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French Privateers Along the Maine Coast
by Ken Hamilton
In the third of a series of lectures sponsored Old Fort Western and the Maine Bicentennial Commission, Ken Hamilton presents French Privateers along the Maine Coast. The lecture filmed by CTV-7 can be viewed for free on CTV-7 and from the City of Augusta Website, Fort Western’s Website and Fort Western’s Facebook page.
Ken Hamilton studied history at Roger William's College, Bristol RI, and Anthropology at U-Mass Amherst, MA. His passion is as a lifetime history and Native American researcher, and living history interpreter which he has participated in since 1976 as well as a reproduction artist and craftsperson (general blacksmithing crafting of French, Dutch and English colonial era cutlery, fine stone Indian pipes, trade silver and nautical items etc...) serving collectors, living history participants and museums (gift shops as well as reproductions for exhibits). He is an artist and contributor to several historical resource books as well as co-author articles in the "Journal of the Early Americas" about 17th and 18th cent. French cutlery, hatchets and axes from New France.
He has had numerous historical film documentary acting roles in A&E, History Channel, and PBS. He aided in the development of the award winning educational interactive website concerning Wabanaki Native material culture through the ages. He is a professional demonstrator and has participated in a wide variety of educational events, nationally and locally, including schools, historic sites/museums, Native festivals, and historical societies. He has been the public announcer and key interpreter (Native and French living history portrayals) at major living history celebrations and battles, as well as historical consultant and research contributor for numerous private historical projects. Finally, he has been a participant in many living history events throughout the years around the East Coast, Great Lakes, Quebec and France. He is currently affiliated with the unofficial group "les fliboustiers de l'acadie".