We’re excited to announce that our final New Sweden Legacy Lecture will now be available both in person and online via Zoom! Guests can choose to join us in person or online via Zoom for this special event. In-person attendees will enjoy a brunch reception following the lecture and have the exclusive opportunity to meet past lecturers Paul Kahan and Jay Smith!
Our featured speaker, renowned historian Paul Finkelman, will present:
"Peter Stuyvesant’s War on Swedes and Other Lutherans."
After the Dutch conquered the New Sweden colony, they allowed the settlers there to keep their own pastors. However, Stuyvesant, the Dutch colony's Director General and the Dutch clergy in New Netherland, was very unhappy about this. Stuyvesant and his pastors belittled and slandered the Swedish clergy and both made war on the Lutheran community in the New Netherland. Stuyvesant acceded to the peace agreement to allow a Lutheran pastor in what is today Delaware and southern New Jersey. But he vigorously and ruthlessly prevented Lutherans from having a pastor in New Amsterdam, what is today northern New Jersey, and upstate New York. Stuyvesant is most remembered for his anti-Semitism and his attempt to expel about two dozen Jews from New Amsterdam. Because of the famous Flushing Remonstrance, historians know about his persecution of Quakers and their supporters on Long Island. Less well known (mostly unknown even among many colonialists) was his vigorous persecution of Lutherans. This talk will explore this topic, and note that the Director General, for a variety of reasons, was much harsher to the Lutherans and Swedes than he was to the Jews. Ironically, his treatment of both groups, as well as Quakers, ultimately led to religious liberty in the New York colony after the Dutch were deposed.
Event Schedule:
9:00 a.m. – Registration Check-In Opens
9:30-10:30 – Lecture with Q&A (Zoom session)
10:30-12:00 p.m. – Brunch and Conversation
In-Person Location:
American Swedish Historical Museum
1900 Pattison Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19145
Click Here for directions
This is a free event, in-person registration required by Monday, April 7th. Space is limited so please register early.
The lecture will be recorded and posted to YouTube the following week.
Click HERE to register for in-person attendance at the American Swedish Historical Museum
Click HERE to register for the virtual Zoom link to the program from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. EST
This month's lecture is sponsored by the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society, the Swedish Colonial Society, and the University of Delaware.
This lecture series is presented in partnership with the Swedish Colonial Society, the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Delaware Swedish Colonial Society, the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, Old Swedes Historic Site, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the New Sweden Centre, the New Sweden Alliance, the Finnish American Society of the Delaware Valley, and the University of Delaware.