Vision Updated

2022-08-24 -- Following a three-month study and discussion, W3R®-US Chair Larry Abell reported that as a managing partner of the Trail with the National Park Service, it is the vision of W3R®-US to:
  • Connect and conserve the Trail – through education, recreation, increased signage and other ways to alert people about its existence and to make sure it is accessible.
  • Strengthen the Trail communities (many of which have fallen into economic depression) – through the Founding Cities Stimulus Proposal developed by Director Brad Fay.
  • Expand the relevance of our national story for today and future generations – by including the stories of ALL ethnic groups and nationalities that contributed to the independence of the United States.

    • News and New Items

    2022-02-08: Long-time trail historian Dr Robert A. Selig has been honored with a significant French award

    Our New Jersey chapter has a redesigned and expanded website at w3r-nj.org

    An outdoor education project has been initiated in Virginia, and lesson plans on French participation in the American Revolution are now online -- see our education page

    Commemorative Bicycle-Kayak Tour
    2021-09-15 To commemorate the 240th anniversary of the historic march of the French Expeditionary Force from Newport RI to Yorktown VA Sal Lilienthal did a pedal-paddle tour following the 1781 movement of the allied French - Continental armies. See the Photo-report.

    Program Ideas for the 250th Anniversary Years, 2025-2033

    December 15, 2020 We were reminded by April Antonellis of the National Park Service that it is important to
    • Plan Early to acquire affiliates, funding, and reservations
    • Sponsor Intelligent Designs to provide coordination, approvals, and publicity
    • Align with Wider Priorities to make your project's goals benefit from the wider historical, geographical, and social goals of the WARO
    • Have an Exit Strategy so that the items, publications, and relationships developed during the 250th period will continue to be useful afterwards
    Your planning for WRRR-related events during the 250th Anniversary period (2025-2033) can benefit from considering the experiences of WRRR activities during the 225th Anniversary period (2000-2008). Many of these experiences were captured in reports posted on the W3R®-US website. These reports have been organized by date and are linked from an WRRR Historical Event Timeline which presents a concise historical overview of French aid to the U.S. during the years 1775-1783 and the commemorations of 25 years ago.

    Here is a [*] A two-minute video overview of the W3R®-US and the work it is doing to help develop the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (WARO)
    (This video was made for a fundraising day in 2019.)

    Guided Tours of Yorktown

    September 15, 2020 -- The GPS-enabled "Yorktown Tour Guide" app (created by the American Battlefield Trust) is available as a free download from App Store, Google Play, or Web App. Download it to your cell phone or tablet for use when touring Yorktown VA. The app contains photos of the structures, directions to get from one site to the next, and both text and audio descriptions of the sites as they relate to the 1781 siege and victory at Yorktown.

    Three Tours at Your Fingertips: The app takes users on three distinct tours:
    • Historic Yorktown Homes
    • the siege trenches, gun emplacements, and redoubts
    • the Allied Encampment
    Audio interpretation is included at each of 21 stops along with integrated directions to each site with its map feature.

    This is the Archive Website for the W3R®-US

    The original website for the W3R®-US (w3r-us.org) was our sole website. It had a frames format and looked like this archive website. A modern structure was developed in 2017, and in January of 2018 the new structure adopted the original URL and the content not used in the new structure was suitably edited and posted under the URL w3r-archive.org.

    The redesign was funded by a grant from the National Park Service (NPS). A grant from the Florence Gould Foundation is providing for increasing the amount of material on that URL. The new site has extensive interactive maps, well-documented historical narratives written by NPS-designated trail historian, Dr. Robert A. Selig, and links to many informative historic sites to visit along the trail

    We are gradually replacing the content areas of this archive site with parallel material freshly written (not simply revised) on the main site. When that process has been completed for a content area it will noted below as MOVED UP.

    This archival site (w3r-archive.org) consists of
    • Research Reports that identify and interpret historical documents describing these French contributions. These studies were generally initiated and/or supported by the W3R®-US and its affiliates.
    • lists of the achievements and typical activities of the W3R®-US
    • Maps of the trail in the various states, with location of sites of interest (historic homes, museums, battlefields)
    • Maps of the location of signs related to the WRRR.
    • Past Events: chronological photo-reports on commemorations presentations, and re-enactment events related to these French contributions.
    • Tours: suggestions for tours along the trail by car, on bicycle, by boat, or on foot.
    • [MOVED UP] descriptions of French contributions to the U.S. struggle for independence
    • [MOVED UP] a history of the legislative efforts to name the trail as a National Historic Trail.
    • [MOVED UP] information about the W3R®-US organization: vision, mission, goals, charter, bylaws, officers, national affiliates, state organizations
    • [MOVED UP] Speakers: draft web page for listing speakers with their topics and information sheets.
    .