The American-Scottish Foundation® - Events

American-Scottish Foundation hosts Sunset Tea and Pimms on the Central Park Arsenal Rooftop

ASF Annual Sunset Tea & Talk - with Wine & Pimms
Alexander Hamilton: Guiding Light of America's Commerce

Monday, September 16, 2019 | 6-8:30 pm
Arsenal at Central Park (at 64th Street and 5th Avenue)


6pm : Talk
Alexander Hamilton: Guiding Light of America’s Commerce

Speaker - Wade R Goria
Historian & Lecturer, National Lighthouse Museum


7.15 pm : Reception
Enjoy the Wonderful Arsenal Rooftop Garden
with Iced Tea and Pimms



The Talk - This year has marked the 230th Anniversary of the 1789 Lighthouse Act and the role of Alexander Hamilton, in the developing the lighthouses guarding the coast. Hamilton served as its first Superintendent, prior to becoming Secretary of the Treasury which oversaw the establishment of the Lighthouse Service and Cutter Service, the basis for today's Coast Guard. 

The talk will also reference to other notable Americans of Scottish ancestry who were important contemporaries of Hamilton,  some of whom played a determinant role on behalf of independence during the American Revolution including: Henry Knox, Hugh Mercer, Alexander MacDougal, John Paul Jones, William Alexander (Lord Stirling), James McHenry.

The Speaker - Wade R. Goria is a graduate of Brooklyn College, CUNY where he majored in history, and Oxford University, St. Antony's College, where he studied international relations with a concentration upon the history and politics of the modern Middle East. He is the author of Sovereignty and  Leadership in Lebanon, 1943-1976 published by Ithaca Press in London.

Wade’s wide academic interests include teaching history and international relations at New York University for 18 years, and working for a number of non profits and NGO’s including the UN affiliated International Peace Academy,  where he served as its Director of Communications and Development.

The Reception 7:15 pm: Overlooking the Central Park Zoo, with fabulous Manhattan views, the Arsenal's rooftop will provide a striking backdrop for an Iced Tea and Pimms end to your day.

The beautiful Rooftop Garden that has been created and maintained by the NY Parks Department personnel at the Arsenal Central Park.

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Once again, ASF will be donating plantings for the rooftop garden.



Hats, fascinators, blazers and summer colored clothing are welcomed! Enjoy scones, wine, pimms, sandwiches and more...

Gather your friends and celebrate the start of summer with the ASF!

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or call the ASF office at (929) 499-9025
or email: americanscottishfoundation@gmail.com

NOTE: Not yet a Member? Become a Member and attend the Sunset Tea free!


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ASF Roof Planting Donation

Japanese Maple Donation

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A look back at the ASF - Burns Society Sunset Tea August 2018


ASF Tree Planting at Arsenal 2018

A thank you to the New York Parks Department...

August 2018 saw the ASF once again host their Annual Sunset Tea (and Pimms) on the Rooftop Garden of the Arsenal Central Park.  It was a lovely evening and ASF were delighted to welcome 14 new members to the Foundation.

As a thank you to the Parks Department the ASF and Burns Society of New York gifted a Japanesse Maple for the Roof Garden.

ASF Chairman, Kenneth Donnelly, is pictured with Camilla Hellman, ASF President, Greg Keyes, Burns Society Treasurer, and  Crista Carmody, Senior Horticulturalist, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, who spoke on the history of the Arsenal and the Roof Garden, before leading a tour and answering questions about the plants and care of the unique garden.


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ASF Sunset Tea – Special Presentation – Description

Alexander Hamilton: Guiding Light of America’s Commerce

No figure in America's early history played so critical a role organizing our nation's economy, its infrastructure, and its future direction than Alexander Hamilton. Without his extraordinary skills, insight, and background, the Republic might very well have foundered. And a vital, yet less well known, aspect of his work is his involvement with lighthouses. Hamilton shared Washington's determination to give the very highest priority to constructing a network of coastal lighthouses, forging an indispensable part of America's navigational infrastructure that proved indispensable to the country’s ultimate commercial success.

Wade R. Goria will show how the construction of federally sponsored lighthouses, beginning in 1789, not only helped protect mariners from the lethal hazards of the sea, but also promoted the vigorous conduct of trade and commerce – supporting Hamilton’s overall interest in collecting customs duties and building a robust treasury. Along with an exploration of the role played by Hamilton’s paternal Scottish roots as a source of his inspiration, and a description of the educational advantages afforded by his mother’s gifted and intellectually nourishing French Huguenot character and background, Wade examines the genius himself, the grueling hardships Hamilton endured as a boy, and the indefatigable spirit and nature that molded his powerful drive and character. His vision was always purposeful and inspirational, yet practical. Hamilton’s boundless talent and energy first imagined, then fulfilled, America’s destiny.

ASF Sunset Tea Special presentation – Presenter’s Bio

Wade R. Goria was born and raised in New York City. He is a graduate of Brooklyn College, CUNY where he majored in history, and Oxford University, St. Antony's College, where he studied international relations with a concentration on the history and politics of the modern Middle East. He is the author of Sovereignty and Leadership in Lebanon, 1943-1976 published by Ithaca Press in London.

Wade’s academic interests are wide ranging. He taught history and international relations at New York University for 18 years, where he offered 23 different courses on a wide variety of subjects. He received NYU’s “Excellence in Teaching Award” and additional formal recognition as a “Master Teacher.” He has traveled to 48 countries and to all 50 US states. In the village of Nibutani on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, he wrote and narrated a documentary “Japan’s First People,” that explored a remarkable native Ainu woman’s effort to maintain the culture of Japan’s vanishing Ainu population.

Wade has published articles on other historical, political and maritime subjects. For three years, he served as an ongoing contributor to a New York Daily News regular educational feature “New York City: Big Town Big Lives” and another “Jets Geography,” which explored the history, geography and culture of cities across the US. During his career, Wade worked for a number of non-profits and NGOs, including the UN-affiliated International Peace Academy where he was Director of Communications and Development.

He continues an enduring passion for New York’s maritime history. Soon after his retirement at the end of 2015, Wade began volunteering at the National Lighthouse Museum where he developed a strong interest in the extraordinary contributions of Alexander Hamilton, without doubt the preeminent force behind the creation of the US Lighthouse Establishment in 1789, the eventual formation of the US Coast Guard, and the economic and political foundations of the American Republic.

Wade narrates the National Lighthouse Museum’s boat tours, which explore New York’s Metro Lighthouses and points of historical interest. Last summer, he received the National Maritime Museum’s “First Order Fresnel Lens Service Award.”

He is the founder of the Bay Ridge Historical Society in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and is a recipient of a “NYC City Council Citation” for his successful efforts on behalf of historical preservation.

Wade resides in Bay Ridge and in Thompson, Pennsylvania in the beautiful Northeast “Endless Mountain Region,” where he loves to explore its rich local history, canoe, hike and write.