Lecture:
Hudson Valley Food Riots & the American Revolution, by Thomas S. Wermuth
Date/Time:
Thursday, April 23, 2026 at 6PM
Location:
Hudson Area Library, 51 N 5th Street, Hudson, NY 12534
On Thursday, April 23, 6pm, in-person at the Hudson Area Library, the Jacob Leisler Institute for the Study of Early New York History, in collaboration with the Hudson Area Library, hosts this year’s second of four Leisler Lectures.
Dr. Thomas Wermuth speaks on food riots during the Revolutionary War, which occurred primarily in the Hudson Valley.
While armies battled throughout New York in the 1770s, the Hudson Valley “homefront” suffered food shortages, high costs, and price gouging storekeepers. Riotous crowds took matters into their own hands by participating in market seizures and price riots, and even threatened to pull their support for the war.
Thomas S. Wermuth is the Frank T. Bumpus Chair of Hudson River Valley History at Marist University where he teaches courses in American history and Hudson Valley studies. His new book, Fire & Freedom: The American Revolution in New York is available from Cornell University Press.
The Jacob Leisler Library Lectures are made partially possible through the generous support of the Van Dyke Family Foundation, HRBT Foundation, and Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation.