Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

1,981 items

Spotlight on: Primary Source

George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, 1789

Government and Civics, Literature

After officially enacting the newly ratified US Constitution in September 1788, the Confederation Congress scheduled the first inauguration for March 1789. However, bad weather delayed many congressmen from arriving in the national...

History Now Essay

Welcome to the Third Issue of History Now

Carol Berkin

It is a cliché that America is a land of immigrants. But there is truth behind this cliché. From the migrating hunters who crossed the Bering Strait thousands of years ago to the Mayflower’s English passengers of 1620 to the Ukrainian...

Appears in:

3 | Immigration Spring 2005

Spotlight on: Primary Source

An appeal for suffrage support, 1871

Government and Civics

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

The National Woman Suffrage and Educational Committee was formed in the spring of 1871. The Washington DC-based committee pledged to act as the “centre of all action upon Congress and the country.” The group was also dedicated to the...

News

Young Women of the Revolutionary and Civil War Eras Featured in March Inside the Vault

This March Inside the Vault , the online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection, celebrates Women's History Month with explorations of two fascinating teenagers caught in the 1775 siege of...

History Now Essay

Sandra Day O’Connor: A Life of Action

Meryl Justin Chertoff

Government and Civics

9, 10, 11, 12, 13+

Sandra Day O’Connor still has a lot of work to do. The first woman on the United States Supreme Court who recently described herself as "a retired cowgirl" continues to break new ground as an advocate for judicial independence and...

Appears in:

15 | The Supreme Court Spring 2008