Wayside Inn Foundation Presents Sudbury’s Patriots of Color and the World of the American Revolution

The following is a press release submitted to SOURCE media.

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SUDBURY – The Wayside Inn Foundation (TWIF) announced the first program made possible by its new Fund for Diverse Programming initiative today.

Sudbury’s Patriots of Color and the World of the American Revolution will be presented virtually on January 26 at 7 p.m.

Benjamin Remillard, a PhD candidate at the University of New Hampshire, will discuss his most recent research as it relates to the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, the enlistment of men of color representing Sudbury following those battles, and the lives of veterans of color during and after the American Revolution. 

To participate, please register online at http://bit.ly/SudburyPatriotswithTWIF. 

The program fee is $10 per Zoom link, or $5 for Wayside Inn Foundation members.

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“We feel incredibly fortunate,” said The Wayside Inn Foundation Nonprofit Director Sally Hild. “In the fall, a generous donor offered to seed this fund in concert with a unique matching challenge in order to attract additional donations. We are now able to invite speakers and scholars, like Ben, to The Wayside Inn to help us unearth the history of people of color at our site and from our community and to tell their stories. This is the first of many programs to come.”

The challenge goal was met and surpassed through a Giving Tuesday social media campaign in December in which an anonymous donor matched every donation, regardless of size, with a $50 donation.

“This increased the impact of smaller donations and helped us bring in a new demographic of supporters,” said TWIF Trustee and Development Committee Co-Chair Katina Fontes. “With this formula even a $10 donation was worth $60. A $25 donation was worth $75.”

The fund is restricted to activities that enable TWIF to develop and support programming that specifically addresses the historical roots and cultural contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

“This is part of a larger effort to expand our programming and widen our base of support,” said Fontes. “Our traditional donor base is comprised of individuals with a long history and strong connection with The Wayside Inn, and for this we are very thankful, but in the long-term, we wish to grow our audience even farther. To do this we need to engage with the whole of our community in creative ways and expand our mission-related programming. This fund provides both a way to pay for these initiatives and offer a way for future donors inclined toward supporting this type of programming to give in a directed manner.”

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Remillard has taught history at several universities throughout New England, including Regis College, MassBay Community College, and UNH.

His current research focuses on Revolutionary War veterans of color and their experiences as a generational cohort. He has also published and presented papers on various aspects of early American history, including indigenous memorialization efforts on Boston Harbor’s Deer Island and in Mystic, Connecticut. At the TWIF program, he will specifically discuss the experience of veterans of color in Sudbury and Massachusetts during and after the war, and the importance of memorials for building and sustaining collective memory.

For more information about the program, donating to the Fund for Diverse Programming, or about membership with TWIF, e-mail TWIF@wayside.org.