Learn How 26 pieces of lead changed the American Revolution
(Hint: they weren’t musket balls)
Learn how 26 pieces of lead printing type changed the course of the American Revolution during an informative and entertaining discussion of colonial printers, their secrets, and their penchant for stirring up trouble for the Crown. At Lake Champlain Maritime Museum’s Rabble in Arms Weekend August 6-7, master letterpress printer Ronald Kermani will show how colonial printers set type, printed pamphlets by hand one at a time, and distributed these
thought-provoking anti-British missives throughout the colonies. “During the Revolution, the printing press was as powerful as the largest army in defeating the British,” Kermani asserts.
During the program, Kermani will handset lead printing type and print Revolutionary War-style items on the museum’s vintage hand press. Attend his session and you may receive a personalized printed souvenir of the Rabble in Arms weekend! Along the way, you can learn about the history of printing, the invention of moveable metal type and printing presses in Europe, and the introduction of the printing craft to the Colonies. Kermani became immersed in typography and printing while studying at Syracuse University. Along the way, he has taught graphic arts and letterpress printing, founded the award-winning Kermani Press, and amassed a sizeable collection of antique wood and metal foundry types which he donated to the Albany Institute of History and Art.
While the centerpiece of this event is LCMM’s replica 1776 gunboat Philadelphia, the Rabble in Arms weekend also provides a chance to see other eighteenth century skills in action, including encampment food preparation and open fire cooking presented by reenactors with years of experience in colonial cookery. Kids will have the chance to join the Colonial Army and learn musket drills (with wooden muskets of course), and much more! On-water battle demonstration at 1 pm each day brings to life the confrontation between rebelling colonists and British forces on Lake Champlain. Camp is open 10-5 Saturday and 10-4 Sunday.
Want to learn more about Nautical Archaeology? A selection of maps, documents, and photographs from the collection of Lake Champlain historian Peter Barranco provides glimpses into the Battle of Valcour Island, the War of 1812, Lake Champlain’s steamboats, and the ten-year sonar survey of Lake Champlain’s 300+ shipwrecks.
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum is open daily through October 9. Check online for Special admission package of Museum/Lunch/Cruise, and for more information about Courses and Workshops and “60 Minute Experiences” in glass blowing, blacksmithing, and metal work. Find out more about LCMM at www.lcmm.org, on Facebook, or call (802) 475-2022.