Collections for the Classroom: Remembering the Ladies

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30th Annual National Council for History Education Conference

Cleveland, Ohio
March 21, 2020

Abigail Adams’ famous eighteenth century plea to the leaders of Revolutionary America made clear that the republican ideals espoused by the patriot cause held a promise for the future of all Americans. The 1848 Declaration of Sentiments and the fight for the 19th Amendment revived this rhetoric and demonstrated how the ideas and events of the American Revolution inspired the movement for civil liberties for American women. This selection of American Revolution Institute museum and library collection items highlights the impact of the Revolution on the campaign for women’s rights.

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Nancy Hart

Felix Darley (artist and Charles Regnier (engraver)

New York: Groupil & Co., 1853

The Society of the Cincinnati, The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection

The life and legend of Nancy Hart embodies the violent struggle between patriot and loyalist neighbors that characterized the American Revolution in the Georgia backcountry. This 19th century color lithograph depicts Hart's storied encounter with a party of loyalists. The engraving is based on Elizabeth F. Ellet;s account of Hart in her 1848 history of women during the American Revolution. This print was marketed to both American and French audiences, reflecting interest on both sides of the Atlantic.

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Wake Up America Day

James Montgomery Flagg

New York, 1917

The Society of the Cincinnati, The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection

The Mayor's Committee on National Defense commissioned James Montgomery Flagg to design this poster to promote Wake Up America Day. Flagg depicted a female Paul Revere emerging from the darkness to call the country to arms. The image was more than a graphic flight of fancy. Wake Up America Day began at midnight on April 19, when a young suffragist named Jean Mohle rode through the streets of Manhattan on horseback, calling the men of New York to enlist in the army.

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George Washington to Mercy Otis Warren

June 4, 1790

The Society of the Cincinnati

In this letter, George Washington accepts a dedication in Warren's 1790 book of poems and wishes her well

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Nancy

Henry William Bunbury

London: published by Watson & Dickinson, 1780

The Society of the Cincinnati, The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection

The actress Charlotte Walpole played the role of Nancy, a young woman who disguises herself as a soldier, in Richard Sheridan's play, The Camp. First performed at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on October 15, 1778, the production concluded with "a perspective Representation of the Grand Camp at Cox Heath."