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News

Interview with Keisha Rembert about Hamilton Cast Read Alongs for History School

Hamilton Cast Read Alongs, a Gilder Lehrman History School program, features Hamilton cast members reading award-winning children’s books followed by a discussion of the history behind the story led by Gilder Lehrman Mater Teacher...

News

Kevin Cline on GLI History School's "US Constitution: Looking Backward from 2021 to 1787"

Kevin Cline, who taught the Summer 2020 History School course “The United States, 1492–1865,” returns to History School this spring with “ The US Constitution: Looking Backward from 2021 to 1787.” This course focuses on key aspects of...

Video: Read Along

"Soldier for Equality: Jose de la Luz Saenz and the Great War"

José de la Luz Sáenz (Luz) believed in fighting for what was right. Though born in the United States, Luz often faced prejudice because of his Mexican heritage. Determined to help his community, even in the face of discrimination, he...

Program/Event

Black Lives in the Founding Era

Program/Event

Immigration: Our American Story | Teaching Resources: Immigration Course

LESSON PLANS Americans All: Foreign-born Soldiers and World War I by John McNamara and Ron Nash Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Immigration and Migration: History through Art (Grades 6–12) by Tim Bailey SPOTLIGHTS ON PRIMARY SOURCES...

News

Black Lives in the Founding Era News: Week 1

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is excited to announce the new “Black Lives in the Founding Era” initiative. This project restores to view the lives and works of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800, and draws on...

Program/Event

Immigration: Our American Story | Quizzes: Immigration Course

Video: Read Along

"The Escape of Robert Smalls: A Daring Voyage Out of Slavery"

The mist in Charleston Inner Harbor was heavy, but not heavy enough to disguise the stolen Confederate steamship, the Planter, from Confederate soldiers. In the early hours of May 13, 1862, in the midst of the deadly U.S. Civil War,...

News

Summer 2021 Registration Now Open for the Pace–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Pace University are pleased to announce that registration for Summer 2021 courses is now open for the Pace–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History. The online program for K–12...

News

Black Lives in the Founding Era News, Week 2: Black Patriots of the American Revolution

The Gilder Lehrman Institute initiative “ Black Lives in the Founding Era” restores to view the lives and works of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800, and draws on our archive of historical documents and our...

Video: Read Along

"Barbed Wire Baseball: How One Man Brought Hope to the Japanese Internment Camps of WWII"

World History

As a boy, Kenichi “Zeni” Zenimura dreams of playing professional baseball, but everyone tells him he is too small. Yet he grows up to be a successful player, playing with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig! When the Japanese attack Pearl...

News

Book Breaks in April Explores the Long Fight for Civil Rights, Globalization, and Washington's Farewell

Since the summer of 2020, Gilder Lehrman Book Breaks has featured the most exciting history scholars in America discussing their books live with host William Roka followed by a Q&A with home audiences. This April, a diverse set of...

News

Talking about the Cold War with Gilder Lehrman History School Teacher Joe Welch

Joe Welch returns to teach a special four-week Gilder Lehrman History School course called “ The Cold War” this spring. Welch, the 2018 National History Teacher of the Year, will focus on how the United States and the Soviet Union...

Program/Event

Immigration: Our American Story | Videos: Immigration Course

Please click the play button on the video to begin your course. You can pause the video and use the arrows to navigate between lectures. Closed captioning and Spanish subtitles are available. This video series was made possible by a...

News

Black Lives in the Founding Era News, Week 3: George Washington and Slavery

The Gilder Lehrman Institute initiative “Black Lives in the Founding Era” restores to view the lives and works of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800, drawing on our archive of historical documents and our...

News

April Inside the Vault Spans Two Centuries of Achievement and Activism

This April on Inside the Vault, the online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, we span nearly two centuries of achievement and activism, from bold statements made by African American...

Video: Read Along

"Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist"

Art

Before he became an artist named Tyrus Wong, he was a boy named Wong Geng Yeo. He traveled across a vast ocean from China to America with only a suitcase and a few papers. Not papers for drawing–which he loved to do–but immigration...

News

Lincoln Prize Ceremony Celebrates 2020 and 2021 Winners on April 19

Please join us on April 19 for the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize ceremony. One of the most prestigious awards for the study of Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier, or the American Civil War era, this $50,000 prize is...

Video: Inside The Vault

Inside the Vault: Benjamin Banneker

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Benjamin Banneker is known for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy. In 1791, he wrote to Thomas Jefferson to point out the contradictions between the existence of slavery and the American ideals espoused in the...

News

Register for Teacher Seminars on Colonial Life, the Revolution, and Black Lives in the Founding Era

From the first colonies to our beginnings as a constitutional republic, Teacher Seminars offer educators the chance to learn about America’s early days from our nation’s top historians. Explore our Teacher Seminars on early American...

News

Black Lives in the Founding Era News, Week 4: Phillis Wheatley, American Poet

The Gilder Lehrman Institute’s “ Black Lives in the Founding Era” initiative restores to view the lives and works of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800, drawing on our archive of historical documents and our...

Video: Read Along

"A Fist for Joe Louis and Me"

World History

Gordy and his family live in Detroit, Michigan, the heart of the United States automobile industry. Every night after coming home from work at one of the plants, Gordy’s father teaches him how to box. Their hero is the famous...

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Ten Winners of American History in 100 Documents: An Innovative Curriculum Contest Announced

New York City, NY, April 8, 2021 — The Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to announce the ten winners of the inaugural American History in 100 Documents: An Innovative Curriculum Contest. Open exclusively to teachers in the Gilder...

News

Announcing Ten Winners of American History in 100 Documents: An Innovative Curriculum Contest

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to announce the ten winners of the inaugural American History in 100 Documents: An Innovative Curriculum Contest. Open exclusively to teachers in the Gilder Lehrman Affiliate School network, the...

News

Nominations for National History Teacher of the Year 2021 Extended to April 30

The nomination deadline has been extended to April 30 for the 2021 National History Teacher of the Year Award. Any full-time educator of grades K–12 who teaches American history (including state and local history) is eligible for...

History Now Issue

Black Lives in the Founding Era

#60 Summer 2021

Spotlight on: Primary Source

The Union Army and Juneteenth, 1865

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

This engraving depicts a White Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to an enslaved family. It was published in 1864 by Lucius Stebbins, based on a painting by Henry W. Herrick. According to Stebbins, the scene ...

News

Inside the Vault in June: The March toward Equality from 1788 to 1963

This June on Inside the Vault, the online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, we trace the movement of civil rights from one of its most iconic moments to far earlier efforts in previous...

News

Black Lives in the Founding Era News, Week 12: A Black Patriot's Pay Warrant

The Gilder Lehrman Institute initiative “ Black Lives in the Founding Era” restores to view the lives and works of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800, drawing on our archive of historical documents and our...

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Shop

Paragraph History Shop Self-Paced Courses Subscriptions & Memberships Book Shop Gift Shop & GLI Publications Special Offers Classroom-ready PD Self-Paced Courses Filter by Era The Americas to 1620...

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Ten Finalists for the Inaugural Gilder Lehrman-Rise Prize Announced

Finalists now compete for a Rise Global Scholarship with up to $500,000 in lifetime benefits June 8, 2021, New York City - The Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to announce that 10 students from the Gilder Lehrman Institute network...

Program/Event

Lincoln Speaks Virtual Lecture Series

August 3

Lincoln Speaks Virtual Lecture Series Dates: August 2–6, 2021 In partnership with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum We are pleased to invite K–12 educators to participate in a series of virtual lectures live-streamed...

Video: Read Along

"The Wall"

World History

A young boy and his father visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Read by Rory O'Maley, who is King George in the North American Tour of Hamilton. Published in 1990 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Order The Wall at the Gilder Lehrman...

Video: Read Along

"Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation"

Almost ten years before Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was...

News

June Book Breaks and History Books for the Beach

News

Hamilton Education Program Online June Newsletter: Announcing the Spring Winners

We are pleased to announce the Outstanding Performance Winners and Lottery Winners of the Spring 2021 Hamilton Education Program Online National Competition. The Outstanding Performance Winners are Celia Cruz Bronx High School of...

Video: Inside The Vault

Inside the Vault: The March on Washington

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The event was covered by approximately 3,000 members of the press. The documents discussed illustrate the...

Video: Read Along

"Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre"

Government and Civics

Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of...

News

GLI Celebrates LGBTQ History with New Collection Acquisitions

In celebration of Pride Month, the Gilder Lehrman Institute is proud to highlight recent acquisitions to the Gilder Lehrman Collection, including a poster from the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian & Gay Rights and...

News

Registration Re-Opens for Select Teacher Seminars through July 9

News

Inside the Vault in July: The Declaration of Independence and the Fighting 54th

This July on Inside the Vault, the online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, we will feature pivotal moments in American progress, from the Declaration of Independence to the brave...

Video: Read Along

"Bread for Words: A Frederick Douglass Story"

Government and Civics

Frederick Douglass knew where he was born but not when. He knew his grandmother but not his father. And as a young child, there were other questions, such as Why am I a slave? Answers to those questions might have eluded him but...

Program/Event

Declaration 250

News

Celebrate Independence Day with the Gilder Lehrman Institute

THE GILDER LEHRMAN INDEPENDENCE DAY GIFT SHOP Get into the spirit of the 4th of July with the Gilder Lehrman Gift Shop, now offering images from the Gilder Lehrman Collection on coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts, and posters! Click...

Video: Inside The Vault

Inside the Vault: Declaration of Independence

Government and Civics

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

In the July 1, 2021 session of Inside the Vault, 2020 Idaho Teacher of the Year Stacie Christensen and Hamilton’s Simon Longnight join us as we learn the history behind the William J. Stone printing of the Declaration of Independence...

News

The Declaration at 250 Initiative

We are proud to announce the launch of the “ Declaration at 250” initiative at the Gilder Lehrman Institute. This multi-year project will bring together our archive of historic documents and our network of scholars to examine the...

News

July Book Breaks and History Books for the Beach

Video: Read Along

"A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story"

A Ride to Remember tells how a community came together—both Black and White—to make a change. When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated, and African American families were not allowed entry...

News

A More Perfect Union (AMPU) a Four-Year Success in Rural and Urban California

In September 2017, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was the sole recipient of a grant from the US Department of Education to implement A More Perfect Union (AMPU), a professional development program for teachers...

Video: Read Along

"Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks"

Literature

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000) is known for her poems about “real life.” She wrote about love, loneliness, family, and poverty—showing readers how just about anything could become a beautiful poem. Exquisite follows Gwendolyn from...

Video: Inside The Vault

Inside the Vault: Massachusetts 54th

6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

On July 18, 1863, the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry led an assault against Battery Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina. The battle demonstrated the bravery and fierce determination of African American soldiers even though...

News

Announcing the Winners of the American History in 100 Documents Contest

We are pleased to share the winners of our inaugural American History in 100 Documents: An Innovative Curriculum Contest. Each of the ten winners received a $500 prize and a one-year subscription to American History: 1493–1945, the...

News

2021 State History Teachers of the Year Announced

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is proud to announce the 2021 State History Teachers of the Year. Since 2004, 855 exemplary American history teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools in all fifty states, Department of Defense...

Program/Event

Collection Programs | Inside the Vault Archive

View the complete archive of Inside the Vault recordings, presentation slides, and related resources.

News

2021 State History Teachers of the Year in the News

KOLN/KGIN-TV 10/11 News broadcasts a story about the surprise ceremony for Nebraska History Teacher of the year Nathan Bassett of Lincoln Lutheran Middle and High School. C&G Newspapers and The Oakland Press interview Ryan Werenka...

Video: Read Along

"The Voice That Won the Vote: How One Woman's Words Made History"

In August of 1920, women’s suffrage in America came down to the vote in Tennessee. If the Tennessee legislature approved the Nineteenth Amendment it would be ratified, giving American women the right to vote. The historic moment came...

Interactive

The History of Race Relations in America: African American Experiences, 1492-Present

Government and Civics

News

Inside the Vault, July 29 and August 12: Immigration and Civil Rights

Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection is an online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. From iconic historical treasures, such as the Declaration of Independence,...

Video: General

The History of Race Relations in America: African American Experiences, 1492-1877

Video: General

The History of Race Relations in America: African American Experiences, 1878-Present

Video: Read Along

"Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank"

Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. were born the same year a world apart. Both faced ugly prejudices and violence, which both answered with words of love and faith in humanity. This is the story of their parallel journeys to find...

Program/Event

Professional Development | How Did We Get Here? PD Series

Our How Did We Get Here? professional development series has been designed to provide teachers with ready-made, classroom-friendly resources on topics in American history that are front-and-center in current events. The programs, held...

About page

Announcing the 2021 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Finalists

NEW HAVEN, CT, August 2, 2021— Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition today has announced the finalists for the twenty-third annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize, one of the most...

News

Announcing the 2021 Frederick Douglass Book Prize Finalists

Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition today announced the finalists for the twenty-third annual Frederick Douglass Book Prize, one of the most coveted awards for the study of the...

News

Study Capitalism in American History with David Sicilia, Associate Professor of History at University of Maryland

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Pace University are pleased to announce that registration for Fall 2021 courses is now open for the Pace–Gilder Lehrman MA in American History. We highlight here one of the five...

About page

Amanda Geduld

Amanda Geduld received her BA in English Literature and Women’s and Gender Studies from Dartmouth College. She went on to study English education at Boston University where she received her M.Ed. She currently teaches 11th and 12th...

About page

Amanda Bellows

Dr. Amanda Bellows is a historian of the nineteenth-century United States. She teaches at The New School in New York City. Her first book, American Slavery and Russian Serfdom in the Post-Emancipation Imagination, was published by the...

About page

Dev Chodry

Dev Chodry has been managing distressed assets for Scoggin Capital Management since 2001 and co-founded Old Bellows Partners LP in January 2007. Before joining Scoggin, he was a senior distressed analyst with ING Barings and a...

About page

Andrew Fentress

Andrew Fentress is a managing partner at ACRES where he leads the capital markets efforts for the investment manager and serves on the management and investment committees. Andrew also serves as the chairman of the board of Acres...

About page

Elisabeth Gray

Education activist Elisabeth Gray is a graduate of Oxford University. She is the founder and director of the education firm Oxford Tutors and works with Project Socrates, a new nonprofit think tank dedicated to bridging the current...

About page

Lesley Herrmann

Lesley S. Herrmann was the first executive director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, where she served for twenty-two years. She holds a PhD in Slavic languages and literature from Columbia University and started...

About page

Alan Jones

Alan Jones is a senior managing director and a member of the management committee at Intermediate Capital Group (ICG), a global alternative asset management firm. Prior to joining ICG, he served as a managing director and vice...

About page

Christine Kang

Christine Kang was the COO of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History until 2019. She has also served as the head of a private preschool, founding director of operations for a public charter school, and a director at the...

About page

Alvin Patrick

Alvin Patrick has worked as a news, sports, and entertainment executive and producer for thirty-two years and is currently executive producer of the CBS News Race & Culture Unit. Patrick has received six Emmy Award nominations,...

About page

Abigail Seldin

Abigail Seldin is the CEO of the Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, which funds and incubates public interest projects. She is the producer of SwiftStudent, a free college financial-aid tool, and the New College Majority Photo Series...

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Sheila M. Stone

Sheila M. Stone was an international figure skating champion in the 1950s, wrote for Sports Illustrated, designed practice uniforms for the 1956 Olympic team, and was one of the first active sportswear designers. After retiring to...

About page

Peter Tirschwell

Peter Tirschwell is vice president in the maritime & trade business of IHS Markit, a data, analytics, and business intelligence organization serving sectors including maritime, energy, automotive, and financial services. In his...

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Charles Sahm

Charles Sahm is the director of development for The Writing Revolution, a nonprofit organization that helps teachers deliver more effective writing instruction. Previously, he served as director of education policy at the Manhattan...

About page

Chris Whitford

Chris Whitford is the CEO of Avail NYC, a nonprofit organization that connects pregnant women with resources like healthcare and safe housing. Before leading Avail, she served the students of Columbia University as a director and...

About page

Jason Caldwell

Jason Caldwell is a private wealth advisor at Goldman Sachs where he is responsible for managing the assets of ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, and nonprofit organizations. He has held multiple roles in the financial...

About page

Sid Lapidus

Sid Lapidus received a BA in American History from Princeton University in 1959 and a JD from Columbia University Law School in 1962. He is a retired partner of Warburg Pincus LLC, a leading private equity firm, where he spent forty...

About page

Nazee Batmanghelidj

Nazee Batmanghelidj went to Oxford University reading philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). She also obtained an MA in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard University. She worked in the...

About page

Lara Heimert

Lara Heimert is VP and publisher of Basic Books, a division of the Hachette Book Group. She has published numerous prize-winning and New York Times bestselling books, primarily in the field of history. A graduate of Princeton...

About page

Amanda Jones

Amanda Jones is the chair of James River Boys and Girls Club Executive Council Scottsville, Virginia. She is a board member of the Boardman Cottage/Beacon Project assisted living facility in Islesboro, Maine, and is on the executive...

About page

Barry Bausano

M. Barry Bausano is the chief operating officer of Taconic Capital Advisors. He previously served as CEO and president of Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and chairman of hedge funds and chairman of the Risk Committee through June 2018....

About page

Griff Norquist

Griff Norquist is a managing director at BlackRock. He is originally from Yazoo City, Mississippi, and received a BS from the United States Military Academy and an MBA from Cornell University. Norquist served as a field artillery...

About page

Susan Fales-Hill

Susan Fales-Hill currently serves as executive producer/show runner of the series Twenties. She has written on TV shows including The Cosby Show, A Different World, and Linc’s. Fales-Hill is the author of two novels and an acclaimed...

About page

Scott Higgins

Scott Higgins is the co-founder and co-CEO of Veterans Advantage, a leading advocate for veterans of the US Armed Forces. Higgins served as an officer in the US Army in Vietnam and co-chaired the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial...

About page

Nicholas Gliserman

Nicholas Gliserman holds a PhD in history and an MS in geographical information science and technology, both from the University of Southern California. As a proponent of digital humanities, he is currently earning a degree in...

About page

Michael Zampardi

Michael Zampardi is the COO of Simplicity. Before joining Simplicity, he served as CEO of WR Hambrecht, managing director at Virtu Management, senior managing director at Bear Stearns, and the global head of marketing for Bear Stearns...

About page

Susan Saidenberg

Susan Saidenberg joined the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in 1997 where she worked until her retirement in 2019. She developed the traveling exhibitions program and worked with teams of scholars to prepare and implement...

About page

Alexander T. Robertson

Alex Robertson is president and chief operating officer of Tiger Management, LLC. Before joining Tiger in 2008, Robertson served as legislative assistant to US Senator Elizabeth Dole. He serves as a trustee/board member of the...

About page

Molly O'Meara Sheehan

Molly O’Meara Sheehan is a freelance writer who focuses on education and the environment. She has contributed to the Washington Post, New York Daily News, International Herald Tribune, and other publications.

Video: Read Along

"Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton"

This is a beautiful and informative biography featuring extensive back matter–including information about America’s revolution, the historical relevance of letter writing, and a timeline–and exquisite, thoroughly researched art that...

Program/Event

Technical Difficulties?

If you are having trouble using our website, contact support@gilderlehrman.org. Please include a detailed description of your problem including any error messages and a screenshot if possible. ...

Interactive

Timeline: Fulfilling America's Founding Principles: African American History

Government and Civics

Video: Read Along

"i see the rhythm"

Beginning with the roots of Black music in Africa and continuing on to contemporary hip hop, i see the rhythm takes us on a musical journey through time. We are invited to feel the rhythm of work songs on a southern plantation, to...

Video: Read Along

"Before She Was Harriet"

This lush, lyrical biography in verse begins with a glimpse of Harriet Tubman as an old woman, and travels back in time through the many roles she played through her life: spy, liberator, suffragist, and more. Illustrated by James...

Video: Read Along

"Brick by Brick"

Government and Civics

The home of the United States president was built by many hands, including those of enslaved persons, who undertook this amazing achievement long before there were machines to do those same jobs. Stirring and emotional, Floyd Cooper...

News

Announcing the 2021-2022 How Did We Get Here? Series—Professional Development on Topical Issues

The Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to launch the 2021-2022 How Did We Get Here? professional development series, which provides teachers with ready-made, classroom-friendly resources on topics in American history that are front...

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Black Lives in the Founding Era

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