NATHAN HALE-AMERICAN PATRIOT

The Friends of Fort Trumbull are honored to present for their June meeting, Ms. Beverly L. York, a local historian, who is the Administrator of the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry, CT. Nathan Hale was born in Coventry in 1755. In 1768, at 13 years old, Nathan Hale attended Yale University. Graduating with first -class honors, in 1773, he became a teacher first in East Haddam and later in New London.

Those of us in the New London area have long been familiar with the Nathan Hale School House and its peripatetic movements. It now can be visited at 19 Atlantic Street, New London on Wed.-Sun: 11:00a.m.-4:00p.m.

Opened May thru. Oct. http://www.connecticutsar.org

When the Revolutionary War began, Nathan joined a Connecticut militia. During the Battle of Long Island, Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines and report on British troop movement even though he knew that spies-if caught- would be hung as illegal combatants. In 1776, after his capture, he was hung without a trial by the British. At Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, a statue bears his immortal last words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country".

Ms. York will discuss Nathan Hale and the Nathan Hale Homestead. The house, an example of a Georgian-style home, is furnished with Hale-family pieces and period antiques. It will re-open for tours in May 2011.

hale@stlandmarks.org

The meeting will take place on Thursday, June 30, at the Fort Trumbull Conference Center, 90 Walbach Street, New London, CT and begins promptly at 7 p.m.  The public is welcome to attend this free presentation which is hosted by the Friends of Fort Trumbull. Free parking is available just inside the main gate.