The Thomas Paine Historical Association is an organization based in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

, that is dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

. It was organized on the anniversary of Paine's birthday, January 29, 1884, and is one of the oldest historical associations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is one of two Thomas Paine legacy organizations based in New Rochelle, the other being the Thomas Paine Cottage Museum of the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Society, founded in 1886, which owns and maintains the

Thomas Paine Cottage The Thomas Paine Cottage in New Rochelle, New York, in the United States, was the home from 1802 to 1806 of Thomas Paine, author of ''Common Sense'', U.S. Founding Father, and Revolutionary War hero. Paine was buried near the cottage from his ...

.Phil Reisman
Thomas Paine groups have feud of historical proportions
LoHud.com, November 13, 2010

History

The Association's first elected president was writer, abolitionist, and confidant to

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

, Dr.

Moncure D. Conway Moncure Daniel Conway (March 17, 1832 – November 15, 1907) was an American abolitionist minister and radical writer. At various times Methodist, Unitarian, and a Freethinker, he descended from patriotic and patrician families of Virginia and ...

. Conway is credited with writing the first comprehensive biography of Paine in 1892. On October 14, 1905, the Association held an elaborate ceremony to rededicate the Thomas Paine Monument. Previously, on Memorial Day 1899, the Association had held a big meeting in connection with the erection of the bronze

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

of Paine which now sits on a marble base. It was in 1905 that the monument was moved and placed in its present location in the center of Paine Avenue. The ceremonies included speeches, a

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

and a salute of thirteen guns by second battery,

U. S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, in honor of the thirteen original states. In 1906 the Association was reorganized, and incorporated under the laws of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and is now known as the Thomas Paine National Historical Association.

Thomas Paine Memorial Building

The Paine Memorial Building is located north of the Paine Monument at the corner of North Avenue and Valley Road in

. The construction of this building was begun on May 30, 1925, under the instruction of President

William van der Weyde William M. van der Weyde (1871 – 10 July 1929 ), sometime spelled William M. Vander Weyde, was an Americans, American Photojournalism, photojournalist based in New York City. "His crisp portraits captured the day’s leading writers, poets, and ...

Thomas A. Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

helped to turn the first shovel of earth for the museum. The building once served as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

that displayed both Paine relics as well as others of local historical interest. The collection is now housed at Iona College,New Rochelle, NY. In 1943 a wing was added to the building to house the Hufeland Memorial Library. This collection comprised several thousand items pertaining to the history of

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

and were assembled by Otto Hufeland of

Mount Vernon, New York Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of t ...

. The collection is currently on loan to the Westchester County Historical Society. Web-Archive of The Thomas Paine National Historical Association
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References

External links

Thomas Paine National Historical Association - official site
{{authority control History of New Rochelle, New York Museums in Westchester County, New York Biographical museums in New York (state) Historical societies in New York (state) Paine, Thomas Thomas Paine

History

Thomas Paine Memorial Building

See also

References

External links