News Staff Picks from the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop: Daniel and Nathaniel This holiday season the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s staff is recommending their favorite books, which can be purchased from the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop . Over the next four weeks, we will feature GLI staff members explaining why they...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: Dwight D. Eisenhower's Views on Vietnam in 1967 and 1968 Government and Civics On October 6, 2022, our curators discussed documents pertaining to Dwight D. Eisenhower’s views on Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. They were joined by Professor Michael J. Birkner of Gettysburg College, who described Eisenhower’s evolving...
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...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: D-Day in maps and letters from soldiers and families Geography, Government and Civics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, World History 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On June 2, 2022, our curators discussed D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. They were joined by Professor Michael Neiberg, Chair of War Studies at the US Army War College, who gave an overview of the battle and...
History Now Essay Winning the Vote: A History of Voting Rights Steven Mintz Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Voting Rights on the Eve of the Revolution The basic principle that governed voting in colonial America was that voters should have a "stake in society." Leading colonists associated democracy with disorder and mob rule, and believed... Appears in: 1 | Elections Fall 2004
News Introducing Soldier Spotlight: A Confederate Soldier Speaks The Gilder Lehrman Collection contains more than 15,000 letters written by servicemen from the American Revolution through World War II. These personal letters, largely unpublished, capture the experience of the common soldier and his...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Discovering a mass grave in Iraq, 2003 Mark Rickert wrote this email while serving as a journalist with the 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment in Iraq. On this day, he and his group were investigating rumors of a mass grave. The letter is written to his grandfather,...
History Now Essay “In the Name of America’s Future”: The Fraught Passage of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act Maddalena Marinari Government and Civics Senator Patrick McCarran (D−NV) was seething after Congress renewed the 1948 Displaced Persons Act in 1950. Incensed, McCarran wrote to his daughter: “I met the enemy and he took me on the DP bill. It’s tough to beat a million or more... Appears in: 52 | The History of US Immigration Laws Fall 2018
News Fredericksburg, Then and Now by Elena Colón-Marrero, Christopher Newport University Class of 2014 One would think that growing up in a town rich in colonial and Civil War history would inspire an appreciation for that history. My experience living in...
News Register Now for Four Virtual Veterans Legacy Sessions through May In partnership with the National Cemetery Administration’s Veterans Legacy Program, we are pleased to offer free professional development sessions in the spring of 2023 focusing on different aspects of American Veterans’ and Service...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Western Sanitary Commission reports on suffering in the Mississippi Valley, 1863 Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 In 1863 in the war-torn South, thousands were homeless and starving. Some of those most in need of aid were newly liberated enslaved people. The Western Sanitary Commission was organized on September 5, 1861, by General John C....
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: South Carolina Ordinance of Secession On December 1, 2022, our curators discussed the 1860 South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. They were joined by Charles Dew of Williams College, who explained how the passage of the Secession Ordinance led directly to the Civil War....
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: The Surrender of Robert E. Lee 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ “I ask a suspension of hostilities pending the discussion of the Terms of surrender of this army.” —Robert E. Lee, April 9, 1865 Shortly before noon on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee sent a message to Union General...
Essay Empire Building Robert W. Cherny Economics, Geography The years between the end of the Civil War, in 1865, and the end of the century witnessed rapid and far-reaching change in the economic and social life of the United States. During those years, the nation was transformed from rural...