NEWS RELEASE: Historic Huguenot Street’s Children’s “Tea Time” and Writing Competition To Focus on Local Native American Culture
Illustration by Matthew Kelly from Hugo the Huguenot
NEW PALTZ, NY (April 3, 2017) – On Saturday, April 22, Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) will host “Tea Time and Historic Story Hour” with a focus on local Native American culture and stories. This event is a fun and enriching opportunity for children to gain an understanding of indigenous history prior to European contact. All dolls, teddy bears, and action figures welcome!
Prior to the event, children ages 7 through 12 are encouraged to write their own “Munsee Esopus Girl” story or poem from the perspective of Manveht, a 17th century Munsee Esopus girl who grew up to become one of the signers of the 1677 land deed with the original Huguenot Patentees.
Inspired authors are invited to write about Manveht’s life as a young girl hoping to one day lead her people, or, alternately, about what it may have been like for Manveht to first encounter the European emigrants. For submission details and more about Manveht, visit huguenotstreet.org/teatime. Writings, due one week before the event, will be judged by HHS staff. Two winners (one from each age group, 7 - 9 and 10 - 12) will have their stories read aloud at the event and will take home a prize.
For the Historic Story Hour, Jennifer DuBois Bruntil, Huguenot descendant and HHS School Programming Coordinator, will read her newly published children’s book Hugo the Huguenot, tracing the Huguenots’ journey to America and the establishment of New Paltz. Copies of Hugo the Huguenot will be available for purchase and will be signed by the author.
Attendees will further have the opportunity to participate in Native American-inspired craft projects, and enter a raffle to win Kaya, an American Girl® doll.
Sandwiches, sweets (gluten & gluten free), coffee, iced tea, and lemonade will be provided by Bridgecreek Catering. Tea will be provided by PositiviTeas and Herbal Infusions, and guests can purchase their products at the event. Make a PositiviTeas purchase to receive 10% off your purchase of Hugo the Huguenot. Registration is required at huguenotstreet.org/teatime. Admission is $25 for adults and $20 for ages 12 and under.
A National Historic Landmark District, Historic Huguenot Street is a 501(c)3 non-profit that encompasses 30 buildings across 10 acres that was the heart of the original 1678 New Paltz settlement, including seven stone houses that date to the early eighteenth century. It was founded in 1894 as the Huguenot Patriotic, Historical, and Monumental Society to preserve the nationally acclaimed collection of stone houses. Since then, Historic Huguenot Street has grown into an innovative museum, chartered as an educational corporation by the University of the State of New York, that is dedicated to protecting our historic buildings, conserving an important collection of artifacts and manuscripts, and promoting the stories of the Huguenot Street families, from the sixteenth century to today.
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Contact
Kaitlin Gallucci
Director of Marketing & Communications
(845) 255-1660
media@huguenotstreet.org