Explore the complex and compelling stories of numerous individuals who participated in the Revolutionary War in different ways and on different sides of the conflict through these lectures and other historical programs, which accompany the exhibition Voices of Revolution. 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.
British Officer Thomas Musgrave’s Account of the American Revolution
February 13, 2026
The Institute’s museum collections and operations manager, Paul Newman, for a discussion of a 1780s manuscript account of the American Revolution by Lt. Col. (later made a General and Baronet) Thomas Musgrave, a British officer who served extensively throughout the war.
A recording of this program is forthcoming and will be made available soon.
Rebels at Sea: Privateering in the American Revolution
March 10, 2026
In this lecture, independent historian Eric Jay Dolin explores American privateers in the Revolutionary War and discusses their critical impact on the war’s outcome.
“Destruction and Wanton Waste”: The Impact of War on a Peaceful Valley
April 9, 2026
Andrew Outten, the Institute’s senior manager of historical programs and marketing, reexamines the Battle of Brandywine from the perspective of the civilian population that experienced the engagement, especially the predominant Quaker community.
When the Declaration of Independence Was News
April 21, 2026
Emily Sneff, Ph.D., discusses her new book that reveals the stories of how the Declaration of Independence was communicated in the United States and around the Atlantic World.
Across the Ocean, Into Battle: German Soldiers, Families and Communities in the American Revolutionary War
June 17, 2026
Friederike Baer, Ph.D., examines the German auxiliaries not merely as a fighting force but as a military community sustained through domestic labor, familial ties, and collective identity far from home.
Suffering for the Crown: The Hudson Valley Loyalists and the Violence of Revolution
July 7, 2026
Kieran O’Keefe, Ph.D., discusses his new book that focuses our attention on Loyalists living in New York’s Hudson Valley during the Revolution, an epicenter where neighbor fought neighbor, brother fought brother, and fathers fought sons.
Entangled Alliances: The Soldiers of Saint-Domingue During the American Revolution
August 13, 2026
Ronald A. Johnson, Ph.D., brings to light the fascinating story of soldiers from Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) who allied themselves with the Americans during the American Revolution to fight European tyranny.