Calendar of Historical Programs

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…

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…

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…