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.
March 2026
Lecture—Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
Independent historian Eric Jay Dolin explores American privateers during the American Revolution. The heroic story of the founding of the U.S. Navy during the Revolution has been told before, yet missing from most maritime histories of the war is the ragtag fleet of private vessels that truly revealed the new nation’s character―above all, its ambition and entrepreneurial ethos. Drawing from his research, Dolin corrects that significant omission and contends that privateers, though often seen as profiteers at best and pirates at…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—The Killing of Jane McCrea: An American Tragedy on the Revolutionary Frontier
Paul Staiti, professor of fine arts at Mount Holyoke College, discusses his new book that, for the first time, undertakes a comprehensive investigation into the life, death, and legacy of Jane McCrea, who was killed by a Native American warrior serving alongside British general John Burgoyne’s 1777 expedition in New York. Using both visual arts and written records, Professor Staiti reassembles the scattered fragments of McCrea’s story to illuminate a historical terrain long since shrouded in misinformation, controversy, and mythology.…
Find out more »Art in Bloom DC 2026
Art in Bloom DC returns to Anderson House for a sixth time on March 19-22! This popular event fills our historic headquarters with more than thirty floral arrangements inspired by the art and architecture of Anderson House. Art in Bloom provides a unique opportunity in the nation’s capital to stroll through the museum at your own pace, viewing interpretations of specific artworks, furnishings and architectural details rendered in a floral medium by some of Washington’s most creative and innovative…
Find out more »Special Program—Firearms of the American Revolution
Join the Institute’s museum and library staff to explore firearms used by the American, British, French and Spanish forces during the American Revolution. This program will allow guests to view various examples from our museum collections up close, as well as accompanying military manuals and treatises from our library collections that illuminate the construction, use and intellectual history of firearms. Examples of firearms that will be displayed include a 1756 British long-land pattern Brown Bess musket, a 1766 French Charleville…
Find out more »April 2026
“Destruction and Wanton Waste”: The Impact of War on a Peaceful Valley
Andrew Outten, historical programs manager for the American Revolution Institute, reexamines the Battle of Brandywine from the perspective of the civilian population that experienced the engagement, especially the predominant Quaker community. Drawing from the experiences of a several Quakers living on and around the battlefield—including Joseph Townsend, Gideon Gilpin and Benjamin Ring—this talk demonstrates the devastating effect of war on a local population by exploring British logistical challenges against the backdrop of the social, economic and religious history of eighteenth-century…
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