NARROWSBURG – Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowsburg, NY has announced its schedule of special programs for the 2025 season.

For the fourth consecutive year, the series of presentations will be sponsored by Bold Gold Media.

The Bold Gold Media Speaker Series kicks off on the Fort’s opening day, Saturday, May 17 with a presentation by Sullivan County Historian John Conway exploring the newly discovered connection between Benedict Arnold and Cushetunk, the first permanent European settlement in the Upper Delaware region.

Benedict Arnold will also be the subject of two other programs this season, as authors Jack Kelly (God Save Benedict Arnold) and Matthew Reardon (The Traitor’s Homecoming) will visit Fort Delaware to discuss and sign their books at different times.

Fort Delaware’s event tent was destroyed in a recent rain-storm, so until it can be replaced all special programs will be presented in the James W. Burbank Pavilion. For the first time, the presentations will be open to the public at no charge. All special programs start at 4pm unless otherwise noted.

The programming schedule includes:

Saturday, May 17: “The Benedict Arnold Connection” by Sullivan County Historian John Conway at 4pm.

Saturday, May 24: “The Battlefield Death of Dr. Benjamin Tusten” by Sullivan County Historian John Conway (Memorial Day weekend program about one of our first veterans to give his life in battle); 4pm.

Monday, May 26: (Memorial Day) Special Program TBA.

Saturday, June 14: “God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man” discussion and book signing by book author Jack Kelly; 4pm. (Benedict Arnold died on June 14, 1801).

Friday, July 4: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” By Oliver King as Frederick Douglass at 4pm.

Saturday, July 5: “The Spirit of Philadelphia: A Call to Rediscover the Founding Principles” discussion and book signing by book author Chris Gibson, PhD. (Dr. Gibson is a retired military officer and former U.S. Congressman)

Saturday, July 12: “Patriots and Loyalists: The Reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Loyalist Rebuttal” with Fort Delaware staff and re-enactors at 1pm.

Saturday, July 19 and Sunday, July 20: Queen Esther’s Refugees on the Warpath encampment and siege of Fort Delaware at 11am; (Fort closes at 3pm Saturday for Battle of Minisink Commemoration at 4pm at Minisink Battleground Park).

Saturday, July 19: Commemoration of the Battle of Minisink; Minisink Battleground Park, County Road 168, Barryville; Terry Bernardo, NSDAR Keynote Speaker (Fort Delaware closes at 3pm today only).

Saturday, August 9: “The Traitors Homecoming: Benedict Arnold’s Raid on New London, CT” discussion and book signing by book author Matthew E. Reardon at 4pm.

Saturday, August 16: “Guiding General Sullivan: The Sullivan Expedition as Recorded by its Guide” by Richard Jenkins at 4pm. 

Saturday, August 23: “To Quell, Suppress, and Bring Them to Reason by Force: Combating the Loyalist Threat in NY During 1775” by Dutchess County Historian Will Tatum, PhD.