James Forten of Philadelphia: Black Patriot & Privateer of the Revolutionary War

NJCH is proud to sponsor this living history event presented by the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage Association, Proud Partner of Revolution NJ, and the Heritage Trail Association.

James Forten of Philadelphia, a child at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, served the American Revolution as a teenage privateer and Patriot. Following the American Revolution, this “Gentleman of Color” took up sailmaking, establishing himself as a leading businessman in the early American republic’s principal port. A free Black American, James Forten fought for the abolition of slavery and rights of African Americans in the United States he helped to forge.

Keith Henley of American Historical Theatre portrays James Forten.

The life of James Forten offers a Black perspective on the waterfront and maritime world of ships and sails of which Scottish emigrant and Philadelphia merchant John Wallace was a part before the construction of the Wallace House 250 years ago.

The Heritage Trail Association hosts this program at the historic Van Horne House.

250 years after Scottish emigrant and Philadelphia merchant John Wallace built the Wallace House at Hope Farm, the Wallace House is under construction again as part of Down the Brook: The Revitalization of Wallace House & Old Dutch Parsonage State Historic Sites for Revolution NJ. The historic rehabilitation of Wallace House is being supported in part by a Semiquincentennial Grant from the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Revolution NJ is New Jersey’s official observance of the 250th anniversaries of New Jersey’s first Constitution July 2, 2026 and the American Revolution in New Jersey from 2024 – 2033.