Explore three major engagements from the first year of the American Revolution—the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Quebec, and the Battle of Sullivan’s Island—through these lectures and other historical programs, which accompany the exhibition Revolutionary Beginnings: War and Remembrance in the First Year of America’s Fight for Independence. Click on the links below to learn more about each program and, if the event has already taken place, to watch a video of the presentation.
A Hanger Sword Owned by Massachusetts Minute Man James Taylor
April 18, 2025
In this Lunch Bite object talk, the Institute’s deputy director and curator, Emily Parsons, discussed an American-made hanger sword carried during the early months of the Revolutionary War by James Taylor, a minute man from western Massachusetts who answered the Lexington Alarm.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
April 29, 2025
To kick off our eight-year-long 250th anniversary celebrations of the American Revolution, this panel discussion highlighted the Battles of Lexington and Concord by exploring the prelude of the two events of April 19, 1775, the engagements through the perspectives of the battles’ participants and civilian eyewitnesses and recent archaeological studies and findings and how they have impacted or enhanced the interpretation of the battles.
The Fourth South Carolina Regiment and the Orderly Book of Capt. Barnard Elliot
May 1, 2025
For this lecture, Elizabeth Chew and Melina Testin of the South Carolina Historical Society discussed the Fourth South Carolina Regiment and a rare orderly book kept by Capt. Barnard Elliot that includes reports of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island.
The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington
June 17, 2025
Paul Lockhart, professor of history at Wright State University, highlights the Battle of Bunker Hill on the 250th anniversary of the engagement. Offering a reassessment of the first major battle of the war, Dr. Lockhart illuminates it as a crucial event in the creation of American identity while interweaving it with two other momentous narratives: the creation of America’s first army and the rise of George Washington.
A 1773 Register of British Army Officers
June 20, 2025
In this Lunch Bite object talk, Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten discusses a 1773 register of British Army officers that contains annotations pertaining to British casualties suffered at the Battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill.