The Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust will be holding its annual meeting remotely via Zoom due to the pandemic on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.

Following the meeting, at 6:30 p.m. guest speaker Jonathan Lane from the Massachusetts Historical Society will give a presentation on the American Revolution and Dartmouth’s role in the war with the British.

The talk will cover the events leading up to, during, and after the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 as well as the British invasion of Old Dartmouth in September 1778.

Historian Leonard Bolles Ellis described the clash in chapter VIII of his “History of New Bedford and Its Vicinity (1602-1892).”

“Padanaram did not escape the attention of the British, for on Sunday morning barges loaded with soldiers were sent to that village and several houses were burned,” Ellis wrote. “Most of them belonged to the Aikin family, who were enthusiastic supporters of the American cause...”

Lane is the Massachusetts Historical Society’s Revolution 250 Coordinator, a program that aims to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the events leading up to the revolution. He has previously worked as a freelance historian and genealogist, with prior experience as a substitute teacher at Grafton High School. Lane received a liberal arts degree from Harvard in 2012 and graduated cum laude with a Social Sciences/History concentration.

For more information, or to become a member or register for the event, contact Diane Gilbert at (508) 965-7265 or d.m.gilbert51@gmail.com.

Visit the DHPT website at dhpt.org.