Brought to you by the Grosse Pointe Artist Association:
Reconciliation between England and the 13 colonies was failing. Parliament had declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion, and on April 14 General Thomas Gage received secret orders from England to suppress the rebels. On the night of April 18, Gage sent 700 British soldiers to Concord to seize patriot supplies there. At dawn the British reached the town of Lexington, just east of Concord, where they found 70 American militiamen waiting for them on the village green.
Warned of the British troop movement, the Lexington patriots had assembled in an effort to halt British progress toward Concord. Both sides stood their ground, and in a tense moment, a shot was fired. Though it’s unclear which side, British soldier or American patriot, fired that first “shot heard ’round the world,” history remembers it as the start of the American Revolutionary War.
Curator of Manuscripts at the Clements Library Cheney Schopieray, who developed a recent exhibition titled “Bloody Work: Lexington and Concord 1775," will help us relive this pivotal time in American history.
Your Old Mansion Lecture Series:
This year, the Grosse Pointe Artists Association's annual lecture series, "Your Old Mansion," celebrates the nation's 250th birthday. All lectures are at 2 pm on Sundays in the library of the Alger Mansion on The War Memorial campus.
2 pm, Sunday, Jan. 11: "Face Value: Contextual Cataloging of Historic Native American Photographs" with Jakob Dopp will open the lecture series. During the afternoon he will explain the challenges he has encountered working with 19th and early 20th century photographs from the Richard Pohrt, Jr. Collection of Native American Photography.
2 pm, Sunday, Feb. 15: Come celebrate Valentine's Day with Associate Curator of Manuscripts Jayne Ptolemy who will share some heartwarming ways people displayed their love through the centuries.
2 pm, Sunday March 8: Join Sierra Laddusaw, Curator of Maps and Graphics, and Mary Pedley, Assistant Curator of Maps, at the William L. Clements Library, for a walk through the history of mapping Michigan.
2 pm, Sunday, March 29: To cover the costs of the seven-year French and Indian War, the British Parliament levied taxes and enacted harsh laws that enraged the colonists. One thing led to another, or one could say, to the Lexington Green where the British Redcoats met the American Minutemen, igniting the Revolutionary War between the British Empire and its North American colonies. Curator of Manuscripts at the Clements Library Cheney Schopieray, who developed a recent exhibition titled “Bloody Work: Lexington and Concord 1775," will help us relive this pivotal time in American history.
BONUS LECTURE: 2 pm, Sunday, April 12: For the BONUS lecture, artist and Detroit historian Mike Kroll will help us remember early 20th-century Detroit, when art, industry and civic vision converged in transformative ways. Center stage were Dr. Wilhelm Valentiner and Edsel Ford.
This lecture series is the Grosse Pointe Artists Association's only fund raiser. The association thanks the presenters for donating their time and The War Memorial for its support. Proceeds from the series funds free arts programming for veterans, senior citizens and high school art students.
Additional information and registration can be found on the Grosse Pointe Artist’s Association’s website.
This event is presented as part of America 250, a nationwide commemoration marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. In 2026, select programs at The War Memorial invite reflection on our shared history, civic ideals, and the stories shaping the nation during this milestone year.