58,176 items
Valerie Rockefeller chairs the board of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a private foundation advancing social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. Valerie has an MEd in Special Education from Bank...
Explore John F. Kennedy Documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection
Explore documents and resources related to John F. Kennedy from the Gilder Lehrman Collection: The Path to the White House Primary Source: Kennedy on the Containment of Communism, 1952 Primary Source: Kennedy Compares US and Soviet...
Inside the Vault: The Emancipation Proclamation & FDR’s Advice to Students
The Gilder Lehrman curators were joined by Hamilton ’s Tyler Belo on September 3, 2020, in this session of Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection where they celebrated the start of the school year with three...
Happy Birthday, Alexander Hamilton!
Alexander Hamilton was born on January 11—in 1755 or 1757—in Nevis, a small island in the Caribbean. Hamilton left an immense legacy as the first secretary of the treasury and architect of the American financial system. But what of...
Rarely Seen Hamilton Letters from the Gilder Lehrman Collection at the Morgan Library
Head over to the Morgan Library & Museum to view Treasures from the Vault , a selection of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s recently acquired letters by Alexander Hamilton, his family, and friends. The exhibition includes the only...
Online Treasure: Photogrammar
Many Americans are familiar with at least a few of the haunting images taken at the behest of the federal government during the Great Depression and World War II. Dorothea Lange’s haunting " Migrant Mother " is among the most...
The WWI and America Initiative in Action at the Hoboken Historical Museum
The city of Hoboken, New Jersey, has a special connection to World War I. It was the port of embarkation for almost two million American soldiers heading overseas. To commemorate the 100-year anniversary of America’s entry into WWI,...
World War I poems: “In Flanders Fields” and “The Answer,” 1918
Ella Osborn’s 1918 diary provides insight into the experiences of an American nurse serving in France at the end of World War I. In addition to her notes about the men under her care and events in France, Osborn jotted down two...
Dorothy (Debbie) Stapleton
Debbie Stapleton graduated from the American University in Washington DC, majoring in communications with a minor in international relations. After college, Stapleton worked for the MITRE Corporation (MIT Research & Engineering)...
Washington Writes from Valley Forge: A Museum Mystery
On December 19, 1777, the Continental Army set up its winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The 9,000-strong army was in a desperate state—many soldiers were ill or wounded, and, by Washington's estimation, at least one...
Hamilton Education Program Online | Hamilton Education Program Online FAQ
What is the Hamilton Education Program Online? The goal of the Hamilton Education Program Online (EduHam Online) is to help students in grades 6–12 recognize the relevance of the Founding Era today by using primary sources to develop...
George Washington on attending church, 1762
In 1762, Virginia planter and future president George Washington, just thirty years old, had reason for optimism. He had inherited Mount Vernon a decade earlier, and it had prospered under his management; plus he had married Martha...
Gilder Lehrman Institute Annual Gala
On Monday, May 8 the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History held its 2017 Gala, bringing together more than 300 supporters at the Mandarin Oriental in New York City. This year we honored John L. Nau, III, and Jeffrey Seller,...
A Lesson on Détente
Materials "Memorandums of Conversation," National Security Archive, George Washington University Notes and Excerpts from Nixon’s Meeting with Mao, February 1972 , National Security Archive, George Washington University "Nixon and...
Breaking from Great Britain, 1776
Sid Lapidus Collection: Liberty and the American Revolution By 1776, Thomas Paine had become the most influential writer defending the break from Great Britain. Born in England, Paine arrived in the colonies in 1774, at age 34. His...
Gladstone N. Jones, III
Gladstone N. Jones, III, is the founding member and business manager of Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison, LLC. He has served as lead counsel in litigation pending in New York, Florida, California, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In...
Did They Eat Pumpkin Pie at the First Thanksgiving?
These days, Thanksgiving is all about the food—from the classic turkey to delicious pumpkin pie, Americans look forward to overindulging on favorite foods that we associate with the harvest bounty of 17th-century Massachusetts. But...
Historical Context: Life on the Trail
Each spring, pioneers gathered at Independence and St. Joseph, Missouri, and Council Bluffs, Iowa, to begin a 2,000 mile journey westward. For many families, the great spur for emigration was economic: the financial depression of the...
Mass Production, Suburbia & Conformity in the 1950s
Essential Question How did conformity apply as a value to the living choices of Americans during the 1950’s? Materials Postwar Society Data and Questions (PDF) Little Boxes , written by Malvina Reynolds (1962) (Lyrics) Two Photos &...
Inside the Vault: Frederick Douglass: Advocate for Equality
Most people know Frederick Douglass as an abolitionist, but his fight for equality did not end after the Thirteenth Amendment. In the February 18, 2021 session of Inside the Vault, educator Mandel Holland and Hamilton cast member...
Abstinence pledge card, 1842
Mathew Theobald, a Catholic priest in Dublin, Ireland, founded the Cork Total Abstinence Society on April 10, 1838. About sixty followers joined Theobald in swearing off alcohol completely and signed his abstinence pledge book....
"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...
Sports and Politics: Making Statements
Introduction In this lesson, elementary school students will debate whether or not prominent athletes should promote political and social issues. The debate will be informed by the activism of Muhammad Ali, who resisted the drafted...
Verses on Norwegian emigration to America, 1853
Between 1836 and 1865, approximately 55,000 Norwegians sailed to the United States. [1] Like most immigrants, they sought opportunities that didn’t exist at home—religious freedom, economic security, land ownership, and educational...
National Poetry Month, Part 3: Poem on a Civil War Death
In the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, Virginia, on October 21, 1861, the 1st Minnesota Volunteers had just one casualty: a man named Lewis Mitchell. Mitchell was “only a private,” one of the approximately 750,000 casualties in the Civil War....
Affiliate School FAQs
General What is the Affiliate School Program? How much does it cost? The Affiliate School Program is a special gateway to education resources, events, and tools designed to bring American history to life in the classroom. Initially...
Guns, Horses, and the Grass Revolution
In this lecture Elliott West, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas, describes how the introduction of Old World phenomena such as guns, horses, and new diseases affected the Native peoples of the New World. Those who...
Revisiting the Founding Era
Beginning in Spring 2018, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History presents Revisiting the Founding Era, a public programming initiative to promote community conversations in public libraries. Funded by the National Endowment...
Collection Programs | Inside the Vault
Inside the Vault : Baseball during World War II How did World War II impact baseball? How did baseball affect wartime morale? Over the course of the war, Americans witnessed beloved players like Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio serve...
Patriotic Verse in a Schoolboy’s Math Book during the Revolutionary War
Between the pages of his math exercise book John Barstow jotted down a patriotic tune called "The Amaricans Challing" on January 2, 1777. Carefully written in a youth’s unsteady hand, the text appears to be a transcript of a popular...
Infographic: Differences between Federalists and Antifederalists
The differences between the Federalists and the Antifederalists are vast and at times complex. Federalists’ beliefs could be better described as nationalist. The Federalists were instrumental in 1787 in shaping the new US Constitution...
Mondale Chooses Ferraro: On This Day, July 12
Thirty-two years ago today Walter Mondale made the unprecedented move of selecting a woman as his running mate on the Democratic ticket for the presidency. He chose Geraldine Ferraro, a member of Congress from Queens, New York, and a...
Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation: On This Day, October 3, 1863
On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation calling on all Americans "in every part of the United States . . . to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to...
New York Stock Exchange Opens First Headquarters: On This Day, January 4, 1865
On January 4, 1865, the New York Stock Exchange opened for business in its first permanent headquarters on Broad Street. The Exchange had formally existed since 1792, but had operated out of a series of packed Wall Street coffee...
Alexander Hamilton: Witness to the Founding Era
This series of online exhibitions explores the importance of Alexander Hamilton to the founding of the United States. Each mini-exhibition features locations where Alexander Hamilton made history and documents written by or about him...
"Big Three" Meet at Potsdam: On This Day, July 17
The Potsdam Conference, which began on July 17, 1945, was the third meeting of the " Big Three, " after Tehran and Yalta, to address the waging of WWII. But this time the cast was different, FDR’s death thrusting Harry Truman into the...
First All-Black Regiment Authorized: On This Day, 1863
African Americans have served in every conflict in United States history, beginning with the American Revolution. However, it was not until the Civil War, and the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, that free African American...
America before Columbus
Charles Mann’s book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus (Knopf, 2005) won the US National Academy of Sciences’ 2006 Keck Award for the best book of the year. In this lecture he looks at new research on pre-Columbian...
How Sideburns Got Their Name
Either you love ’em or you hate ’em. Everyone has an opinion on sideburns, and few fashion choices provoke quite so much controversy. Yet sideburns have a rich history that can be appreciated by supporters and detractors alike....
Christmas in Kuwait, 1990
Cpl. Brett G. Coughlin arrived with Delta Company in Saudi Arabia at the port of Al Jubail on September 13, 1990. For the next three months the company trained in the northern desert of Saudi Arabia. By Christmas, its headquarters...
Surveying Land
Introduction During the time of the American Revolution, much of the land in the colonies was not mapped. In his early years, George Washington was a surveyor and measured land to figure out the location of property. Materials Rope or...
Respected General turns traitor, 1780
Benedict Arnold, whose name is now synonymous with the word "traitor," was once a well-respected American officer responsible for key victories at Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Fort Stanwix, and Saratoga. Arnold’s contemporaries were...
National Poetry Month, Part 4: WWI Poems
In 1918, Ella Osborn, an American nurse serving in France at the close of WWI, copied two poems into her personal diary : "In Flanders Fields," written in 1915 by Canadian surgeon Lt. Col. John D. McCrae, and "The Answer," a response...
Hamilton’s Love Letter: On This Day, December 14
On December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, the second daughter of wealthy patriot Philip Schuyler. One of our favorite documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection is a love letter from Hamilton to Elizabeth ,...
First Fridays at the Gilder Lehrman Collection
Once a month, the Gilder Lehrman Institute offers teachers the opportunity to visit the Gilder Lehrman Collection for a behind-the-scenes show-and-tell with our curatorial staff. Last Friday, July 7, the curators were joined by Megan...
Teacher Seminar Livestreams in Partnership with the Eisenhower Memorial Commission
As part of a special partnership with the Eisenhower Memorial Commission , the Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to present a special livestream of our Gilder Lehrman Teacher Seminar on Eisenhower and the Art of Presidential...
Historical Context: The Confederacy Begins to Collapse
By early 1863, the Civil War had begun to cause severe hardship on the southern home front. Not only was most of the fighting taking place in the South, but also as the Union blockade grew more effective and the South's railroad...
Jefferson on the French and Haitian Revolutions, 1792
When Thomas Jefferson wrote this letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, three revolutions—the American, French, and Haitian—occupied the minds of these two renowned leaders. While the American Revolution had been won nearly a decade...
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