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Video

New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Vassar College historian Rebecca Edwards discusses some of the complexities of the Gilded Age with Gilder Lehrman President James Basker. Professor Edwards's 2006 study, New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age, offers a nuanced view...

Video

Earth Day 1970: The Teach-In That Made the Green Generation

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

University of Delaware historian Adam Rome discusses the origins of the modern environmental movement in an interview about his book, The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation. ...

Video

America’s Emergence as a Global Power

Geography, World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Jeremi Suri, a historian at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that Americans have never been isolated from international politics and military conflicts, but rather have projected power on the world stage since before the...

Video

Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America

Art, Literature

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

Lafayette College historian Donald Miller discusses his new book, Supreme City: How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America, in an interview with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. ...

Video

Roundtable discussion on American Antislavery Writings

Government and Civics, Literature, Religion and Philosophy

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

On December 2, 2014, four scholars joined Gilder Lehrman president and Barnard College professor James G. Basker for a roundtable discussion on American antislavery writings. The panel included Elizabeth Alexander (Yale), Christopher...

Video

Historians Now: The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner

Government and Civics

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

Eric Foner discusses his book The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery. The book begins with Lincoln's youth and through his career The book follows Lincoln's personal and political positions on slavery from childhood...

Video

Historians Now: Mourning Lincoln by Martha Hodes

Government and Civics

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

Martha Hodes discusses her book Mourning Lincoln. Hodes is the first historian to delve into personal and private responses—of African Americans and whites, Yankees and Confederates, men and women, soldiers and civilians, rich and...

Video

Historians Now: Founders’ Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln by Richard Brookhiser

Government and Civics

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

Richard Brookhiser discusses his book, Founders' Son: A Life of Abraham Lincoln . Brookhiser traces Lincoln's quest to follow in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers.

Video

Historians Now: The Radical and the Republican by James Oakes

Government and Civics

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

James Oakes discusses his book, The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics.

Video

Historians Now: Lincoln’s Selected Writings edited by David S. Reynolds

Government and Civics, Literature

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

David S. Reynolds talks about editing the Norton Critical Edition of Lincoln's Selected Writings. The volume not only includes an wide range of annotated texts, but perspectives on Lincoln's writings from his contemporaries and...

Video

Historians Now: The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

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

David McCullough discusses his new book The Wright Brothers.

Video

Inside the Vault: British Troops Landing in Boston Harbor

Art, Government and Civics, World History

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Explore just one of the fascinating items from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History collection!

Video

Historians Now: "The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate 1764-1776"

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Gordon Wood discusses the book "The American Revolution: Writings from the Pamphlet Debate 1764-1776".

Video

Davie Jeems Stands Up to the KKK: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman Collection curator Beth Huffer discusses a 1868 Ku Klux Klan threat written to Davie Jeems, a black Republican recently elected sheriff in Lincoln County, Georgia.

Video

Henry Knox's orders for Washington's crossing of the Delaware: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman Collection curator Beth Huffer discusses General Washington's 1776 orders for troops to march to Trenton. This copy of Washington’s orders, with a map of Trenton drawn on the back, belonged to Henry Knox, chief...

Video

John Adams Describes the "Ten Talents" of George Washington: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer discusses a letter from John Adams to Benjamin Rush in which Adams describes Washington's greatest talents as a "handsome Face," an "elegant Form," and "graceful Attitudes and Movement." ...

Video

Slave Tags: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lerhman curator Beth Huffer discusses slave tags from the collection. Owners of slaves wishing to rent out their slaves, or slaves with extra time available to hire themselves out, were required to pay an annual tax to the...

Video

The Calhoun School Cyanotype Album: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer discusses a cyanotpe album from the Calhoun Industrial School around the turn of the century. The Calhoun School was a social experiment of the Hampton Institute in Virginia, in which local...

Video

JFK Assassination Ticker Tape: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman Institute curator Beth Huffer explore the Dow Jones News Service ticket tape for the day of the Kennedy assassination. The fifteen sheets start at 9:00 am and conclude at 4:59 pm. Spans the entire day of Kennedy’s...

Video

Thanksgiving Proclamation, 1863: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer explores Thomas Nast's celebratory illustration of Abraham Lincoln's 1863 proclaimation of a day of Thanksgiving. On December 5, Harper’s published a two-page engraving by renowned artist Thomas...

Video

Inside the Vault: Columbus Reports on His First Voyage, 1493

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer explores a report from Columbus to his sponsors. When Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella,...

Video

Inside the Vault: Reports on the Yellow Fever Epidemic, 1793

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffler delves into a report on the yellow fever epidemic ravaging Philadelphia in 1793.

Video

The Articles of Capitulation: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer takes a close look at the articles of capitulation negotiated by Generals Cornwallis and Washington at Yorktown in 1781.

Video

Refugees in the Union Lines: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer discusses a report from the Western Sanitary Commission regarding the conditions of freed slaves in the Mississippi valley.

Video

Susan B. Anthony on Her Work and Life: Document in a Minute

Gilder Lehrman curator Beth Huffer discusses Susan B. Anthony's contribution to an autograph album. "The one purpose of my life has been the establishment of perfect equality of rights for women – civil and political – industrial and...

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