Spotlight on: Primary Source Sergeant Francis Fletcher of the 54th Massachusetts on equal pay for Black soldiers, 1864 Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Francis H. Fletcher, a 22-year-old clerk from Salem, Massachusetts, enlisted as a private in Company A of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on February 13, 1863. One year after the regiment left Boston with great fanfare,...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: The Overland Trail Geography, Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ What was life like along the Overland Trail in the 1820s? What hardships did travelers face? On March 7, 2024 our curators were joined by Dr. Sarah Keyes (University of Nevada, Reno) to discuss letters from people on the Trail. View...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: Abraham Lincoln Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Originally broadcast on November 12, 2020, this session of Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection explores Gilder Lehrman Collection materials relating to the life of Abraham Lincoln, both before and after he...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Abraham Lincoln's last letter to his wife, 1865 Government and Civics This letter, written as the Union captured the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, demonstrates Lincoln’s active, hands-on commitment as commander in chief of the armed forces as well as his devotion to his family. It reads...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The surrender of Robert E. Lee, 1865 Left with no route of escape after the fall of Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was faced with a difficult choice: keep fighting in an increasingly hopeless war or surrender to Ulysses S. Grant...
Video: Book Breaks Ronald C. White - "On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain" Government and Civics Ronald C. White Jr. is an American historian, bestselling author, and lecturer. Order On Great Fields at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided. Thank you for...
Video: Book Breaks Elizabeth Varon- "Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South" Government and Civics Elizabeth R. Varon is the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia. Order Longstreet at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link...
Video Emancipation and the Question of Agency: The Power of the Enslaved, the Power of Policy Government and Civics 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Historian James Oakes (The Graduate Center, City University of New York) addresses the timeless question of agency in emancipation—who freed the slaves?—by suggesting that the query demands greater nuance. The agency of slaves and...