Special Event Invitation & More
Women’s History Month Zoom Presentation on Edna Odell
Edna Odell
We’ve all become too familiar with images of overworked doctors and nurses struggling to care for COVID-19 patients. Looking back a century, nurses in the World War I theatre dealt with similar circumstances. They treated victims of Spanish flu, tended to wounded soldiers, and ministered to sick and hungry children, many of whom were orphaned by the devastating war.
This was the experience of Edna Odell, who grew up on the Odell Farm. Edna became a nurse who worked in Westchester and New York City, and served as an American Red Cross nurse in France in 1918 and 1919. Her history has been unraveled through documents recently found in the Odell House—personal letters, financial records, luggage tags, passports, artifacts, photographs, and more—and the story is published on our website here. Through this story we can begin to understand how a woman born in 1874 made the decision to set sail for France in the midst of war. It’s a story of an independent and persevering woman who came of age in a world on the precipice of change. It’s a story that could be told of women today.
Presented by Tessa Payer, Susan Seal and Susan Werbe
Greenburgh Public Library
March 8, 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Zoom
Registration is required for this free event. Click here.
Washington, Rochambeau & the Grand Reconnaissance
Please join us for a special presentation by Dr. Iris de Rode on Washington, Rochambeau and the Grand Reconnaissance, July 21-23, 1781. This event will take place on March 16 from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Seminary & College in Yonkers and will also be broadcast live on Zoom. Registration details are below.
The Grand Reconnaissance was the joint French American military operation in Westchester County and the Bronx, conducted in July 1781. It is an often overlooked moment in the history of the American Revolution, but it was a pivotal moment for the fate of the young United States.
From their joint encampment in Greenburgh at Odell House in Hartsdale and at Appleby Farm in Ardsley, the French and Americans troops moved to southern Westchester and spent three days surveying the British strength in upper Manhattan to determine if a successful attack there was possible. It soon became clear that it was not, and the two generals made the fateful decision at Odell House to march together to Yorktown, Virginia, where they were victorious, and the British General Lord Cornwallis surrendered to them. Without this reconnaissance, U.S. history could have had a much different outcome.
Dr. Iris de Rode, author and lecturer, earned her doctoral degree in France in 2019 and has done extensive research on the French participation in the American Revolution, based on unpublished French sources. During her lecture, she will share her findings on the Grand Reconnaissance, based on a report of one of its participants, the Major General Chastellux (1734-1788).
Forum Participants: Dr. Erik Weiselberg, Nick Dembowski, Constance Kehoe
Sponsored by Revolutionary Westchester 250
Co-sponsors: Friends of Odell House Rochambeau Headquarters, Yonkers Historical Society, Kingsbridge Historical Society
ATTEND IN PERSON
Seating is limited for this free event, so you must sign up on Eventbrite by clicking here.
The presentation will take place in the Main Building auditorium at St. Joseph’s Seminary & College, 201 Seminary Ave., Yonkers, N.Y.
March 16, 2022, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
WATCH ON ZOOM
The Zoom meeting will be hosted by St. Joseph’s in their online room called Prayer Hall. Click the link below to watch on Zoom. The presentation is on March 16 at 4 p.m. The Zoom meeting will open at 3:30 p.m. and there is a capacity of 300 participants.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6791057191
Meeting ID: 679 105 7191
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Meeting ID: 679 105 7191
Participant ID: 459701
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kjrF6LyPY
Cooking at Odell House
The Odell House archives are full of interesting documents—including recipes dating from the late 1700s and into the 1800s. The handwriting is full of swirls and flourishes, and they are remarkably easy to read. Most are related to food but there are a number of interesting “medicinal” concoctions as well. From Peach Cordial and Plum Cake to “Cure for Cancer” and Washington Pie, learn more about this fascinating collection here.
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