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.
April 2022
Lunch Bite – Benjamin Rush’s Directions for Preserving the Health of Soldiers
Join Library Director Ellen McCallister Clark for a discussion of this 1778 publication that reflected the ambition of physicians as well as American leaders to apply the insights of contemporary science to the conduct of war. This Lunch Bite accompanies the exhibition Saving Soldiers: Medical Practice in the Revolutionary War (April 1-November 27, 2022). The presentation will last approximately 30 minutes with time afterwards for up-close viewing of the manuscript. Reservations are requested. All visitors to Anderson House age 5…
Find out more »June 2022
Lunch Bite – Dr. James Tilton’s Society of the Cincinnati Eagle Insignia and Treatise
Join Deputy Director and Curator Emily Parsons for a discussion of Dr. James Tilton’s Society of the Cincinnati Eagle insignia, along with his 1813 treatise on military hospitals—both of which are on display in our current exhibition, Saving Soldiers: Medical Practice in the Revolutionary War, now on view through November 27, 2022. James Tilton began his long career as a military physician in January 1776 when he joined the Delaware Regiment as a surgeon. Less than a year later, he…
Find out more »July 2022
Lunch Bite – Nathanael Greene’s pistols
Join Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten for a presentation on a pair of holster pistols that was owned by Gen. Nathanael Greene and given to his aide-de-camp, Nathaniel Pendleton, who served under Greene during the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War. The brass box-lock pistols were made about 1782 by William Grice and Charles Freeth of Birmingham, England, and feature the initials “NG” engraved on the silver escutcheons. This Lunch Bite will focus on the history of the pistols along…
Find out more »September 2022
Lunch Bite – William Faden’s 1778 & 1784 maps of the Battle of Brandywine
Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten discusses two maps produced by British cartographer William Faden depicting the Battle of Brandywine. William Faden is well known for his maps of major battles of the Revolutionary War. Unusually, he produced two maps of the Battle of Brandywine, one in 1778 and the other in 1784. Each map shows troop movements and positions along with other aspects of the overall battlefield landscape, but each conveys significantly different information. This Lunch Bite will focus on…
Find out more »December 2022
Lunch Bite – A Presentation Sword Awarded to Commodore Joshua Barney
Join Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman as he discusses a presentation sword awarded to Commodore Joshua Barney (1759-1818) by the city of Washington, D.C., for his service at the Battle of Bladensburg, fought on August 24, 1814. Barney, who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati, commanded sailors, marines and militiamen in a spirited fight on that summer’s day north-east of the nation’s capital in the face of…
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