New Rochelle will host an exhibit exploring the city’s experience during the American Revolution. The New Rochelle Council on the Arts (NRCA) is presenting “It Happened Here: Life in New Rochelle During the American Revolution” at the Lumen Winter Gallery, located in the lobby of the New Rochelle Public Library. The exhibit runs from March 2 to March 27, with a public reception and gallery talk scheduled for March 15 at 3 p.m., led by City Historian Barbara Davis.
The exhibition focuses on New Rochelle’s role as part of Westchester’s “Neutral Ground,” an area between British-occupied New York and Patriot-controlled territory. In October 1776, British General William Howe stationed nearly 10,000 troops in New Rochelle ahead of the Battle of White Plains. At that time, local residents experienced years marked by conflict and lawlessness as loyalties divided families and groups known as Skinners (loyalists) and Cowboys (patriots) engaged in violence and theft without legal consequences.
Curator Barbara Davis explained, “During this period New Rochelle was part of the so-called ‘Neutral Ground’, which to modern ears sounds safe, like Switzerland during World War II. But in fact it was more like a ‘no-man’s land of pillaging, plundering and strife.’”
The exhibit includes early records, maps, eyewitness accounts from Westchester County Historical Society’s McDonald Interviews, and modern photographs by Adam Pape. It covers events before and after the Battle of White Plains up to 1783.
“It Happened Here” is curated by NRCA Board members Barbara Davis—who also serves as Director of the Westchester County Historical Society—and Christine Ramage, VP/Head of Photography for Paramount+ and Showtime. Theresa Kump Leghorn contributed editorial support while Susan Nagib designed the exhibit.
NRCA was founded in 1975 with a mission to promote performing and fine arts through exhibitions, productions, lectures, concerts, film screenings, spoken word events, and public art installations. More information about NRCA can be found at www.newrochellearts.org.
The council is supported by a grant from ArtsWestchester with funding provided by Westchester County government and County Executive Ken Jenkins.
Photographer Adam Pape is based in New York City where he teaches photography at SUNY Purchase. Originally from Smithfield Virginia with an MFA from Yale University earned in 2016, Pape’s work has appeared internationally including his monograph Dyckman Haze published by MACK Books—which received recognition such as being shortlisted for Paris Photo – Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards 2019—and has been featured or exhibited at venues such as Le Monde Magazine and Aperture Gallery.
Pape continues his career as an editorial photographer with assignments for publications including The New Yorker Magazine.
