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Revolutionary Entertainment: A Magic Lantern Show

  • Ulysses S. Grant State Historic Site 1000 Mount McGregor Road Wilton, NY, 12831 United States (map)

Join magic lantern performers Dawn Elliott and Joel Schlemowitz as they work with original magic lantern glass slides and projectors. Rediscover the wonder of this entrancing entertainment of the Revolutionary War era while also learning about the mechanics behind this illuminating art form. Experience lantern images of the American Revolution with text from Thomas Paine's famous work Common Sense, special effects of George Washington’s tomb, 18th-century comic poetry, and more.

Dawn Elliott is a New Paltz-based museum professional and historic interpreter. She was the recipient of the Martha Washington Woman of History Award in 2018. Joel Schlemowitz is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and part-time faculty member at The New School. Elliott and Schlemowitz have received a Program Award from the Victorian Society New York and the Dick Balzer Presentation Award from the Magic Lantern Society UK.

More info: www.magiclanternexhibition.com/home

ALL GRANT COTTAGE PROGRAMS ARE FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

DONATIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Earlier Event: August 6
Music on the Mountain: Songs of the American Revolution
Later Event: October 3
Ulysses’s Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant’s World Tour at the Dawn of American Empire
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A visit to Grant’s Cottage

“Excellent guides who enrich the experience and help you to learn and understand what President /General Grant was going through in the weeks before his passing. History is ever present in our day to day life and it is more so when we get a chance to see it up close and personal. Grant's Cottage is one such place. Beautiful day on the mountain, JFK said" A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers". Grant is a man to honor and remember. So much history to explore and see in up state New York, stop by and experience Grant's Cottage.”

-Catherine F, TripAdvisor Sep 2025

Ulysses S. Grant Cottage
1000 Mt. McGregor Rd.
Wilton, NY 12831

Mailing Address:
Ulysses S. Grant Cottage
PO Box 2294
Wilton, NY 12831
(518) 584-4353     info@grantcottage.org
 

The Friends of the Ulysses S. Grant Cottage is the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which manages the daily operations & programming at Grant Cottage. Your generous support helps us keep history alive as we tell the story of Ulysses S. Grant's time on Mt. McGregor.