Patriot or Traitor? Benedict Arnold Talk at New Haven Museum

Benedict Arnold’s name is now synonymous with betrayal. But before siding with the British during the American Revolution, Arnold lived and worked as a merchant in New Haven and served as a general in the Continental Army. Delve into Arnold’s life during the next Spring 2013 Heroes & Villains Lecture at the Museum. On Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 pm, Stephen Darley will present “Benedict Arnold: Fallen Hero,” tracing Arnold’s life from his early years in Norwich and New Haven, to his victories won during the American Revolution at the cost of financial and personal sacrifices, to his life after joining the British Army.

The New Haven Museum owns a number of Arnold’s objects from his downtown shop and Water Street home. Learn more about Arnold in Beyond the New Township: Wooster Square, the Museum’s third neighborhood exhibition, opening in May 2013.

Stephen Darley is a graduate of Utah State University and George Washington University. After serving in the U.S. Army, he worked as an attorney for the New Haven Redevelopment Agency. His forty-year interest in the history of the American Revolutionary War and in Benedict Arnold has led to a number of articles on Benedict Arnold and the Revolutionary War. Darley’s publications include Voices from a Wilderness Expedition; The Journals and Men of Benedict Arnold’s Expedition to Quebec in 1775 and The Battle of Valcour Island: The Participants and Vessels of Benedict Arnold’s 1776 Defense of Lake Champlain, which is the second book of a planned quartet exploring the significant battles fought by Benedict Arnold for the Northern Army in the first two years of the war.  For more information, visit his website at www.darleybooks.com.

The New Haven Museum, founded in 1862 as the New Haven Colony Historical Society and currently celebrating its 150^th Anniversary, is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue. Join the Museum in exploring the stories behind some of the most important historical figures in the history of Greater New Haven and Connecticut. The lecture series will continue through 2013 as the New Haven Museum celebrates its 150^th and the City of New Haven’s 375^th anniversaries.

375^th Anniversary events at the New Haven Museum are made possible in part by The Woman’s Seamen’s Friend Society of Connecticut, Inc.

For more information, contact Michelle Cheng, Director of Education, at (203) 562-4183 ext. 11 or education@newhavenmuseum.org.