This September, the Lafayette Society will bring a piece of Fayetteville’s Revolutionary history to life with its Fall 2026 Lafayette Lecture, exploring the Liberty Point Resolves and the community effort to preserve their story. Christopher Thrasher of the Lafayette Society said this year’s program is particularly meaningful because it showcases a partnership among the Cumberland County Public Library, Fayetteville Technical Community College and members of the community.
The Liberty Point Project brings together historians, librarians, filmmakers and FTCC students who are working to tell the story through a book, documentary film and educational materials.
“The project’s focus on promoting Lafayette’s enduring values through a unique community partnership right here in Fayetteville is exactly the kind of work that the Lafayette Society strives to promote,” Thrasher said.
The Lafayette Society is an educational and philanthropic organization that works to keep the Marquis de Lafayette’s ideals relevant today.
“We promote the Marquis de Lafayette’s enduring values of liberty, tolerance, and equal rights for all,” Thrasher said.
The organization puts those values into action through educational programs and by raising money to support students at Methodist University, Fayetteville State University and FTCC.
At the center of this year’s lecture are the Liberty Point Resolves, a statement signed by local residents in 1775 declaring their determination to defend their community against abuses by the British government. While many signers still hoped reconciliation was possible, they insisted that the rights of the colonists be respected. Many later put those principles into action, taking up arms and fighting with Patriot forces at battles including Elizabethtown and Moore’s Creek.
Thrasher said part of the reason the Liberty Point Resolves are less widely known than other Revolutionary-era documents is that the document was lost for years after being misfiled. By the time it was rediscovered, many histories of the American Revolution had already been written without it.
Two speakers will help bring that history and the process of preserving it to life. Joseph Westendorf, Local and State History Manager at the Cumberland County Public Library, is the lead author of The Voices of Resolve: The Patriots of Liberty Point, published by the University of North Carolina Press. He will be joined by PBS film producer Frank Boring, a 2021 Telly Award winner, The Great Experiment: Colorado State University.
“The lecture will help attendees understand the Liberty Point Resolves, but more importantly, it will help people understand how they can transform their ideas into a book and a film, just like the members of the Liberty Point Project have,” Thrasher said.
For Thrasher, one of the most compelling aspects of the Liberty Point story is that its participants were not larger-than-life historical figures.
“The signers were imperfect people with difficult lives,” he said. “They didn’t all agree on everything; they made mistakes, but despite their flaws they risked everything to make the world a better place.”
That message is particularly relevant as the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of American independence.
“History inspires us to do better,” Thrasher said. “The issues have changed, but the principle remains.”
For Thrasher, that connection between the past and present is one of the most important messages of the lecture.
“I hope attendees will be inspired to honor the legacy of Liberty Point by getting involved in our community and promoting Lafayette’s enduring values of liberty, tolerance, and equal rights for all,” he said. “America, like history, is a process and we still have work to do.”
He hopes the Liberty Point Project will extend well beyond this year’s lecture. The group is already researching its next book and discussing another documentary.
“This isn’t just about the Liberty Point Resolves,” Thrasher said. “It is about building an organization which will preserve and share local history for many years to come.”
The Fall 2026 Lafayette Lecture will be held September 8 at noon in the multipurpose room of the Tony Rand Student Center, 2220 Hull Road, at Fayetteville Technical Community College. The event is free and open to the public. The best way to keep up with the Lafayette Society is to follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/lafayettesociety/