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 2019
Author’s Talk—The Disaffected: Britain’s Occupation of Philadelphia During the American Revolution
Historian Aaron Sullivan discusses and signs copies of his book that chronicles the experiences of Quakers, pacifists and others who were pursued, pressured and at times persecuted during the British occupation of Philadelphia, not because they chose the wrong side of the Revolution, but because they tried not to choose a side at all. The talk will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a book signing and refreshments. Copies of the book will be available to purchase at the event.…
Find out more »August 2019
Documentary Film Screening—The Lafayette Escadrille
At the beginning of World War I, young Americans rushed to France as volunteers to defend America’s oldest ally. The Lafayette Escadrille, the only all-American squadron in the French Air Service, is the subject of a new documentary film co-directed by Paul Glenshaw. Following the film screening, Glenshaw will comment on the production, including presenting the deep connections several of the pilots had to the Revolution and to the Society of the Cincinnati. About the Speaker Paul Glenshaw, a graduate…
Find out more »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…
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