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 2024
Lecture—The Marquis de Lafayette Returns: A Tour of America’s National Capital Region
Against the backdrop of a tumultuous election, a beloved hero of the American Revolution returned to America for the first time in forty years. From August 1824 to September 1825, the marquis de Lafayette traveled through the United States, welcomed by thousands of admirers at each stop along the way. Although the tour brought him to each state in the Union, the majority of his time was spent in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Public historian Elizabeth Reese traces Lafayette's…
Find out more »Special Reception—Welcome to Washington, Lafayette!
On October 12, 1824, the marquis de Lafayette arrived in the capital city of Washington for the first time during his thirteen-month farewell tour of the United States. Upon his arrival to the nation’s capital, he was paraded into the city, welcomed by the mayor in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, and feted with fireworks throughout the city. Join us and the American Friends of Lafayette for a special reception commemorating Lafayette’s arrival in Washington. Guests can greet Lafayette,…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom
Jews played a critical role both in winning the American Revolution—fighting for the patriot cause from Bunker Hill to Yorktown—and in defining the republic that was created from it. As the most visible non-Christian religion, Judaism was central to the debate over religious freedom in America at a critical juncture. Except for Philadelphia, the birthplace to the Declaration of Independence and a core of resistance, every city with a synagogue fell to the British during the war. Jewish patriots throughout…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—Spanish Louisiana: Contest for Borderlands, 1763-1803
The Spanish era in the Lower Mississippi Valley, a borderland contested by empires and the region’s diverse inhabitants following the Seven Years’ War, was characterized by tremendous transition as the colony emerged from the neglect of the French period and became slowly but increasingly centered on plantation agriculture. The transformations of this critical period grew out of the struggles between Spain and Louisiana’s colonists, enslaved people and Indians over issues related to space and mobility. Many borderland peoples, networks and…
Find out more »November 2024
Lunch Bite—A 1780s Chinese Porcelain Punch Bowl Depicting the Battle of the Saintes
The Institute’s museum collections and operations manager, Paul Newman, for a Lunch Bite object talk highlighting a recent acquisition for our museum collections: a Chinese porcelain punch bowl depicting the Battle of the Saintes. Produced around 1783, the punch bowl was manufactured for the British market to commemorate the Royal Navy’s victory over the French fleet at the Battle of the Saintes that occurred on April 9-12, 1782. The presentation will explore the bowl’s richly detailed depiction of the battle,…
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