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.
February 2020
Lecture—Abigail Adams and America’s “Founding Mothers”
Join the American Revolution Institute for a special lecture and reception in Charleston, South Carolina, at The Charleston Museum. The heroines of the American Revolution are underappreciated, yet their stories are inspiring and exciting. Woody Holton, one of the nation’s preeminent scholars on women’s leadership during the founding era, discusses the efforts of Abigail Adams and other unsung women of the Revolution. His book Abigail Adams is an award-winning and much-celebrated work. The evening begins with a reception at 5:45…
Find out more »Lunch Bite – A Map of the Province of New York, with Part of Pensilvania, and New England
Join Library Assistant Kieran O'Keefe for a discussion of a hand-colored map of New York published in 1775 and of mapmaking in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. The map was based on a survey conducted by John Montresor, a British military engineer and cartographer. Montresor came to America at the beginning of the French and Indian War and served in the British army throughout the conflict. He continued in America during the first few years of the Revolution. The map primarily…
Find out more »Author’s Talk – Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution
T. Cole Jones, assistant professor of history at Purdue University, discusses and signs copies of his book examining the ways the revolutionary generation dealt with the more than seventeen thousand enemy soldiers captured during the war. The number of enemy prisoners in American custody often exceeded that of American soldiers in the Continental Army. These prisoners proved increasingly burdensome for the new nation as the war progressed, and a series of thorny political issues compounded these logistical difficulties. From the meeting…
Find out more »March 2020
Author’s Talk – 1774: The Long Year of Revolution
Historian Mary Beth Norton of Cornell University, discusses and signs copies of her new book analyzing the revolutionary change that took place between December 1773 and April 1775—from the Boston Tea Party and the first Continental Congress to the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Drawing extensively on pamphlets, newspapers and personal correspondence, Dr. Norton reconstructs colonial political discourse as it happened, showing the vigorous campaign mounted by conservatives criticizing congressional actions. But by then it was too late. In early…
Find out more »EVENT CANCELLED: Lunch Bite – The Badge of Military Merit
Due to the current public health emergency, this event has been cancelled. Join Deputy Director and Curator Emily Schulz Parsons for a discussion of the Badge of Military Merit, the first military decoration for enlisted men and the precursor to the modern Purple Heart. Declaring that “the road to glory in a patriot army and a free country is … open to all,” George Washington established the badge in August 1782 to recognize distinguished conduct and to encourage “virtuous ambition” and…
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