Dear Friends of Lafayette,

The American Friends of Lafayette was founded at Lafayette College on May 20, 1932, the 198th anniversary of General Lafayette’s death. Thus, we completed our 91st year a few days ago on May 19, 2023.

In year 91, we entered into important partnerships with three venerable legacy societies – the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Children of the American Revolution – who have committed to support our educational and Bicentennial efforts. Moreover, the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati and the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati have generously provided matching grants for our Farewell Tour Bicentennial virtual travelogues.

Under the stewardship of Chuck Schwam, planning for the Farewell Tour Bicentennial continues at a brisk and increasingly effective pace. The AFL has over 30 committees – such committees were called “arrangement committees” during the Tour – in full-steam-ahead mode.

We are very grateful to our local chairs and committee members for their drive and commitment. Since the last Gazette, the AFL has organized and participated in several important events including Virginia Lafayette Day, at which over 60 members attended the ceremonies in Richmond, and the Authors Congress at Washington Crossing, New Jersey, at which an AFL panel – Bruce Mowday, Chuck Schwam, Patti Maclay, and I – discussed Lafayette, the AFL, and the upcoming Bicentennial. We are on the cusp of what promises to be a fantastic annual meeting at LaGrange, Georgia. Thank you, Dr. Richard Ingram and the Lafayette Alliance!

In the last few months, the AFL also created a second website devoted to the Farewell Tour Bicentennial and engaged Kat Smith, a skilled professional who is helping us enhance our social media presence. Welcome aboard Kat!

The AFL has come a long way since its 1932 founding, and it has done so without paid staff. It is our hundreds of volunteers who are making it possible for the AFL to carry out its mission of educating the public about the life and career of General Lafayette.

I cannot acknowledge all of you individually, but I want to acknowledge those persons who have made particularly significant contributions during our 91st year. Here is my list in alphabetical order: William Cole, Robert Kelly, Patti Maclay, Susan Joy Minker, Jan O’Sullivan, Peter Reilly, Chuck Schwam, Chuck Schwam, and Frank Womble. No, repeating Chuck’s name twice is not a typographic or other error. If it were, our able Associate Editor, Jan O’Sullivan, would surely have caught and corrected it before we went topress. It’s just that he deserves double mention and a few exclamation points, too!!!

I cannot elaborate on their contributions in this letter or in the Gazette for that matter. We don’t have the space, for one thing. I will acknowledge these volunteers more fully during the Friday, June 9 business meeting at LaGrange in the President’s report. The business meeting will be available on Zoom so that every member, not only the 105 of you who will be in Georgia for the meeting, can attend.

The efforts of officers, board members, and member-volunteers have borne fruit in our 91st year. From May 20, 2022 to May 19, 2023, the AFL added 177 new members. Moreover, after taking into account normal attrition, we now have 632 members. See the map below for distribution of AFL members.

Best Regards,

Alan R. Hoffman