Crime on the Hudson: Gilded Age Pirates and River Thieves

Do you ever wonder if there were actual pirates on the Hudson River? Come and learn about a wild chapter in Hudson River history when mercenary sloops prowled the waterway, raiding mansions and plundering merchant ships. Who were these river outlaws stirring up chaos…and how did local communities and the law fight back?

The evening will begin with a brief lecture on the real and sometimes legendary criminal activity along the Hudson in the 1860s and 1870s, followed by an immersive performance starring the era’s most infamous characters in the flesh, including the mysterious young woman rumored to have led a notorious Lower Manhattan gang. Watch as she is put on trial for her alleged crimes. Is she guilty? How does her story end? Who decides her fate?

This special event weaves scholarship and storytelling, created and presented by HRMM’s Education Department in collaboration with Siren Theatre Company.