Events

Philadelphia, PA., America’s first capital, held a pivotal role as the cradle of American democracy. When George Washington took the oath of office in 1789, Philadelphia had the largest free and literate community of Africans in the entire British Atlantic. This community raised families, built institutions, created opportunities for self-emancipated Africans to continue north, fought for equal rights, and they participated in public life. They exemplified the ideals of the new republic.

Daniel Boone (1734-1820) was an American pioneer, trailblazer, outdoorsman, revolutionary, and adventurer whose frontier exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. The story of the early settlement of Kentucky is well documented, and Daniel Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the U.S. state of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of the Thirteen Colonies.

Today our ESU Happy Hour takes us on a journey through the pivotal events that shaped America 250 years ago, this time in the great state of Virginia, where revolutionary ideas became constitutional action. On May 15, 1776, at the Fifth Virginia Convention in Williamsburg, delegates in Philadelphia proposed to transition Virginia from a British colony into an independent commonwealth, to establish a new state government, and urged the Continental Congress to declare full national independence from Great Britain.

Christmas in America has a much richer and stranger history than the cozy images we know today. This festive ESU Happy Hour explores why early New Englanders outlawed Christmas, how rowdy wassailing gangs once filled the streets, and how German, Dutch, and English traditions eventually blended into the modern Santa. We’ll trace the journey from medieval St. Nicholas and Alpine mischief-makers to Thomas Nast’s German-American illustrations, the Civil War era’s sentimental reinvention of the holiday, and the 20th-century rise of Rudolph, department-store Santas, Coca-Cola branding, and iconic Christmas foods. With a pint in hand, you’ll learn how a mix of immigrant customs, reform movements, and cultural trends brought today’s version of American Christmas into being.