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 2025
The 2025 Society of the Cincinnati Prize Presentation & Reception
The 2025 Society of the Cincinnati Prize honors Vaughn Scribner, Ph.D., for his book Under Alien Skies: Environment, Suffering, and the Defeat of the British Military in Revolutionary America (University of North Carolina Press, 2024), which illustrates how foreign soldiers’ perceptions of the American environment during the Revolution merged with harsh wartime realities to elicit considerable physical, mental, and emotional anguish. The Revolutionary War is often celebrated as marking the birth of American republicanism, liberty and representative democracy, yet for…
Find out more »November 2025
From The Vault—Military Training in the 18th Century
Join library staff, along with historian Steven Elliot, Ph.D., for a special program exploring selections from our library collections relating to military training during the American Revolution and the long eighteenth century. This special viewing will allow guests to explore rare items—including military treatises, orderly books and training manuals—up close while learning about the various tactics and practices used to train soldiers in eighteenth-century armies. This program will be held in-person only. Registration is limited and will be honored on…
Find out more »December 2025
Battlefield Tour—Revolutionary Charleston
Join us in Charleston, S.C., as we explore two important events of the American Revolution: the Battle of Sullivan’s Island and the Siege of Charleston. This two-day experience will include a Friday evening dinner and lecture at the Carolina Yacht Club given by independent historian Cordell Bragg discussing Gen. William Moultrie and the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, fought on June 28, 1776. The following day, guided tours led by historians Doug MacIntyre and Carl Borick will explore the various locations…
Find out more »February 2026
From the Vault—Henry Knox and the Artillery of the American Revolution
Join us for a special program honoring Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, chief of artillery of the Continental Army and one of George Washington’s most trusted officers. This intimate evening event offers a rare opportunity to explore treasures from our library collections that illuminate Knox’s extraordinary wartime service and enduring legacy. Featured manuscripts, maps, prints and rare publications reveal his remarkable rise from Boston bookseller to indispensable military leader. Guests will learn how Knox transformed the Continental Army’s artillery, forged critical…
Find out more »March 2026
Special Opening Reception — Voices of Revolution
Join us for a reception celebrating the opening our new exhibition, Voices of Revolution. Over eight long years, the American Revolution was fought across large swaths of North America and beyond, involving the militaries of at least five nations. It touched the lives and families of nearly everyone in what would become the United States, yet the full scope of who participated in our Revolution and the effects it had on those who fought in it remains less understood. On view…
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