Supporting scholarship and promoting popular understanding of the American Revolution is central to the work of the American Revolution Institute. The Institute welcomes distinguished scholars and authors to share their insights and discuss their latest research with the public at Anderson House through lectures, author's talks and panel discussions. The Institute also hosts a variety of other historical programs throughout the year, including our Lunch Bite object talks, battlefield tours, special Anderson House tour programs and other events. Many of the events we offer are free.
November 2024
Author’s Talk—From Empire to Revolution: Sir James Wright and the Price of Loyalty in Georgia
James Wright lived a transatlantic life, taking advantage of every imperial opportunity afforded him. He earned numerous important government posts and amassed an incredible fortune. An England-born grandson of Sir Robert Wright, James Wright was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, following his father’s appointment as the chief justice of that colony. Young James served South Carolina in several capacities, public and ecclesiastical, prior to his admittance to London’s famed Gray’s Inn to study law. Most notably, he was appointed South…
Find out more »December 2024
Author’s Talk—Declarations of Independence: Indigenous Resilience, Colonial Rivalries, and the Cost of Revolution
On July 4, 1776, two hundred miles northwest of Philadelphia, on Indigenous land along the west branch of the Susquehanna River, a group of colonial squatters declared their independence. They were not alone in their efforts. This bold symbolic gesture was just a small part of a much broader and longer struggle in the Northern Susquehanna River Valley, where diverse peoples, especially Indigenous nations, fought tenaciously to safeguard their lands, sovereignty and survival. Drawing from his new book, Christopher Pearl,…
Find out more »Lecture—Unlikely Soldiers: The Bakers of Washington’s Army, 1778-1781
In May 1777, Congress commissioned Christopher Ludwick, a Philadelphia gingerbread baker, as the superintendent of bakers in the Continental Army. Upon receiving his commission, Ludwick quickly developed a baking department—the first of its kind in America—to feed Gen. George Washington’s army as they fought and retreated throughout the Mid-Atlantic. Under Ludwick’s supervision, a series of ovens were built in different locations throughout the Mid-Atlantic to satisfy the needs of provisioning the army. Justin Cherry, resident baker at George Washington’s Mount…
Find out more »January 2025
Virtual Seminar—“The American Cause…is the Cause of Liberty”
Join the American Revolution Institute and the Georgetown County SC250 Commission for a special virtual seminar discussing various topics highlighting the marquis de Lafayette and the American Revolution in South Carolina. This virtual seminar features the Institute’s director of education, Stacia Smith, discussing Lafayette’s farewell tour in 1824 and 1825, as celebrated by the Institute’s exhibition, Fete Lafayette: A French Hero’s Tour of the American Republic; the Institute’s research services librarian, Rachel Nellis, highlighting the surprising and exciting stories of…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America
The Revolutionary War is often celebrated as marking the birth of American republicanism, liberty and representative democracy. Yet for the tens of thousands of British and Hessian troops sent three thousand miles across the Atlantic Ocean to wage war under alien skies, such a progressive picture could not have been further from the truth. Whether trudging through alligator-infested swamps, nursing a comrade back to health in a rain-sodden tent or digging trenches in a burned-out port city, most who fought…
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