The Lenni-Lenape: Larchmont’s Original Inhabitants

The history of the Lenni-Lenape Indians goes back over 10,000 years. The Lenni-Lenape inhabited New Jersey, Delaware, southern New York and eastern Pennsylvania at the time the Europeans came to land on the shores of the U.S. Lenni-Lenape literally means "Men of Men", but is translated to mean "Original People." Though they suffered removals and forced migrations to Canada and the mid-western U.S, states, many descendants of the original Lenni-Lenape returned to our area.

On Friday, July 14 at 2:00pm, the Larchmont Public Library presents David Osborne, Site Manager and Historian with the St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, for an engaging and information-packed program about the Lenni-Lenape Indians. Osborne’s program, The Lenape Indians: Larchmont’s Original Inhabitants, includes a digital slide show that explores the history and the impact of the Lenni-Lenape in Lower Westchester County. The program is free and everyone is invited.

St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site is one of New York State’s oldest parishes (1665-1980), and was used as a hospital during the Revolutionary War with a burial ground and burial stones dating to 1704. The grounds contain the remnants of a Village Green that was the election site of the Election of 1733, which raised issues of Freedom of Religion and Press. The church has also been significant for five U.S. Presidents, including George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The church was restored in 1942 with funds that were raised by a committee chaired by Sara Delano Roosevelt (the mother of FDR). The church ceased to provide services in 1980 when the land and buildings were transferred from the Episcopal Diocese of New York to the National Park Service. The church and grounds were opened as a national historical site and museum in 1984.

For more information about the St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, visit http://www.nps.gov/sapa/index.htm.