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.
September 2019
Author’s Talk—The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington
Historian and professor Martha Saxton discusses and signs copies of her recently published book The Widow Washington: The Life of Mary Washington, the first biography of George Washington’s mother based on archival sources. Her son’s biographers have, for the most part, painted her as self-centered and crude, a trial and an obstacle to her oldest child. The records tell a very different story. Mary Ball, the daughter of a wealthy planter and a formerly indentured servant, was orphaned young and…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—Quarters: The Accommodation of the British Army and the Coming of the American Revolution
When Congress declared independence in 1776, it cited King George III “for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.” In Quarters, John Gilbert McCurdy explores the social and political history behind this charge, offering the first authoritative account of the housing of British soldiers in America. Providing new interpretations and analysis of the Quartering Act of 1765, McCurdy sheds light on a misunderstood aspect of the American Revolution. Quarters also unearths the vivid debate in eighteenth-century America over the meaning…
Find out more »October 2019
Lecture – The American Revolution and the French Military Enlightenment
Christy Pichichero, associate professor at George Mason University and the 2015 Tyree-Lamb Fellow of the American Revolution Institute, discusses her work on war and the Enlightenment in the context of French experiences during the American Revolution. French officers such as the marquis de Chastellux and the comte de Rochambeau—whose memoirs are a part of the Institute's rich archival collections—considered themselves to be “military philosophers” who brought Enlightenment philosophical spirit to global military enterprise. Dr. Pichichero sheds light on their analyses…
Find out more »Lecture – French Marquis, Yorktown Victor, Spanish Grandee: Claude-Anne de Rouvroy, marquis de Saint-Simon
Historian Robert Selig explores the dramatic life of Claude-Anne de Rouvroy, marquis de Saint-Simon-Montbléru, and his role in the Siege of Yorktown, which occurred 238 years ago this month. Though almost entirely forgotten in the United States, Saint-Simon commanded more than three thousand French troops at Yorktown and was the highest ranking officer wounded during the siege. Based on recently discovered primary sources—including the journal of Jean-Baptiste Gérard Dupleix de Cadignan, lieutenant colonel in the Agenois Regiment under Saint-Simon’s command, in…
Find out more »November 2019
Panel Discussion – Why the American Revolution is Still Relevant
Join the American Revolution Institute for a special panel discussion and reception in Camden, South Carolina, at the Robert Mills Courthouse. Two hundred and thirty-six years after the conclusion of the American Revolution, the ideals that were fought for and won by the United States remain the foundation of our nation today. Panelists Walter B. Edgar, Woody Holton and Jack D. Warren, Jr., discuss the timeless significance of the vast event that created our nation. The evening begins with a…
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