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.
July 2023
Author’s Talk – South Carolina Provincials: Loyalists in British Service During the American Revolution
The Loyalists who supported the British during the American Revolution have frequently been neglected in accounts of that conflict. Nevertheless, Loyalists made significant efforts to assist British forces in restoring royal control of the thirteen colonies. This was especially true in South Carolina, where backcountry Loyalists under almost-forgotten leaders such as Joseph Robinson and Euan McLaurin challenged the Revolutionary movement in 1775. Although their initial efforts were unsuccessful, Robinson, McLaurin and hundreds of their followers eventually made their way to…
Find out more »Lunch Bite – An Orderly Book Kept by British General Robert Cuninghame
Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses a manuscript orderly book kept by British General Robert Cuninghame from his time in command of an army camp near Clonmel, Ireland, 1778. An important historical record, this book records the daily orders disseminated at the camp and includes court martial proceedings, unit movements and the rotation of soldiers to be placed on guard duty. This Lunch Bite will examine the orderly book and its significance in offering a better understanding of…
Find out more »August 2023
Lecture – The Fighting Sullivans of World War II
On November 13, 1942, the American cruiser USS Juneau was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Serving on the cruiser were George, Francis, Joseph, Madison and Albert Sullivan, five brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, who were all tragically killed in the attack. In 1944, their parents, Thomas and Alleta Sullivan, were presented with five Purple Heart medals by Rear Admiral Clark H. Woodward in the Key Room at Anderson House, where several U.S. Navy departments were headquartered…
Find out more »Lecture – William Hunter: A British Soldier’s Son Who Became an Early American
The son of a British soldier, William Hunter accompanied his father, a non-commissioned officer in the British army’s 26th Regiment of Foot, while on campaign during the American Revolution. Throughout the war, Hunter witnessed the first-hand terrors of combat, was captured twice, and produced the only surviving account written by a child of a British soldier. Drawing from Hunter’s recently discovered journal, which will be on display at the lecture, historian Euguene Procknow discusses his experiences during the Revolution and how they…
Find out more »Lunch Bite – Catharine Macaulay’s An Address to the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs
Research Services Librarian Rachel Nellis discusses Catharine Macaulay, a radical English writer and historian sympathetic to the American cause, and her 1775 pamphlet, An Address to the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, on the Present Important Crisis of Affairs. Using events such as Parliament’s passing of the Stamp Act and the Boston Massacre, Macaulay’s pamphlet was written as an appeal to Great Britain to change its policies towards the colonies. This Lunch Bite will not only examine the contents within…
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