Winning formula when we see one. To introduce andrew this year, we have the beautiful catherine katz. [applause] catherine i will keep my remarks brief in order to maximize the amount of time we have to be entertained by our final speaker, Andrew Roberts. For though who recall his presentation at last years conference, you have undoubtedly been looking forward to this as much as i have. Among his numerous endeavors, Andrew Roberts serves as the guest curator at the folder shakespeare library. Folger shakespeare library. He is the author and editor of 19 books, which you have heard about a bit over the last few days. His most recent publication was a biography of napoleon, a short work coming in at just under 1000 pages. We are all eagerly awaiting his next book, what is sure to be the definitive single volume biography of sir Winston Churchill, which is scheduled to be published next year. On the subject of churchills sense of living history, ladies and gentlemen, Andrew Roberts. [appl
New englanders who came up here including a ira allen saw the potential of Burlington Bay as a court sitting. Port city. It Lake Champlain flows into the st. Lawrence which gives at burlington, interestingly enough, even though it is an inland place, access to the ocean. Early settlers saw that and became interested. The area did not take off despite the attempts by ira allen to make this an important place by putting the university here, making it the shire town of Chittenden County with the courts and so on. It did not take off until 1820 1823. The Champlain Canal was finished which connected the southern and of Lake Champlain to the hudson river. In essence it opened up all of , those markets to the south of vermont. One historian has said that before 1823, Lake Champlain tipped north. After 1823, it tipped south. Burlington grew tremendously in the 1820s. Having said that it grew tremendously, the population in 1830, 7 years after the canal only 3000 but in 1800 it had only been ab
Talked to local historian vince feeney about the life of ira allen and his influence on the city in vermont. Vince here we are in whats called College Green of the university of vermont. Probably one of the prettiest spots in burlington. Behind me we have a statue of ira allen. Was the youngest of the six allen brothers, the most famous of whom was ethan allen. The statue is here because some would say that ira allen was the founder of the university of vermont and as this inscription on the statue says, some claim he was the founder of the state of vermont. I think there would be a lot of people who would contend that is not exactly true, particularly his older brother ethan might have something to say about that and people like the first governor of the independent state of vermont. Allen, andthat ira about 1772, came up here to vermont from connecticut, where the allens live, and at the time for montt was a New Territory being opened up. It was a territory claimed by the governor of