The 225th anniversary of New York’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution is Friday. Anniversary events are scheduled in the city that hosted the ratifying convention – Poughkeepsie – and elsewhere in the Hudson Valley. We get more from WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne.
The 225th anniversary of New York joining the country as the 11th state comes amid the 300th anniversary of Dutchess County. Will Tatum is Dutchess County historian.
Poughkeepsie events marking the anniversary include an evening speech by a Rutgers University professor at the Cuneen-Hackett Arts Center. Plus, says Tatum:
Tatum continues the history lesson.
Also essential was Alexander Hamilton, who, as Rand Scholet points out, played a central role in the ratifying convention. Scholet is president and founder of The Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society. Scholet is playing a role in organizing events in the Hudson Valley surrounding Hamilton’s presence in the region.
Scholet says Hamilton’s fifth great-grandson will attend many of the events in Poughkeepsie, Beacon, Fishkill, Garrison, New Windsor, West Point, and Newburgh. And lest one think Scholet discards the historical view of anyone except Hamilton:
Friday’s events kick off in Kingston with a birthday celebration of the father of the Ratifying Convention, Governor George Clinton.
The Friday events in Poughkeepsie, New York’s second capital, are part of the Hamilton on the Hudson program.
