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Introducing: In Her Shoes: Stories from the Streets of Revolutionary New York.

A historic walking tour in celebration of America250 bringing the voices of Colonial and Revolutionary New York women back to life.

In Her Shoes invites you to travel through New York’s colonial and Revolutionary past through the first-person voices of women who witnessed and shaped it. You’ll be guided by four women of the 17th and 18th centuries who walked these streets, impacted their community, and infused their spirit in the landscape. They warmly invite you to step into the streets, sanctuaries, and taverns that formed the heart of their colonial New York.

The stories you will hear are but a small example of how countless women shaped our young nation. The historical record, alas, has left us precious little of their voices but they were here steady, watchful, and indispensable in the way that women of their era so consistently were, whether or not the archive thought to mention it.

The narration included on this tour is a dramatization. The women you hear — Margaret Corbin, Angelica Schuyler Church, Sarah Kidd, and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton — speak in their “own voices,” or as close to their own voices as history and imagination together can carry us. Their words are imagined, not transcribed, but they are grounded in historical research and shaped by what the record tells us of each woman’s character, circumstances, and world. We have done our best to be faithful to who they were, while acknowledging that to speak for any woman across three centuries is a humbling task, particularly when the written record is scant. Where history has left gaps, as it so often has for women, we have tried to fill them with honesty and care.

For further reading:

• “The American Revolution.” New York Historical Society. wams.nyhistory.org/settler-colonialism-and-revolution/the-american-revolution
• Carp, B. L. “David Grim’s Fairy Tale: The New York City Fire in Myth.” The Gotham Center for New York City History, February 15, 2023. gothamcenter.org/blog/david-grims-fairy-tale-the-new-york-city-fire-in-myth
• Christoph, F. A. Schuyler Genealogy: A Compendium of Sources Pertaining to the Schuyler Families in America Prior to 1800. 2 vols. N.p.: Friends of Schuyler Mansion, 1987–1992. catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/005694370
• CultureNow. “Van Arsdale Raised the Flag.” culturenow.org/site/van-arsdale-raised-the-flag
• “Died,” The Evening Post (New York), 7 Mar. 1814.
• Geanacopoulos, Daphne Palmer. The Pirate’s Wife: The Remarkable True Story of Sarah Kidd. Canada: Hanover Square Press, 2022.
• Goulet, L., and M. Tsaltas-Ottomanelli. “Black Loyalists in the Evacuation of New York City, 1783.” The Gotham Center for New York City History, November 15, 2023. gothamcenter.org/blog/black-loyalists-evaculation-zy4la
• Hamilton, Alexander. “From Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Schuyler, 5 October 1780.” Founders Online, National Archives and Records Administration. founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-27-02-0001-0003
• Hamilton, Alexander. “From Alexander Hamilton to Philip Schuyler, 14 July 1781.” Founders Online, National Archives and Records Administration. founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-02-02-1178
• Hefner, Kendra. Margaret Corbin: An American Patriot. Cities of the Night, 2013. Kindle.
• Historical Society of the New York Courts. “Alexander Hamilton.” history.nycourts.gov/figure/alexander-hamilton
• Ingraham, C. D. M. “Philip John Schuyler.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon. mountvernon.org — Philip John Schuyler
• Library of Congress. “Rivington’s New-York Gazette, and Universal Advertiser (New-York, N.Y.), 1783–1783.” Newspaper directory record. loc.gov/item/sn83030845
• Library of Congress. “The Orphan Asylum Society of the City of New York.” In Join In: Voluntary Associations in America (exhibition). loc.gov — Orphan Asylum Society
• Library of Congress. “Today in History—December 4.” loc.gov/item/today-in-history/december-04
• “Life Story: Margaret Corbin (1751–1800).” New York Historical Society. wams.nyhistory.org — Margaret Corbin
• Lossing, Benson J. The Life and Times of Philip Schuyler, Vol. II. New York: Sheldon & Company, 1873, 206–207.
• “Margaret Cochran Corbin.” Daughters of the American Revolution. dar.org/national-society/margaret-cochran-corbin
• “Margaret Cochran Corbin.” Washington Heights NYC. washington-heights.us/margaret-cochran-corbin
• “Margaret Corbin, Revolutionary.” The American Revolution Institute. americanrevolutioninstitute.org/margaret-corbin-revolutionary
• Margino, M. “Evacuation Day: New York’s Former November Holiday.” The New York Public Library, November 24, 2014. nypl.org/blog/2014/11/24/evacuation-day-new-york-holiday
• Maryland State Archives. “‘Evacuation Day’ and Washington’s Triumphal Entry in New York City, Nov. 25th, 1783.” msa.maryland.gov — Evacuation Day
• Mazzeo, Tilar J. Eliza Hamilton: The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton. New York: Gallery Books, 2019.
• Mellaci, Taylor. “Camp Followers.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon. mountvernon.org — Camp Followers
• Michals, Debra. “Margaret Cochran Corbin.” National Women’s History Museum, 2015. womenshistory.org — Margaret Cochran Corbin
• Mills, W. Jay. Historic Houses of New Jersey. Philadelphia and London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1902, 214–217.
• National Park Service. “Elizabeth Hamilton Schuyler Timeline.” March 11, 2023. nps.gov — Elizabeth Hamilton Schuyler Timeline
• National Park Service. “Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.” February 16, 2025. nps.gov/articles/000/elizabeth-schuyler-hamilton.htm
• New-York Historical Society. “Graham Windham Records (MS 2916).” NYU Special Collections Finding Aids. findingaids.library.nyu.edu — Graham Windham Records
• Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. “Fraunces Tavern, New York City, Jan. 11, 1785–Apr. 30, 1788.” history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section11
• Sanders, Z. “British Occupation of New York City.” George Washington’s Mount Vernon. mountvernon.org — British Occupation of New York City
• Tallmadge, Benjamin. Memoir of Col. Benjamin Tallmadge. New York: T. Holman, 1858. loc.gov/item/08006924
• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 27, 1 September–31 December 1793, ed. John Catanzariti. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997, 502–503.
• Trinity Church. “Alexander Hamilton and Trinity Church.” August 15, 2016. trinitychurchnyc.org — Alexander Hamilton and Trinity Church
• “Women in the American Revolution: On the homefront and on the battlefield.” American Battlefield Trust. battlefields.org/learn/articles/women-american-revolution
• “Women in the Army.” U.S. Army. army.mil/women