Whatever your budget and your interests, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has a professional development opportunity for you. Study with world-renowned scholars, connect with other teachers from across the United States, and reinvigorate your enthusiasm for teaching history.
High school students are invited to participate in the David McCullough Essay Prizes. The 2025 contest deadline is June 27 at 8 p.m. ET.
To assist students, teachers, and parents in their preparation, the Institute will host a Virtual Research Night on February 6 at 7 p.m. ET.
Image: David McCullough at Trinity School in Manhattan, October 15, 2019
$5000 1st Prizes
$1500 2nd Prizes
$500 3rd Prizes
Join us in New York City to celebrate the 2024 winners of the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. The prize is awarded to outstanding books published on the subject of slavery, resistance, and/or abolition. This year we will honor two authors—Marlene L. Daut for Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution and Sara E. Johnson for Encyclopédie Noire: The Making of Moreau de Saint-Méry’s Intellectual World.
Date and Time: Tuesday, February 11 at 6 p.m.
Location: Trinity Church NYC
Explore the newly redesigned EduHam Online website. It includes classroom account creation, a historical research library, a program roadmap, and a video library. You can now access the site using your Gilder Lehrman login and password (or create an account for free).
Students in grades 6–12 are encouraged to submit their completed projects to the EduHam Online lottery for a chance to win a trip to New York City and see Hamilton on Broadway. The deadline is February 14.
Join us as we celebrate and recommit ourselves to the rising generation and the future of our democracy.
When: Monday, May 12, 2025 at 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Lighthouse, New York City
Honorees: Doris Kearns Goodwin, the Cast of Hamilton, and the Rockefeller Foundation
Image: Students introducing honorees at the 2024 Gilder Lehrman Annual Gala. Copyright Ilir Bajraktari.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is excited to introduce our new Citizenship hub. Take the US Naturalization Exam—available in short, intermediate, full, and Kahoot! formats—and receive real-time feedback on your results!
Professor Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Harvard University) recounts the story of African Americans from their beginnings in Africa, through centuries of enslavement in the United States, and during the Civil War years’ promise of freedom. In this course, you will learn about the momentous events, heroic voices, social movements, cultural beliefs, and creative forms that are expressive of everyday life.
Regular Price: $39.99
Affiliate Price: $29.99
Image: A photograph of an African American family at Smith’s Plantation, Beaufort, SC, 1862 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC05111.01.1038_00001.)
15 Professional Development Hours
Upcoming Session: February 9, 2025
Author: Jonathan W. White, Christopher Newport University
Book: A Great and Good Man: Rare, First-Hand Accounts of Abraham Lincoln
Free
All Audiences
Every Sunday
Our master’s degree program gives K–12 educators an affordable way to earn a graduate degree while working full time.
Explore American history from your own home, in your own time, and at your own pace! Educators can obtain professional development credit.
High school students in our Affiliate School Program are encouraged to participate in this prestigious competition.
In an 1807 letter, John Adams described the "talents" that made Washington popular, including a "handsome face" and "elegant form."
Get help with strategies and sources to prepare David McCullough Essay Prizes submissions.
Join us in New York City to celebrate the 2024 winners.
Course registration period for Spring 2025 semester ends.
Last day to submit your best creative piece for the chance to see Hamilton in New York City!
Affiliate School students intending to major in history are eligible for $10,000 scholarships.
Every Sunday at 2:00 pm ET (11:00 am PT) on Zoom
Join us for our weekly interview series in which historians discuss their acclaimed books followed by a Q&A with the at-home audience. Please click any of the upcoming episodes to register. You can purchase any of the books featured on our bookshop.org page, for which we receive an affiliate commission.
A Great and Good Man: Rare, First-Hand Accounts of Abraham Lincoln
Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn
Ingenious: A Biography of Benjamin Franklin, Scientist
In 1991, Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman embarked on a mission to create one of the most important repositories of historical American documents in the country. Today, the Gilder Lehrman Collection contains 86,000+ items documenting the political, social, and economic history of the United States.
Our catalog is free to search. K–12 students, K–12 educators, and parents can access a selection of 7,800+ full-sized images for free. Others can purchase an annual History Resources subscription for $25.
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We hold many rare copies of foundational American documents, like this first draft of the US Constitution
Discover 2,000+ individuals who lived through the American Revolution, like the poet Phillis Wheatley.
Bring history to life with visual sources, like this US War Department recruitment poster (ca. 1944–1945).
In addition to documents, the Collection includes objects, like this campaign button for Lyndon Johnson.
Our Collection highlights the contributions of many Americans, like those of a female pilot in the 1910s.
Explore the fight against slavery through abolitionist writings, like this note by Frederick Douglass.
The Online Journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute
History Now features essays by the nation’s leading historians and provides the latest in American history scholarship for teachers, students, and general readers.
Learn about the historical research process in this step-by-step guide. As you progress, you will have opportunities to apply what you are learning.
Image: American Servicemen and women in Paris celebrating the unconditional surrender of the Japanese, August 15, 1945 (National Archives, 111-SC-210241)
Stay up to date with all the work that we do to combat historical illiteracy and invigorate the study of the past.
Catch up on the highlights from our work with students, teachers, researchers, and the general public.
See all official press releases for our important events, significant programs, and special initiatives.
