Friederike Baer

The German Soldier Experience at
Mount Independence and Beyond

Saturday, June 15 at 1:00 pm

The Mount Independence Coalition is pleased to present this year’s Maguire Lecture by historian Friederike Baer. She will be speaking about the subject of her most recent book, Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, with an emphasis on the Mount Independence. Dr. Baer is an authority on the experiences of German-speaking people in North America from the 1770s to the late nineteenth century.

The J. Robert Maguire lecture series was established to honor Bob Maguire, long-time resident of Shoreham and a great friend of Mount Independence. Five decades ago, Bob headed the fight to block construction of a nuclear power plant that would have cost a long shadow over the East Creak area, including the Mount. Bob was a great gatherer of primary documents about the history of our region, and he generously shared these resources with other historians. To honor Bob’s contribution to our local history — both its protection and interpretation — the Coalition established the annual J. Robert Maguire lecture series 15 years ago.

Standard admission to Mount Independence State Historic Site is in effect. Coalition members get in free.

It is rare these days to encounter a scholarly work free of jargon, political polemics, and presentist interpretations. It is especially rare to find a book superbly grounded in primary sources that is also readable. Friederike Baer’s Hessians not only fits the bill in both cases but also expertly analyzes a historically significant and fascinating subchapter of the American Revolution that has not been comprehensively examined for over a hundred years.” — The Journal of American History

About our speaker