Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 1

Stony Point Battlefield State Historic Site

By: Joseph Smith

Date Visited: October 21, 2016

Name of Person Interviewed: Michael Sheehan
Position(s) of Person Interviewed: Researcher, Interpreter, and Facebook Page Director
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 2

Written Response for Stony Point Battlefield Historic Site

Stony Point Battlefield Historic Site was the site of a key American Revolution battle, a

fort upon which British troops had stayed for nearly four months, and after the abandonment of

the fort, the location of the oldest lighthouse on the Hudson River. As told to me by Michael

Sheehan, the primary researcher and interpreter at Stony Point Historic Site, this site went

through a couple of different owners starting right after the abandonment of the site in 1779.

After 1779, the land became privately owned and is thought to have been the home of cattle

grazers. In 1826, the land was turned over to the United States Lighthouse Service as a

lighthouse was built on this site. During the rest of the 1800s and into the 1900s, the Federal

government and the US Coast Guard, were owners of the piece of land where the lighthouse is

located. In 1925, the lighthouse was decommissioned and a new steel tower was built closer to

the river to help for shop navigation. The land upon which the battle had taken place was handed

to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and is maintained

and renovated by the “Bureau of Historic Sites and Bureau of Historic Preservation Field

Services”; located near Albany. Exhibit designers and curators come work in conjunction with

the Stony Point staff to make any renovations, improvements or discoveries at Stony Point.

The resources at the Stony Point Battlefield Historic Site are vast, however, because of

the size of the museum, they can only display a certain amount, with the other resources being

held in Albany. The primary resources for the site are located in the museum and include

different artifacts, such as medicine bottles, buttons, and other items from the revolutionary time

period. The museum also has an audio portion in which visitors can listen to testimonies of those

involved with the court martial of British Lieutenant Henry Johnson, the commanding officer on

the night the British lost the fort at Stony Point. This site also is home to some interpretive

production, as a few staff reproduce everyday aspects of life for soldiers and others at these forts,
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 3

such as blacksmithing, gardening and military training. The outdoor grounds allow for visitors to

take a self-guided tour and read different placards that describe the Stony Point Battle. The

online resources for this historic site are pretty underwhelming. Because it is a state-run

historical site, the staff cannot make their own website, and the New York State Parks website is

unhelpful. Mr. Sheehan is working on trying to grow an official Facebook page in order to

advertise about happenings at Stony Point. The Facebook page allows the viewer to see pictures

and gain different event information that the website fails to include.1 Their Internet presence is

weak as there are no resources for teachers or students to use as far as educational activites.

From the artifacts and displays at the museum, there seemed to be an adequate amount of

information provided that helped the museum to provide a wide representation of the past.

Because of the rain, I was unable to witness any interpretations. From the questions I asked, I

could only get a sense of what an interpretation consisted of. With student groups, the site offers

about thirty minutes with the blacksmith, and thirty minutes to walk around the interpretive fort,

talking to different workers. The interpretation ends with a thirty-minute demonstration about

military happenings, such as how to hold and fire a musket. It does not seem like the interpretive

aspect of this site is as representative of the past as the small museum. Part of this is because

Stony Point’s staff is only about six people, with only some others who volunteer to be in the

interpretation. I asked Mr. Sheehan how and this particular site offers perspectives other than a

white British or colonist soldier, and he explained to me that there are not many written records

by or to women, children, or any black men serving. They are working to get a new placard

included to talk about the records of black men who may have been at Stony Point. The site is

quite entertaining, but I left wishing that there would be a narrative that challenged the past,

1Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse. (n.d.) In Facebook [Group Page]. Retreived October
23, 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/StonyPointBattlefieldAndLighthouse/
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 4

possibly making the site more accurate or inclusive.2 Whether it is the battlefield, or even the

lighthouse, an overwhelming aspect of the museum seemed to be about pride in the

accomplishments and importance of the lower Hudson Valley. If students were travelling from

outside of the Hudson Valley, I am not sure they would find the same appreciation as someone

from Stony Point.

This site is extremely informative and can help teachers to show the power of giving the

past a vivid present by allowing students to actually walk on a battlefield3. For older students, the

interpretations may not hold as much weight, so high school classes will typically do a self-

guided tour of the site and museum. This site is understaffed, so they rely on teachers to come

prepared with materials that allow students to reach their goals. The staff displays an

understanding of this site in a nuanced way, which is extremely useful and helpful for the

teacher.4 A strong aspect of this site is the amount of knowledge and information included about

both sides of the war. A comparison of a British soldier and a colonist soldier could be a

possibility when coming here. A teacher could even center their activites on the British soldier’s

lives in America as many of the artifacts found are from the British. If a teacher were to use this

site to teach about the Hudson River, they can find a lot of information on the importance of the

Stony Point Lighthouse, Hudson River commerce during the 1800s, and even a sense of what life

was like living on the coasts of the Hudson River. I would recommend this site as a resource of

information for teachers to use; however the site is not strong in providing educational activites.

A teacher would certainly have to do significant research about the site to find their purpose and

thoroughly prepare activities they would want to do.

2Marcus, Alan S.; Stoddard, Jeremy D.; Woodward, Walter W. Teaching History with Museums:
Strategies for K-12 Social Studies. Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. pg. 116
3 Teaching History with Museums, pg. 88.
4
Teaching History with Museums, pg. 114.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 5

Appendix

The “Appendix” will include a variety of things. First will be the Photograph Note Sheet,

followed by a Sample of Photographs taken by myself at the historical site. After the sample of

photographs will be the Resource List of resources used to complete the assignment. The end of

the Appendix will include two different sheets of paper that are separate from the Word

Document. One of them is a brochure about importance of Stony Point as a battlefield, and the

other about the importance of the Lighthouse at Stony Point.

 Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 6

Photograph Note Sheet

Learning Representative Historical Nots

Photos Photos Analysis Photos
Photo 1 This was the first thing that you see after
arriving at the parking lot. It includes
Photo of First X X walking directions on how to get to the
Map/Placard at historical site, as well as a brief
Parking Lot, with description of the historical significance
brief description of of the site.
the historical site

Photo 2 Upon walking to the historical site, the

first thing you see is the interpretive area
Photo of the tent X of the museum, which includes a couple
with a placard. of different tents, gardening supplies, and
Location of blacksmith supplies. This tent housed the
blacksmith blacksmith. The coinciding placard was
intepretations. about a different topic.

Photo 3 This was an interesting monument that

was dedicated to the heroic capture of the
Picture of fortress by the American light infantry
monument X troops. Was interesting to see how some
dedicated to the other information at the site tried to shift
American light from this complete colonist heroism
infantry. narrative.

Photo 4 There were about 18 placards located all

around the site to help guide the viewers
Picture of placard of the museum in a walking tour. This
showing the X particular placard talked about the
importance of this importance of Stony Point and King’s
location in the Ferry towards the war. This area
Revolution. overlooked the Hudson.

Photo 5 I thought it was interesting to see some

of the placards of the self-guiding tour
Placard of quote including quotes. Having this first-hand
by a lieutenant X X account made the experience a little bit
from the colonist more impactful.
infantry.

Photo 6 I thought the wording of this placard was

interesting as it strays from this
Placard describing X American heroism, and points out ways
the “missed in which the British could have held the
 Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 7

opportunities” by fortress at Stony Point if they took

the British. precautions such as using a signal rocket
for backup.
Photo 7 I had no previous knowledge of the
importance of the Stony Point
Placard with a Lighthouse or lighthouses in general.
description of the X This particular placard helped me to
Stony Point understand the technology within the
Lighthouse lighthouse, as well as the history of this
lighthouse and its importance for the
Hudson River.
Photo 8 This photograph is just simply a
representative picture of the historical
Photograph of the site as it shows the exterior of the
Museum which X museum. The museum had two wings,
houses different one for the Stony Point Battle and
artifacts, and more another for the Stony Point lighthouse.
information.

Photo 9 This is one of many artifact displays that

the museum had, however artifacts found
Photo of the were typically small such as buttons.
buttons that have X Soldiers could have up to 50 buttons on
been found from their uniform; some just regular buttons
the Revolutionary but others had included their regiment
Period. information on the actual button.

Photo 10 Once again we see a smaller artifact

display this one of broken glass and some
Artifacts displayed preserved bottles. This also gives
including medicine information about the low quality of
bottles and medicine at this time and how the cure
different medical X could rival the affliction in its
items for troops. harmfulness.

Photo 11 This placard was significant as it gave

some insight into camp followers. As
A placard and noted, these camp followers are rarely
artifacts describing X mentioned, however there is mention of
camp followers. at least 70 women and children at Stony
Point while the British were stationed.
Photo 12 This is just a simple placard that
Picture of placard describes the storming of Stony Point by
that describes the Anthony Wayne and the American light
storming of Stony X infantry. Shows maps, dates and times of
Point. the battle.
 Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 8

Photo 13 This display allowed for a greater sense

of empathy as the viewer is able to see
Artifact display of what soldiers would do in their down
money and camp X time. The Battle at Stony Point only
entertainment. lasted two days, so one can imagine there
was a lot of down time.
Photo 14 This placard showed a picture from 1953
of the skeletons of two bodies that were
Placard describing dug up on the site. Also found within the
the finding of two X graves were artifacts that showed they
British soldiers were British soldiers. The bodies were
graves at Stony later buried again and honored by the
Point. British War Veterans of America.

Photo 15 This is just a picture of the Stony Point

Lighthouse, which was built in 1826. No
Photo of the Stony one was allowed access inside the
Point Lighthouse, X lighthouse on this particular day because
the first lighthouse of the rain.
on the Hudson
River.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 9

Sample of photographs
Content Learning Photographs:

Photo 4 on Note Sheet: “A Crucial Crossing”

Explanation: One of the main questions that I was thinking about while at this site was why was
this location was important for the Revolution. This particular placard, overlooking the Hudson
River, described the importance of this location as the most secure Hudson River crossing north
of New York City. This location was crucial for the ability of New England’s connection to the
rest of the colonies. This is actually one of the newer placards, however there are about 18 of
these located all around the historical site, with 16 of them pertaining to the Battle at Stony Point
and the other two pertaining to Hudson River Commerce and the Lighthouse.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 10

Representative Photos of the Site:

Photo 2 on Note Sheet: “Blacksmith tent with placard”

Explanation: This picture was a good representation of the site as it included the two main
aspects of the outdoor historical site involving the Battle at Stony Point, the interpretive aspect,
and the more informative aspect with the placards. This historic site is rather large and requires a
bit of walking, but throughout the land there are 18 of these placards to describe the happenings
at Stony Point .I found this picture interesting as the location of most placards coincided with the
information, however this one did not. Another aspect seen is the historical interpretation of
Stony Point. This particular tent houses the blacksmith, but they only have about two tents for
their interpretations because of the short staff and budgeting issues.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 11

Photos to support Historical Analysis:

Photo 11 on Note Sheet: “Camp Followers”

Explanation: This placard would be extremely useful in helping students to get a complete
representation of the past. When thinking of forts one would typically think of the lives of
soldiers, however as this placard shows, there were women and children that would follow
British and American soldiers to camps. When poorer husbands or fathers left for war, the
women and children would have had no means of survival, so they decided to come with their
husbands or fathers. This is something that I had not learned about until I got to college, and is
an interesting perspective that students may be able to take with them from this site.
Museum Fieldwork Assignment: Smith 12

Resource List
Book/Online Sources:

Marcus, Alan S.; Stoddard, Jeremy D.; Woodward, Walter W. Teaching History with Museums:

Strategies for K-12 Social Studies Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition

Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse. (n.d.) In Facebook [Group Page]. Retrieved October 23,

2016

Brochures from Historical Site:

Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Stony Point Battle Field State Historic Site: Come Walk

With Us Into History. N.p.: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic

Preservation, n.d. Print.

Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Stony Point Light at Stony Point Battlefield Historical

Site. N.p.: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, n.d.

Print.