This 40-minute program features a collection of “New Songs” & Hymns published in Connecticut during the American Revolution. From the time of the Stamp Act through the British surrender at Yorktown, Connecticut’s seditious colonists used these works to foment rebellion, commemorate victory, and give thanks for preservation. Richard Franklin Donohue, Tenor and Harpsichord, will explore this fiery repertoire that in the words of John Adams “cultivated the sensations of Freedom.”

Randy Calistri-Yeh will be performing a solo cello recital entitled “Songs of War.” Randy will perform special arrangements of music associated with military conflicts from the Revolutionary War to 9/11. He will also share stories describing the historical context of how music has been used to celebrate, mourn, and protest the horrors of war. The concert includes classical music, Broadway and movie music, patriotic marches, and popular songs.

Dr. Kenneth Noll is a Professor Emeritus of Microbiology at the University of Connecticut and has been performing in community theater near his home in Storrs, Connecticut for almost 20 years. Join us at the Meeting House for his portrayal of General Putnam in his General's uniform using a few slides to talk about his life as a Connecticut farmer, his time as an inn-keeper, his service in the Connecticut militia for the British army in the French and Indian War, and his time as the second in command under Gen. George Washington in the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.

Underpinning the sensationalism of battle reports & broadsides is the often silent steadiness of women’s work with textiles. The choices they made every day about fashion and fabric consumption & creation drove the course of Revolution just as determinedly as any congress. As southern New England commemorates the 250th anniversary (semiquincentennial) of the War for Independence, it is these local lives dressed in fulled wool or spun silk that continue to inspire creativity, resilience, and empathy in us today. From the mythology of homespun to legends of midnight rides in red cloaks & calashes, the Dirty Blue Shirts share stories of women who waged war on multiple fronts as well as a look at what they wore as their worlds turn’d upside down. This program is presented by costumed historians and includes reproduction clothing pieces & fabric samples as well as a PowerPoint presentation with images of extant originals."