Portrait of John Jay by Gilbert Stuart (The National Gallery of Art)
While being homeschooled wasn’t as unusual a thing back in the 18th century as it is nowadays, historian Dr. Ray Raymond, who is currently working on a new biography of John Jay, believes that the combination of homeschooling at an early age with a university education later (at Columbia’s precursor, King’s College) contributed mightily to Jay’s ability to master key concepts of Enlightenment constitutional thinking. Among the results: authorship of the original New York State Constitution (in Kingston!) and some of the Federalist Papers, leadership of the wartime Continental Congress and a distinguished postwar career as a diplomat.
Dr. Raymond, who is an associate professor of Government and History at SUNY-Ulster and also teaches Government and Politics at the US Military Academy, will give a talk titled “John Jay: The Education of an Enlightened Constitutional Thinker” this Sunday afternoon, June 19 at 3 p.m. It’s the latest in the ongoing lecture series sponsored by the Ulster County Historical Society (UCHS), presented at the Bevier House Museum, located at 2682 Route 209 in Marbletown. Admission costs $7 for the general public, $5 for students, seniors and members of the military and is free for UCHS members. For more info on this and other upcoming UCHS events, visit www.ulstercountyhs.org.
