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.
March 2023
Lecture – François-Jean de Chastellux and American Independence
François-Jean Chastellux, a major general in the French army, member of the Society of the Cincinnati and cousin of the marquis de Lafayette, played a central role in the Franco-American alliance during the Revolutionary War. Recently, a collection of more than four thousand pages of Chastellux’s private papers were discovered at his estate in Burgundy, France, by historian Dr. Iris De Rode. Drawing from her discovery and other primary sources—including the first edition of his travel diary, a first edition…
Find out more »Author’s Talk – East Florida in the Revolutionary Era, 1763-1785
In 1763 Great Britain organized the colony of East Florida, which formed the entirety of what is now the state of Florida east of the Apalachicola River. Today, the history of East Florida is seldom studied, relegated to the outskirts of literature on the colonial and revolutionary era. Yet, the Revolution in East Florida included a violent border war that erupted between East Florida and the state of Georgia in 1775, two noteworthy battles fought on East Florida soil and…
Find out more »Author’s Talk – The Wandering Army: The Campaigns that Transformed the British Way of War
In 1774, Gen. Henry Clinton embarked on a "martial grand tour," visiting the battlefields of Europe with his friend, the military theorist Henry Lloyd. What the two observed on their travels would change the British approach to the war that broke out in North America the following year. From his practical and theoretical study of military history Clinton concluded that battles should only be fought when decisive political objectives could be achieved, but he instead realized that armies should be…
Find out more »April 2023
Lecture – All the World’s a Stage: The Role of Architecture and Interior Decor in Entertaining at Anderson House, 1905-1929
Anderson House, the winter home of Larz and Isabel Anderson between 1905 and 1937, stands as a testament to all that was gracious and in good taste in entertaining during the waning decades of America’s Gilded Age. An architectural masterpiece based on the English late Baroque period, with elements from the French Beaux-Arts tradition, the house was designed as both a splendid stage upon which the social status and careers of the couple could be promoted and advanced, and as…
Find out more »Lecture – The Surveyor’s Eyes: Mapping Empire in the Era of the American Revolution
In the second half of the eighteenth century, British surveyors came to North America and the West Indies in unprecedented numbers. Their images of coastlines, forts and frontiers helped win the French and Indian War and pictured a triumphant British Atlantic world. The American Revolution shattered this vision of peace, commerce and settlement. Once tasked to promote an expansive American empire, wartime mapmakers applied their knowledge to make war on American colonists. Max Edelson, professor of history at the University…
Find out more »