VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – Late last month, Fayetteville mayor Mark Olson attended a gathering of mayors, supervisors and other municipal managers from places named for the Marquis de Lafayette.
Held on Oct. 27 at the Embassy of France in Washington, D.C., the exclusive soiree brought in officials from such locations as the city of Fayetteville in Arkansas, the parish of Lafayette in Louisiana and the various Fayette townships scattered across the United States.
Olson flew down the morning of the evening event, which happened to fall on the same day as President Joe Biden’s latest visit to Syracuse. During his one-day stop, the mayor was accompanied by his son who lives in D.C.
“It was just the honor of a lifetime,” Olson said.
He said that the event welcomed about 100 guests and featured speeches, people dressed in 1700s-era clothing, a map of all the communities represented there, and a monitor with a scrolling list of historical facts about Gilbert Motier, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette.
His title referring to his status as a nobleman from Chavaniac-Lafayette, the soiree’s central figure was a major general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He commanded American troops amidst several battles, including the siege of Yorktown that brought the war to an end.
Olson said one of his main takeaways from the gathering in D.C. was the fact that Lafayette was only 19 when he was commissioned to serve as a major general for the 13 Colonies.
“He was well ahead of his time doing what he did,” Olson said.
Upon returning to France, Lafayette co-authored the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and he was appointed as a leader of the National Guard of Paris during the French Revolution. He was also considered instrumental in the transfer of power from King Charles X to Louis Philippe in 1830. For his part in revolutions that took place in the United States and France, Lafayette is often referred to as a “hero of two worlds.”
Especially after his returning tour of the United States in 1824 and 1825 that saw him travel on the Erie Canal, numerous communities chose to name themselves after Lafayette. Several streets and parks have since been named for him as well, like Lafayette Square across from the White House.
“Every one of the communities has some story about the Marquis, which I think is very important,” Olson said.
Olson said that singular thread connecting the soiree attendees can produce one cohesive, pieced-together story about Lafayette.
The group of mayors and supervisors meets about every other year, and Olson has been involved with it since an assembly in Paris a decade and a half ago. He said he has learned about the other, similarly named communities every time the group has convened and that he has shared information in return about the Matilda Joslyn Gage Museum, the Stickley Museum, President Grover Cleveland’s boyhood home and Green Lakes State Park.
Olson also said that the Ambassador of France to the United States Philippe Étienne, the Mayor-President of Lafayette, Louisiana Josh Guillory, and the other representatives present “couldn’t have been nicer.”
After Étienne mentioned his intention to tour all of the communities named after the famous French general, Olson suggested that he make a two-in-one visit to Fayetteville and LaFayette in New York since only 15 miles exist between the destinations.