Joshua Ruff, the Long Island Museum, and the American Revolution

July 29, 2026
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People standing in a museum exhibit.
Photo courtesy of the Long Island Museum.

Join us for a private tour of the exhibit The Seat of Action: Long Island in the American Revolution and Beyond at the Long Island Museum. Running through October of this year, the exhibit tells the stories of the lives of people affected by the conflict at all levels of society. Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director, Collections and Programming, is our guide.

You’ll find some familiar faces along with new insights, mysteries, and revelations. There’s the sword of loyalist Richard Hewlett, passed down through the same family over decades. There are muskets that Long Islanders carried into war. Belt buckles and ammo unearthed from British forts, portraits of the formerly enslaved, and of course a Culper Spy letter (from Benjamin Tallmadge to Robert Townsend). Along the way Joshua explains the challenges and opportunities this type of exhibit entails, working with the Museum’s own collections as well as historical societies, libraries, and private collectors.

The result is a rich experience that is the perfect capstone to this 250th anniversary year of the American Revolution and Long Island history.

Small portrait of an American officer from the Revolutionary War.
Portrait of Benjamin Tallmadge from the Litchfield Historical Society
(Photo courtesy of the Long Island Museum)

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