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.
August 2022
Virtual Lecture – “To Have The Bed Made”: Invisible Labor and the Material Culture of Nursing in the Revolutionary War
In this lecture, historian Meg Roberts sheds light on the labor of the Revolutionary War’s caregivers. Alongside the surgeons and physicians, the medical care of the thousands of sick and wounded Continental soldiers relied upon the tireless work of army nurses, camp followers, housewives, cooks, laundresses and local families. In contrast to the voluminous records of soldiers’ and military leaders’ wartime experiences, the contribution of women has often been summarized fleetingly with three verbs: washing, cooking and nursing. The rich…
Find out more »September 2022
Lunch Bite – William Faden’s 1778 & 1784 maps of the Battle of Brandywine
Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten discusses two maps produced by British cartographer William Faden depicting the Battle of Brandywine. William Faden is well known for his maps of major battles of the Revolutionary War. Unusually, he produced two maps of the Battle of Brandywine, one in 1778 and the other in 1784. Each map shows troop movements and positions along with other aspects of the overall battlefield landscape, but each conveys significantly different information. This Lunch Bite will focus on…
Find out more »Author’s Talk – Dark Voyage: An American Privateer’s War on Britain’s African Slave Trade
Historian Christian McBurney discusses the harrowing voyage of the Marlborough, an American privateer vessel that sailed across the Atlantic to attack British slave trading posts and ships on the coast of West Africa during the Revolutionary War. His new ground-breaking book is the first to explore the efforts of the Marlborough’s officers and crew, along with other American privateers that targeted British slave ships, fostering a better understanding of the Atlantic slave trade during the Revolution and the role American privateers played in diminishing Britain’s slave trading enterprise. The talk will last approximately 45 minutes, followed by a…
Find out more »Painting the Revolution: An Evening with Artist Adrian Martinez
$25.00 General Public | $20.00 Society of the Cincinnati Members & ARI Associates Join us as we welcome artist Adrian Martinez and his paintings to Anderson House. In 2017, Martinez, a native of Washington, D.C., was commissioned to create ten original paintings depicting various scenes of the Battle of Brandywine, fought on September 11, 1777, in southeastern Pennsylvania. To date, he has completed four of these commissioned paintings. Unlike many historical artists who only depict the combat of major battles,…
Find out more »October 2022
Author’s Talk – North of America: Loyalists, Indigenous Nations, and the Borders of the Long American Revolution
At the start of the Revolutionary War, independence had its limits as patriots were surrounded by indigenous peoples and loyalists throughout the northern regions that straddled the colonial borders, and these foreign neighbors were far from inactive during the Revolution. Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and especially the homelands that straddled colonial borders were far less foreign to the men and women who established the United States than Canada is to those who live here now. Jeffers…
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