Town and Gown series presents
Richard Finch on Nov. 4

DEFIANCE, Ohio – Defiance College and the City of Defiance will host the final Town and Gown, War of 1812 series presentation of the season on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. Presenting will be Richard Finch, site director for Fort Meigs, discussing the topic “Arise you sons of Kentucky: Kentucky Soldiers in the Fight for the Old Northwest 1812-1813.” The lecture will be held in Schomburg Auditorium on the campus of Defiance College.

The event is free and open to the public.

Kentuckians played a vital role in the War of 1812 and paid highly for their patriotism. Kentucky sent more the 25,000 men to fight in all theaters of the war and suffered the most men killed from any state. Of the 1,876 Americans killed in action during the war, roughly 1,200 of these men were Kentuckians. Finch will discuss the role of Kentuckians in the western theatre of war by examining their actions in some of the major battles.

Finch received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University in business management and history and returned to his alma mater for his master’s degree in historic preservation with an emphasis on heritage interpretation. Prior to accepting the position at Fort Meigs, Finch served as the director of historical interpretation for the Living History Farms in Des Moines, Iowa. The farm is a 550-acre agricultural museum with three re-created farms, a re-created town set in the year 1875 and a modern exhibit center.

The 2011 season of the Town and Gown series will begin on Thursday, Feb. 17 in the Arts and Media Center, downtown Defiance. The series will explore personalities of the War of 1812.

Defiance College, chartered in 1850, is an independent, liberal arts institution in Northwest Ohio offering more than 40 undergraduate programs of study as well as graduate programs in education and business. Defiance College has received national recognition for its educational experience of service and engagement. The college website is www.defiance.edu.

November 1, 2010