Inside the Vault

Inside the Vault

Inside the Vault is a monthly online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Curators and scholars discuss historical documents from iconic treasures, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, to personal letters that reveal the contributions of ordinary Americans.

 

*Please note that each program is recorded and sent via email the following day to all registered participants.*

 

Image: Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, General Orders No. 1, 1863 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC00460)

Upcoming Program View Program Archive
Detail from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation with focus on text "By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation"

Table of Contents:

Upcoming Program

Inside the Vault: Manhattan Project Scientists Predict a Nuclear Arms Race

Date: August 7, 2025
Time: 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
With: Cynthia Kelly, President of the Atomic Heritage Foundation
Featured Document: Preliminary statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists, August 1945

“[We] feel a very special responsibility to the people of America because of the role we have had in developing the atomic bomb and because of our special awareness of the possibilities of atomic energy for the advance of civilization or its utter destruction.” —Preliminary Statement of the Association of Manhattan Project Scientists 

Written shortly after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a draft statement by scientists leading atomic development in the United States emphasizes the need to control nuclear weaponry and acknowledge its consequences. The scientists warned of the havoc the weapons could wreak and predicted that a global nuclear arms race would ensue. 

Join us on August 7, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT) when our curators discuss the Manhattan Project scientists’ declaration of concern with Cynthia Kelly, president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation.

Submit questions for Cynthia Kelly

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Preliminary statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists, August 1945

Preliminary statement of the Association of Manhattan District Scientists, August 1945 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC03152.02)

Related Resources for Upcoming Program

Essays and Guided Readings

History Now, the online journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, features essays by the nation’s leading historians. The Gilder Lehrman Institute has also published selected essays on the website elsewhere. Issues relevant to the upcoming program can be found here and a curated list of select essays is below.

Videos and Interactives

Elementary School Students
Middle and High School Students

Spotlights on Primary Sources

Each Spotlight on a Primary Source highlights a document from the Gilder Lehrman Collection and provides explanatory text, a transcript, and an image of the featured document.

Future Programs

Battle of Antietam, 1862

The Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

Our curators will discuss the Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation with Dr. Edward Ayers, Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus, University of Richmond.

  • September 4, 2025
  • 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
Register
American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839

Abolitionist Rhetoric in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839

Our curators will discuss the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839, published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, with Dr. Nikki Taylor, Professor of History at Howard University.

  • October 2, 2025
  • 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
Register

Program Archive

View the complete archive of Inside the Vault recordings, presentation slides, and related resources. Our past programs have featured documents from throughout American history and guest presentations by historians, teachers, curators, and Hamilton cast members.

View the Program Archive