Congress of American Revolution Round Tables

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Greetings!

Here are the initial plans for the Congress of American Revolution Round Tables (CARRT) in Princeton, NJ. You will surely enjoy visiting this iconic, quintessential Ivy League town and its environs—the planned weekend runs from Friday, November 17th to Sunday, November 19th, 2023.

Registration Form will follow. Plan now. Forms and fees will be due 1 November!  The last day for a reduced rate at the hotel is Tuesday, 17 October 2023!

Click here to download and print this page

On Friday, there will be an optional tour, lecture, and dinner. Details are below, as is hotel information.

On Saturday, we will have the Congress (lunch included) and a Group dinner. We will meet at the Richard Stockton Education Center at Morven Museum & Garden in the heart of historic Princeton, New Jersey. We have a packed agenda and a terrific facility. Discussions will include how to get speakers, build an audience, share “war stories” with old friends, and make new friends.  Be sure to bring brochures, handouts, etc., of your ARRT and/or local Revolutionary War sites to give to your fellow CARRT brethren from afar.

A representative from each Round Table is requested to give a brief overview of your Round Table’s activities, highlights, issues, challenges, plans, etc. Please plan and coordinate accordingly within your local roundtable.

Also, we will be having a used American Revolution book sale!  Details to be forthcoming.  Start gathering your box of those old Revolutionary War period titles you want to sell!

Sunday will have optional tours of two local Revolutionary War sites.

We believe this will be a fun weekend not only for Congress delegates but also for family members not participating in the event.   The Ten Crucial Days Historic Area offers a host of beautiful sights to visit.

HOTEL:  The event hotel is the Hyatt Place Princeton, located at 3565 US-1, Princeton, NJ 08540, adjacent to an upscale indoor shopping plaza and only three miles from Princeton’s town center. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt for $144 + taxes per night. Parking is gratis. Click here for a map to Hyatt Place Princeton.

Hotel Reservations must be made by 17 October 2023!

  1. To reserve your room, call 888-492-8847. When prompted, press “1”
  2. When you get a representative, tell them you want to book a reservation at Hyatt Place Princeton and give them the dates. Additional days at discount rates are available between Wed, Nov 15, 2021 – Tue, Nov 21, 2023.
  3. Tell them you are…”in the block of rooms for the Congress of American Revolution Roundtables, Group G-CARW”
  4. Tell them you want either one king bed or two double beds.
  5. You can also go to the Hyatt Princeton website at this link.
  6. For other questions, you can call Hyatt Place Princeton directly at 609-720-0200, but all reservations need to go through the 888-492-8847 reservation line.

See our terrific agenda on the following page…

AGENDA - CARRT 8TH PRINCETON

Friday, 17 November: (All Friday are Optional events)

10 AM – 3 PM “Traversing the Ten Crucial Days” Bus Tour – (limited to 27) Historic Interpreter Roger Williams will lead a tour of Washington’s Crossing, the Battles of Trenton, Assunpink, and Princeton. The tour will begin and end at Hyatt Place Hotel, Princeton. Cost $75. Box lunches available, $25.

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Author Program with Mark Edward Lender -

Small Battles Won and Lost: Revolutionary Statistics and Their Implications

The American War for Independence was an overwhelmingly local affair. Of the 1600+ documented engagements, only sixty or seventy saw the regular armies carry the heaviest burdens of combat. The rest were the business of local forces -- militia, irregulars, Indigenous people, and even family groups. This local warfare had profound implications -- some of them quite dire -- for the nature of the wider war, especially when measured against the accepted rules of "civilized warfare." While staggering in its costs, the history of local warfare is essential to understanding how the colonies gained independence and launched a new nation. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. in the Stockton Education Center for light refreshments. The program begins at 6:00 p.m.  Dr. Lender’s books will be available for purchase at the event, with proceeds to benefit Morven Museum & Garden.

Mark Edward Lender has a Ph.D. in American History from Rutgers University. He is Professor Emeritus of History at Kean University. He is the author or co-author of eleven books and many articles and reviews in early American social, military, and institutional history. His scholarship has won awards for writing and research, including the Society for Military History’s Distinguished Book of the Year Award (2017) and a Distinguished Writing Award from the U.S. Army Historical Foundation. He was also a finalist for the 2017 George Washington Literary Prize for the book he co-authored Garry Wheeler Stone – Considered THE preeminent book on the Battle of Monmouth, a must read… FATAL SUNDAY: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle, 2017.

This is a fund raising even for Morven Museum and Gardens who have provided us with the Richard Stockton Education Center for our Saturday meeting. Please join us!!  Morven Museum and Garden, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton  NJ 08540  Click here for directions to Morven.

$20 – Special rate for 8th Congress Round Table and Morven members

$30 – General Admission

6:00 PM and/or 8:00 PM (Two seatings) Fellowship Dinner (separate checks) – Conte’s Pizza & Bar.  339 Witherspoon St, Princeton, NJ 08542 (Click here for directions) Should you wish to pass on the author program, one group will go to Conte’s for a 6 p.m. dinner. A second group will arrive about 8 p.m. after the author program.

Other Princeton-area restaurants for dining on your own are at this link.

Saturday, 18 November

8:30 – 9:00 am:  Registration/Check-in at Morven Museum and Garden. Stockton Education Center is a c. 10-minute drive from our hotel down historic and scenic Nassau Street.  Parking at Morven is plentiful to the side of the home and is free.  Click here for directions to Morven.  Inside the main entrance to the Stockton Education Center, there will be a check-in/registration table. Informal‘Meet & Greet” with coffee / tea. Drop off Swag. Our Morven host is Program Director Greer Luce. (609) 924-8144.

9:00 am – 4:30 pm: Congress Meeting, Morven Stockton Education Center Registration fee is $35, included lunch. Payment for Registration to come.   

09:00 - 09:15 Welcome and Opening Remarks: Roger Williams (Ten Crucial Days) and Bob Fanelli (Washington’s Crossing ARRT) - hosts

Welcome from Morven (Greer Luce), David Reuwer and Bill Welsch (Congress of ARRTs)

 9:15 - 9:30   Seating of Delegates - Around the room introductions by each person present…Just a “Hello” – (Name, RT, hometown).

 

9:30 - 10:30 Session A: Round Table Reports Each Round Table is asked in advance to assign a rep. to give a brief overview of its Round Table’s recent events, doings, etc. (5 minutes maximum each) (Bill Welsch)

SC - Low Country; Southern Campaigns

NC - Cape Fear

VA - Richmond; Williamsburg-Yorktown; Fredericksburg; Mount Vernon

PA - Philadelphia; Central PA; Washington’s Crossing; Lehigh Valley

DE - Northern Delaware

NJ - North Jersey; South Jersey; Bergen County

NY - New York City; Upstate New York

MA - Minute Man

 

10:30 - 10:45 Fellowship Break

 

Session B: DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION 

10:45 - 11:15   Comments from other historical groups in attendance - Ten Days, ABT, NPS, etc. (Roger Williams)

11:15 - 11:45 250th Reports (Randy Flood)

11:45 - 12:15 Rebirthing, starting, energizing, recruiting.  (Bob Fanelli)

12:15 - 1:15   Olive’s Gourmet Lunch on site + Swag swap / Used Book sale.

1:15 - 1:45 Cultivating Presenters and Speakers (Doug Bonforte/Roger Williams)

1:45 - 2:15 Technology & Info-sharing (Zoom, Hybrid mtgs, Websites, etc): (Tom McAndrew & Mike Troy)

 2:15 - 2:30 Fellowship Break

 2:30 - 3:00 Publicity and Promotion (Bob Fanelli)

3:00 - 3:30 Preservation Projects: (David Reuwer)

 3:30 - 4:00 Open Discussion (Roger/Bob)

 4:00 - 4:30 Summary; 2025 Congress host; Gifts; Sunday tours; Adjournment: (David Reuwer & Bill Welsch) and Group photo

7:00 – 9:00 pm Saturday dinner in a Private Room:  Leonardo’s II, 2021 Brunswick Ave. Lawrence Twp, NJ 08648 (click here for directions). A Classic Southern Italian restaurants in the region.  The family-style dinner is $45 total per person (Payment for dinner will be collected directly at the restaurant.

Garden Salad and Dinner rolls. Penne Vodka, Chicken Parmesan, Baked Salmon in a Creamy Dill Sauce, Vegetable and Potato, Cannoli, House Red and White Wines. Coffee, Beverage, taxes, and gratuity included.

Sunday, 19 November Optional Recommended Self Guided Tours

Morven Tour – 10:00 AM A complimentary group tour of Morven Museum & Garden is available for Congress members, or you may request individual tickets. Donations apprecitated.  The guided tour is approximately one hour. Click here for directions to Morven.

Swan Collection at Washington Landing – 11:30 AM The Swan Collection at Washington Crossing State Park, New Jersey, 355 Washington Crossing-Pennington Road, Titusville, NJ 08560-1517 Click here for directions Drive is a about 15 minutes from the hotel. The tour is about one hour. 

Questions? Suggestions? Contact…

The Committee of Correspondence looks forward to meeting and seeing you at the Congress!

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