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 2026
Author’s Talk – Suffering for the Crown: The Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution
Kieran O’Keefe of Lyon College discusses his new book that focuses our attention on Loyalists living in New York’s Hudson Valley during the Revolution, an epicenter where neighbor fought neighbor, brother fought brother, and fathers fought sons. Through an analysis of the effects of violence on Loyalist communities—which included white, Black, and Native peoples—this talk reveals the brutal reality of war by examining its enduring psychological and social legacies, providing a nuanced understanding of the Revolution’s human cost and how…
Find out more »August 2026
Lecture—Entangled Alliances: The Soldiers of Saint-Domingue During the American Revolution
Historian Ronald Angelo Johnson of Baylor University brings to light the fascinating story of American patriots and rebels from Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) allying against European tyranny. While modern understandings of freedom are often linked to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Johnson argues that the desire of Black Atlantic inhabitants for liberty and their will to resist slavery predated the fateful standoff between minutemen and redcoats at Lexington and Concord. Drawing from original multilingual sources to offer a fresh perspective, this…
Find out more »Lecture—Washington’s Immortals: The Maryland 400 and the Battle of Long Island
Award-winning author and historian Patrick K. O’Donnell commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Long Island that occurred on August 27, 1776. Gen. George Washington found his troops outmanned and outmaneuvered at the Battle of Long Island, but thanks to a series of desperate charges by a single heroic regiment, the First Maryland Regiment—famously known as the Maryland 400—Washington was able to evacuate his men and the nascent Continental Army lived to fight another day. In this talk, O’Donnell…
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