July 11 through September 4: It Happened Here: Life in New Rochelle During the American Revolution at the NRCA Rotunda Gallery
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.
“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.
