Wyoming Commemorative Association Wyoming Commemorative Association was founded in 1878 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Wyoming ( also known as the Wyoming Valley Massacre ) . This American Revolutionary War battle was fought on July 3 , 1778 , near Wilkes - Barre in present day Exeter , Pennsylvania . The Association was informally organized in 1877 to prepare for the centennial anniversary of the battle . Organizers of the events gathered on January 1 , 1878 on the recently excavated foundation of the original fort at Forty Fort , the site from where the American defenders had departed on the day of the fateful battle in 1778 . In 1928 , the sesquicentennial of the battle was elaborately celebrated both at the monument as well as throughout the community . The Association ' s first observance was held on July 3 , 1878 , drawing a crowd of more than 50 , 000 people to hear the main speaker for the event , U . S . President Rutherford B . Hayes . During the three - day visit , President Hayes was accompanied by the U . S . Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman , as well as the U . S . Attorney General Charles Devens . Over a quarter of a century later , President Theodore Roosevelt visited the Wyoming Monument during a tour of Wyoming Valley in 1905 . On May 28 , 2013 , former President Jimmy Carter gave a speech at the Monument . Each year since 1878 , the Wyoming Commemorative Association has hosted a major observance on the grounds of the Wyoming Monument to pay tribute to the famed battle . Hereditary and military organizations place floral tributes at the foot of the monument and the 24th Connecticut Militia ( Revolutionary War reenactors ) present a volley tribute . Many members of the Association represent some of the leading families of the greater Wilkes - Barre area as well as descendants of those who fought in the battle . Frank E . P . Conyngham has served as president of the association since 1990 . A number of prominent speakers have addressed the annual program , including Rev . Thomas K . Beecher , D . D . , brother of famed writer and abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1895 ; Francis W . Halsey of the New York Times in 1898 ; Dr . John Howard Harris President of Bucknell University in 1899 ; Dr . William Elliot Griffis in 1903 ; History Professor Dr . Albert Bushnell Hart of Harvard University in 1906 ; Hon . Simeon Eben Baldwin in 1907 ; Pulitzer Prize winner Claude Halstead Van Tyne of the University of Michigan in 1909 ; Hon . John E . Potter in 1916 ; Pennsylvania State Librarian and Director of the State Museum of Pennsylvania Frederic A . Godcharles in 1923 ; Willis Fletcher Johnson diplomatic writer for the New York Tribune in 1925 ; University of Pennsylvania dean William E . Lingelbach in 1930 ; Arthur C . Parker in 1931 ; historian and Union College President Dixon Ryan Fox in 1934 ; historian , Princeton University librarian and editor of the Susquehannah Company Papers Julian P . Boyd in 1936 ; Pulitzer Prize winning author Roy Franklin Nichols in 1937 ; Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Henry Gipson in 1941 ; former Pennsylvania governor Arthur James in 1947 ; Lafayette College President Ralph Cooper Hutchison in 1951 ; Julian P . Boyd , editor of the Papers of Thomas Jefferson in 1958 ; Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Benjamin R . Jones in 1959 ; Congressman Francis Walter in 1960 ; Hon . William Scranton in 1961 ; Wilkes University President Eugene Farley in 1963 ; U . S . Senator Hugh Scott in 1969 ; Congressman Daniel J . Flood in 1973 ; Major General Joseph Perugino of the 28th Infantry of the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1995 ; Dr . Michael MacDowell , President of Misericordia University in 1999 ; and Theodore Roosevelt ' s great - grandson Tweed Roosevelt , who spoke at the Association ' s 2005 observance , which celebrated Roosevelt ' s visit to the Monument in 1905 . The principal speaker at the 2010 observance was Denise Dennis , author and collateral descendant of Revolutionary War soldier Gershom Prince , an African American patriot who was killed during the Battle of Wyoming . On July 4 , 2011 , the Association held their annual observance , which included a rededication of the Wyoming Monument following its extensive restoration . In 2012 , the keynote speaker for the observance was Dr . William V . Lewis , Jr . , Commissioner of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission . The Association publishes an annual " Proceedings " , which is widely distributed both to its membership and to historic research libraries . Wyoming Commemorative Association , ' Proceedings of the Wyoming Commemorative Association "