Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Press Release
The Historical Association of Lewiston welcomes Robert Emerson to its next program, titled, “Old Fort Niagara: Saving a Historical Treasure.” This presentation will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah Fellowship Hall, 915 Oneida St. It will chronicle efforts to save Old Fort Niagara from certain ruin during the 1920s and early 1930s.
In the early 20th century, the venerable buildings at the Old Fort began to decay. Massive damage to the fort’s seawall threatened the existence of the French Castle – while other buildings were equally neglected, victims of the elements and tight military budgets.
In the early 1920s, local citizens became concerned about the deteriorating buildings and landscapes at Old Fort Niagara, and began to pressure Congress for funds to restore the site. These individuals, along with a coalition of civic organizations, banded together to fight a decade-long struggle to garner the needed funding.
Forming the Old Fort Niagara Association in 1927, local citizens worked tirelessly to match congressional appropriations until the fort opened as a public museum in 1934.
Emerson will examine the struggles and the triumphs of the men and women who saved the site for future generations.
He has served as executive director of Old Fort Niagara since 1997. Emerson worked as a commissioner on the New York State French and Indian War 250th anniversary commemoration commission and a member of the Binational War of 1812 Bicentennial Legacy Council. He has served on the boards of Destination Niagara USA, the Cultural Alliance of Niagara, the Upward Niagara Chamber of Commerce, and the Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce. He currently serves as chair of the Niagara County USA 250th anniversary commemoration committee.
Over the course of his career, Emerson has organized several academic conferences on industrial and military history, as well as historic preservation. He collaborated with Niagara University and the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture on a conference dealing with the Seven Years War. In 2022, he was awarded the Ordre National du Mérite with the rank of chevalier by President Emmanuel Macron of France. That was in recognition of Emerson’s work in preserving and interpreting French history on the Great Lakes.
This HAL community event is free and open to all, but donations are greatly appreciated to help support the Lewiston Museum.
Refreshments will be served.