Clermont State Historic Site

If you haven’t been to Clermont yet this season you have missed out on our gallery exhibit “Remembrances of a Founder: Robert R. Livingston in Popular Memory.” This exhibit explores the way Livingston has been remembered in recent memory rather than how he lived.

            The founding generation knew that they would be remembered for what they did. Some, like George Washington, were very careful in how they presented themselves in life so that they could, or so they thought, control their own memories. They envisioned portraits, statues, and some of their papers being read in perpetuity.

            To a certain extent they got what they wanted. Washington D.C., state capitols, cities, and small towns are named after them, they are full of statues, and academics will argue endlessly about the meaning of a single comma in a letter written by Washington.

            However, there is also a need for each generation to grapple with the founders in popular culture as well. In some generations that meant celebrating the good, while ignoring any evidence of anything negative about the founders. Later generations have their own interpretations. Its safe to say that a certain Secretary of the Treasury never envisioned anyone singing about his affair with Maria Reynolds on Broadway.

            Pop culture has not been quite so kind to Livingston. He is often left out of dramas and musicals (I’m looking at you Lin Manuel Miranda). He was included in one major musical though. 1776 opened in 1969 and saw Livingston in a major number with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson during which they decide who will write the Declaration of Independence. Livingston demurs because he is going home to see his son born. He never had a son and there would, of course, be no way for anyone to determine the sex of a baby before it was born in 1776 but at least he was included. The musical has been revived multiple times over the years. Most recently it was restaged with a cast of “multiracial female, transgender, and non-binary actors…putting history in the hands of people who were left out the first time around.”

            It is also common to see Livingston on trading cards and stamps. Periodically trading card companies decide to include a bit of history in their pack by throwing in cards of past figures. Sometimes these cards are insets in packs of cards and sometimes they are in loafs of bread but either way they get a bit of history into the hands of people who might otherwise never hear of people like Livingston. Livingston also shows up on stamps fairly frequently. Whenever there is an anniversary, the USPS seems to throw his face on a stamp.

            Books are also a place where Livingston is often overlooked. There has been only one scholarly biography of the man ever. Quite frankly the most accurate depiction of the man recently has come in a children’s graphic novel.

            Robert R. Livingston is not a widely known figure in American history, yet there are some who are willing to keep his name and face in the zeitgeist. So, he’s got that going for him.

The exhibit may be viewed during tours of the mansion which are held Thursday, Fraiday, Saturday and Sunday. Tours are held on the hour, the first tour starts at 11:00 am and the last at 4:00 pm. Tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for seniors and students. Children under 12 are free.