Indigenous Peoples and the American Revolution: The Sullivan Expedition of 1779

Description

Historic Rock Ford's Untold Stories of the American Revolution Lecture Series welcomes Mary Ann Levine as she presents “Indigenous Peoples and the American Revolution: The Sullivan Expedition of 1779."  

In the late summer of 1779, under direct orders from George Washington, General John Sullivan led an army of several thousand men on a campaign against the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee. The goal of the campaign was to break the confederacy’s ability to support and supply British forces; the tactic deployed was to destroy food stores, burn villages, and drive the Haudenosaunee out of both Pennsylvania and New York. During the Sullivan expedition and its aftermath, an estimated 50%-60% of the Haudenosaunee died from direct military violence, disease, starvation, and exposure. In the early 20^th century, dozens of memorials to the Sullivan campaign were erected over hundreds of miles of Sullivan’s march. This talk explores the Sullivan expedition, the memorialization of the campaign through commemorative markers in PA and NY, the Seneca village of Catharine’s Town, and the ways that Indigenous peoples are reframing the narrative around the campaign.

This presentation will begin at 6:30 PM in the Langmuir Education Room on the first floor of the Rock Ford Barn. It will be approximately 1.5 hours in length.  Please note that admission is for the lecture and does not include the Snyder Gallery.  

ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Mary Ann Levine earned her BA from McGill University in Montréal and her PhD from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for her work on Indigenous archaeology in the Eastern Woodlands. Her recent work focuses on colonial/indigenous entanglements in the 18^th century. She is the Lewis Audenreid Professor of History and Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at Franklin and Marshall College. She recently co-directed the Reckoning with Lancaster project, a Mellon Foundation funded community engagement project that explored indigeneity, settler colonialism, and the land question at F&M. Her 25-year dedication to the study of various Indigenous cultures through archaeology has resulted in numerous publications including articles in American Antiquity, Journal of Archaeological Science, Geoarchaeology, and the Archaeology of Eastern North America and co-edited books such as The Archaeological Northeast and Archaeology and Community Service Learning. She is the recipient of numerous awards including a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, an American Association of University of Women Recognition Award for Emerging Scholars, the Preservation Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award for Archaeology, and a Joseph L Peyser Endowment for the Study of New France Research Grant. She has a longstanding commitment to better understanding women and gender roles in the archaeological record and was awarded the American Anthropological Association's Committee on Gender Equity in Anthropology Award.

Date & Time

Wed, Sep 16, 2026 6:30 PM

Venue Details

Historic Rock Ford

881 Rockford Road
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602

Rock Ford Foundation