Have you ever wondered where Fayetteville got its name? Fayetteville State University’s Black History Scholars Association, along with the Lafayette Society, are hosting a lecture that will answer that, and many more questions. The lecture is titled “Why is This City Called Fayetteville? Lafayette’s Life, Ideas, and American Tour of 1824-25” and will be given by Dr Lloyd Kramer, Professor Emeritus of History at UNC Chapel Hill.
The Marquis de Lafayette was a French nobleman who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He emerged a hero and returned to the United States approximately 50 years later for what is fondly remembered as his “Farewell Tour” which spanned 1824-25 and included a stop in Fayetteville. According to the Lafayette Society, Fayetteville was the first city in the United States named after him.
Dr. Lloyd Kramer’s interest in Lafayette began in the 1970s when he spent time at Cornell University helping edit a large collection of Lafayette’s letters given to the University. The letters were written during the American Revolution and inspired Kramer to dig deeper.
“I realized from doing that, that some of the historical accounts of Lafayette seemed inadequate, or, in my view, they had the wrong interpretation of his actions and significance,” he said.
He began writing a series of essays that would eventually be published as a book, Lafayette in Two Worlds: Public Cultures and Personal Identities in an Age of Revolutions (UNC Press, 1996). He credits the book with keeping him in contact through the years with others interested in Lafayette, including residents of Fayetteville.
“Lloyd Kramer is one of the foremost scholars on Lafayette,” commented Rob Taber, Associate Professor of History at Fayetteville State University and board member at the Lafayette Society.
Taber said the Lafayette Lecture series has often covered topics related to Lafayette’s human-rights legacy, such as civil rights, local history, and black history. Last year, Taber spoke on the Haitian Revolution and its connections to the U.S. Civil War. But this year, their focus is narrower in light of the Bicentennial Anniversary of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour.
The lecture will cover the towns of Campbellton and Cross Creek and their eventual merging into the City of Fayetteville, as well as information on Lafayette’s impact and legacy. Taber said they hope to shed light on “why Lafayette loved America, and the potential that he saw in [it], and that patriotism that he brought.”
Kramer wants listeners to walk away with a better understanding of why Lafayette still matters.
“This seemed like an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of the city of Fayetteville’s name, to reflect on why that visit in 1825 was so important to the people who lived there at that time, and then, more generally, what Lafayette's life and ideas tell us about the emergence of early American nationalism, national identity, America's conception of rights and its way of defining itself as different from European countries.”
Even though these events happened centuries ago, Kramer believes they’re still relevant and tell us something about the values of the people who chose to name their city after Lafayette.
“These kinds of historical events are significant because they give people in our own time a way to think about our communities, our lives, our values, our political culture … Because everything has a history, and if you don't know that history, you can't really be a fully engaged people.”
Taber said that as a history professor, he fully expects to learn new things by attending, and described Kramer as a lively and good-humored lecturer.
“He manages to include insightful detail without putting the audience to sleep,” Tabor said.
He added that the lecture is suitable for a general audience and that “even if you've never heard of Lafayette beyond the name, you'll come away knowing more about him, you won't be lost.”
Kramer added that he hopes the lecture will help people understand “why they can be proud to live in a town called Fayetteville.”
The lecture is free and open to the public and will be held Monday, Feb. 10, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 242 Rudolph Jones Center.

Photo: Members of the Lafayette Society pose with books about Lafayette donated to the lending library at Fayetteville State University. Photo courtesy of Hank Parfitt)