Fayetteville Technical Community College is hosting two events focused on the life of Fayetteville’s namesake: the Marquis de Lafayette. Both events are free and open to the public.
A lecture about the life and influence of Lafayette will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8, in the Multipurpose Room of the Tony Rand Student Center on FTCC’s Fayetteville campus. Parking is available behind the student center and can be accessed via the FTCC Access Road, which runs between Hull Road and Devers Street.
Titled “Why is Our City Called Fayetteville?”, the lecture will be delivered by Dr. Lloyd Kramer, a history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of “Lafayette in Two Worlds.” The book is a prize-winning interpretation of the cultural and political significance of Lafayette’s career from the American Revolution to the French Revolutions of 1789 and 1830 to the Polish Uprising of 1830-31.
In addition to being a hero of the American Revolution and a key figure in the French Revolution, Lafayette was a lifelong champion of human rights and an influence on the early movements to abolish slavery. He was a close and influential friend of George Washington’s. Interestingly, out of the numerous American cities and towns that were named for him, Lafayette visited just one – Fayetteville, NC. He did that on March 4, 1825, during a 13-month tour of the United States.
The lecture is part of FTCC’s Community History Lecture Series.
Meanwhile, FTCC’s Paul H. Thompson Library will be exhibiting an educational display about the life of Lafayette through the month of September. The grand reveal of the display will be at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 29. A Lafayette re-enactor and representatives from the Liberty Point Daughters of the Revolution will be at the event, all in period-appropriate costume.
The library is also on FTCC’s Fayetteville campus.
Both the lecture and the educational display are being held in partnership with the Lafayette Society of Fayetteville, a nonprofit group that honors the memory of Lafayette. The society celebrates Lafayette’s birthday in early September of each year with a weekend of events.
For more information about locations of buildings and parking on FTCC’s campuses, as well as directions, please visit the College’s interactive map at map.faytechcc.edu.