WCHS Local History Book Club

Washington County Historical Society’s local history book club will meet at noon on Friday, October 21, at the Rogers Island Visitors Center, 11 Rogers Island Drive, Fort Edward.  This change from the usual second Friday of the month schedule is to accommodate the tourist season of the site.  Historical Society membership is not required for the book club.

The October meeting will be a discussion of any book about Robert Rogers, 1731 – 1795, but the focus will be on his activities while on the island where we are meeting.  It was there in 1757, during the French and Indian War, that Rogers forever changed military tactics when he wrote his “Rules of Ranging.” Today’s U. S. Army Rangers consider Rogers Island to be their “spiritual birthplace”.  

The group will be able to visit the exhibits following our discussion.  A small donation for the site is requested.

For those who wish to read ahead, the meeting on November 11 will focus on the voyage of Henry Hudson on which he discovered the river that is named for him.  Any book on the life of Henry Hudson (c. 1565 – 1611) can be read in preparation.

Future sessions of the club will include books about the larger Adirondack area as well as some works by local authors.  The proposed list includes Benedict Arnold’s building of the first Navy in Whitehall; the life of Mathew Brady, photographer, who was born in Warren County; and the impact of Grandma Moses on American Art.  For additional information, email Connie Harris Farrington at connieandlee@roadrunner.com.