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.
October 2018
Lecture – Skull, Severed Heads and Skeletons: Battlefield Clean-up during the American War of Independence
Battlefield clean-up is a topic rarely covered by modern historians. However, following almost any military engagement, corpses need to be buried. Who disposed of these corpses and how can we tell who buried whom? Were officers and other ranks buried together or separate? Just in time for Halloween, Dr. Bob Selig, historian, will try to answer these and related questions about burying the dead during the American War of Independence. The lecture will last 45 minutes with time afterwards for questions.
Find out more »December 2018
Author’s Talk – Frontier Rebels: The Fight for Independence in the American West, 1765-1776
Patrick Spero, director of the American Philosophical Society Library, discusses and signs copies of his book on the untold story of the Black Boys, a band of rebels on the American frontier in 1765 whose protests helped to spark the American Revolution. In 1765, as the Stamp Act riled eastern seaports, frontiersmen clashed with the British Empire over another issue: Indian relations. When British officials launched a risky diplomatic expedition into the American interior to open trade with the Indian warrior…
Find out more »January 2019
Author’s Talk – Unlikely General: “Mad” Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America
President George Washington was determined to secure the Old Northwest—the region extending from the Ohio to the Mississippi—for American settlers, but a powerful Indian confederacy barred the way. Two successive military expeditions to take control of the region had ended in expensive and bloody disasters. Congressmen, reluctant to authorize a third, insisted that it was foolish “to send forth armies to be butchered in the forests.” Washington ignored them, and chose Anthony Wayne—a headstrong Continental Army veteran with a reputation…
Find out more »March 2019
Lecture – The Swords of George Washington
This lecture was rescheduled from February 20 due to winter weather on the original date. Whether in the role of militia officer, commander of the Continental Army or president of the United States, a sword frequently hung by George Washington's side. Nine of his swords are known to exist today, and each has a fascinating history not just as a functional weapon but as a symbol of the iconic American founder and the birth of the nation. Commemorate the 287th…
Find out more »Lecture – Gifts from the Sea: The Miraculous Stories of Two Continental Army Guns
One of the greatest obstacles that the Continental Army faced during its first two years was providing an adequate supply of firearms suitable for military service. Arms production in Revolutionary America never met the demand for weapons to fight the British. The timely influx of weapons captured from British ships and purchased from France saved the American cause from disaster. Independent curator and historian James L. Kochan illuminates how dependent the army was on foreign arms through the histories of…
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