Lafayette Lecture Series: The Entangled Histories of Lafayette, North Island, and Slavery on Georgetown’s Shores

This presentation considers Lafayette’s arrival within the broader maritime history of Georgetown and surrounding areas from the colonial period through the American Civil War. Taking the history of North Island as its starting point, it will examine the evolving relationship between free and enslaved residents and the waterscapes that shaped their daily lives in a plethora of ways. This relationship between humans and the natural world offers a unique window to understand the larger historical significance of this place that served as the site of Lafayette’s first landing in North America.