Adam Leitman Bailey gave a historical walking tour of downtown Manhattan to seventh and eighth grade students from The Harlem Academy.

This tour covered the arrival of the Dutch to New Amsterdam and journeyed through sites and stories about the American Revolution, while incorporating its importance in American history. The tour led the group to the location where Congress first had session and the Bill of Rights was signed, followed by a trip to the location in which George Washington gave his first inaugural address, as well as a visit to George Washington’s favorite dining establishment. The group also visited the site of the first terrorist attack that took place on U.S. soil, which remains unsolved after Winston Churchill’s close call, ending the exploration with a financial lesson at the Federal Reserve Building. “My favorite part of the walking tour,” remarked one student, “was the play by play of the John Peter Zenger story and Mr. Bailey’s connection to what caused him to take the unpopular task of defending and prevailing on behalf of the Ground Zero Mosque.”

Adam Leitman Bailey commented that, “if some of the students become more interested in American history and learning about these topics, we have achieved our goal in kindling and possibly inspiring the next generation of leaders. We have no more an important task as citizens than to give our youth the tools and resources that many more endowed schools have at their leisure.’’