Lafayette and the Farewell Tour: Odyssey of an American Idol- Humanities Presentation
In 1824-1825 the Marquis de Lafayette visited all 24 states as the last surviving major general of the Continental Army. This Farewell Tour was described by contemporaries as a unique and extraordinary event. Edward Everett of Massachusetts called the Tour “an event taken in all its part, unparalleled in the history of man.” In this program, Alan Hoffman, translator of Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825, a first-hand account of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, will examine how Lafayette’s story-book life, role in the American Revolution, friendship with George Washington, support of American interests, and his Farewell Tour shaped his remarkable reputation. He will highlight Lafayette’s visits to cities and towns in New Hampshire to illustrate how the American people celebrated Lafayette and America during the Tour.
About Alan: Alan R. Hoffman obtained his BA in history from Yale where he studied under Professor Edmund Morgan, before earning a JD at Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston for 50 years. An avid reader of early American history, he “discovered” Lafayette in 2002 and spent two years – 2003 to 2005 – translating Auguste Levasseur’s Lafayette in America in 1824 and 1825, the first-hand account of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour of America written by his private secretary. This translation was published in 2006 and is in its third printing. Hoffman has lectured widely on Lafayette – over 200 talks – and has spoken in each of the 24 states (and Washington DC) which Lafayette visited during the Farewell Tour, as well as La Grange, Texas and Lafayette and Denver, Colorado. Hoffman is an officer of two Lafayette societies: he currently serves as President of the American Friends of Lafayette and President of the Massachusetts Lafayette Society. He is also the editor of The Gazette of The American Friends of Lafayette
New Hampshire Humanities programs are made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
