News 12 is marking Women's History Month and taking a Road Trip: Close to Home to a pivotal location in American history - Fort
Constitution on the West Point
Reservation.
Fort Constitution, on
280 acres of Constitution Island, will be open to the public for the first time in nearly
10 years this spring.
The area's significance dates
back to the Revolutionary War. "The Hudson River
was so critical that this should be the site
of fortifications, that this should be preserved and not allowed to fall into
British hands," says Col. Jim Johnson (retired), military historian of the Hudson River
Valley National Heritage Area.
In fact, it was so important that the island was guarded with what's called ‘The Great Chain.’ The
75-ton chain stretched
across a narrow bend of the Hudson River to stop enemy ships. Each link was about 2 feet and up to 130 lbs.
You can also visit
the home that belonged to the trailblazing Warner sisters. Teenagers Susan and Anna became pioneers of the 19th
century, a time when women barely had rights.
"They had careers. They were writing when it wasn't usual
for women to be writers, and to be so prolific, they wrote over a hundred
books, that's a lifetime," says Catherine Treuter, docent at Constitution Island.
The sisters spent decades
teaching Sunday School for West Point cadets. After Susan's death, Anna continued to care for the cadets. "She was
called the mother of the cadets, she used to have dinners for them. To come over here, this
was like, happiness because you can relax," says Treuter.
You will learn so much about the
life and legacy of the first civilian woman to
be buried with full military honors at West Point.
Students can
visit with their schools starting in April, then in May, you can visit with
your family, on West Point's Constitution Island.