The Institute’s video library is a growing resource of recorded lectures, videos designed for the classroom, collections features and exhibition tours, ranging from just a few minutes to over an hour. Browse by category or use the search bar below to look for a specific topic or speaker across our website.
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Lectures, Author's Talks & Panels
Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence
William and Benjamin Frank, brothers and freeborn men of color, joined the Second Rhode Island Regiment in the spring of 1777, joining a cohort of free Black soldiers serving in an integrated Continental Army. Following the Battle of Monmouth in…
The Marquis de Lafayette and His Farewell Tour
In 1824-1825, the marquis de Lafayette embarked on a tour of the United States, returning for a final time to the country he helped establish and whose democratic experiment he saw as a model for the rest of the…
At War, At Sea: The Legacy of James Forten as a Revolutionary War Veteran
In February 2023, the Museum of the American Revolution opened the acclaimed special exhibition Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia. The exhibition introduced visitors to three generations of the family of James Forten (1766-1842), a free Black Revolutionary…
The American Revolution in the Old Northwest
The American Revolution in the West is often neglected from the overall history of the conflict, though it had a significant impact on how it was conducted. Larry Nelson, assistant professor of history at Bowling Green State University, discusses this…
Mental Maps of the Founders: How Geographic Imagination Guided America’s Revolutionary Leaders
The American founders were men of high intellect, steely integrity, and enormous ambition—but they were not all of one mind. They came from diverse colonies, and they all sought their futures on different horizons. Without reliable maps of even…
Lunch Bite Object Talks
Three George Washington Manuscripts from the American Revolution
Research Services Librarian Rachel Nellis discusses three manuscripts signed by Gen. George Washington during the American Revolution. The manuscripts, recently donated to the Institute as part of the George Miller Chester Jr. (Society of the Cincinnati in the State of…
A Collections of Letters Written from Captivity by William Russell
Historical Programs Manager Andrew Outten discusses a collection of letters written from captivity by William Russell, an American soldier and privateer who was imprisoned twice during the Revolution. Following his initial capture at sea, Russell was first held prisoner at…
A Handkerchief Commemorating the Reign of King George III
Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses a handkerchief commemorating the reign of British monarch King George III, made ca. 1812. The large printed handkerchief chronicles contemporary events in a lavishly decorated manner and includes several portraits of notable…
Visit of the King and Queen of Siam to Anderson House in 1931
Director of Marketing and Communications Glenn Hennessey for a discussion of the 1931 visit to Anderson House by the king and queen of Siam (now Thailand) and the ephemera that documents it. From April 29 to May 1, the royal…
Statues of Nathan Hale
“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The words Nathan Hale is said to have uttered just before being hanged as a spy by the British are among the best remembered of the…
Classroom Videos
A Handkerchief Commemorating the Reign of King George III
Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses a handkerchief commemorating the reign of British monarch King George III, made ca. 1812. The large printed handkerchief chronicles contemporary events in a lavishly decorated manner and includes several portraits of notable…
An Allegorical Portrait of a French Naval Officer
Deputy Director and Curator Emily Parsons discusses an allegorical portrait from our museum collections. Completed in 1783 by Parisian artist Nicolas René Jollain, the painting depicts Thomas François Lenormand de Victot, a fallen French naval officer from the Revolutionary…
Statues of Nathan Hale
“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The words Nathan Hale is said to have uttered just before being hanged as a spy by the British are among the best remembered of the…
The Patriot’s Monitor
It’s back to school season! To celebrate, this month’s Collections Corner features the Institute’s director of education, Stacia Smith, discussing The Patriot’s Monitor, an 1810 American primer written by Rev. Ignatius Thomson of Pomfret, Vermont. As…
French Military Treatises of the Eighteenth Century
Coping with the sunset that followed Louis XIV’s death, battered by a string of costly military defeats, and influenced by the intellectual currents of the Enlightenment, the French army was primed for reform in the mid-eighteenth century. Scholar…
Collections Corner
An Allegorical Portrait of a French Naval Officer
Deputy Director and Curator Emily Parsons discusses an allegorical portrait from our museum collections. Completed in 1783 by Parisian artist Nicolas René Jollain, the painting depicts Thomas François Lenormand de Victot, a fallen French naval officer from the Revolutionary…
The Patriot’s Monitor
It’s back to school season! To celebrate, this month’s Collections Corner features the Institute’s director of education, Stacia Smith, discussing The Patriot’s Monitor, an 1810 American primer written by Rev. Ignatius Thomson of Pomfret, Vermont. As…
French Military Treatises of the Eighteenth Century
Coping with the sunset that followed Louis XIV’s death, battered by a string of costly military defeats, and influenced by the intellectual currents of the Enlightenment, the French army was primed for reform in the mid-eighteenth century. Scholar…
Early French Eagle Insignias of the Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati’s Eagle insignia has been the most recognizable symbol of the organization and its members for more than two hundred years. Designed in 1783 by Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, the double-sided gold insignia bears…
The New Game of the American Revolution
This segment of Collections Corner features the Institute’s director of education, Stacia Smith, discussing The New Game of the American Revolution, a 2022 acquisition from our library’s Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection. Created in 1844 by the author…
Exhibition Videos
Affairs of State: 118 Years of Diplomacy and Entertaining at Anderson House
Diplomacy and entertaining have always gone hand in hand in the nation’s capital. Anderson House, headquarters of the Society of the Cincinnati, has played a historic role in that story during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—but one…
Saving Soldiers: Medical Practice in the Revolutionary War
Explore our exhibition Saving Soldiers: Medical Practice in the Revolutionary War in this short video tour featuring a few highlight objects. Drawn principally from the Institute’s collections of rare books, manuscripts, portraits and artifacts, Saving Soldiers examined medical practice…