exhibit from Monday, March 2nd through Friday, March 27th at the Lumen Winter Gallery in the lobby of the New Rochelle Public Library; a free reception and gallery talk will be held on Sunday, March 15th at 3 pm.
“It Happened Here” is an original exhibit presented by the New Rochelle Council on the Arts; the exhibit is being curated by NRCA Board members Barbara Davis, New Rochelle’s City Historian and Director of the Westchester County Historical Society and Christine Ramage, VP/Head of Photography for Paramount+ and Showtime; with editing by Theresa Kump Leghorn and design by Susan Nagib.
