Search | Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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News

FDR Dies: On This Day, April 12

He had led the country for more than a dozen years, guiding Americans through the Great Depression and a global war. On April 12, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt, the leader that many Americans had grown up with, died at Warm Springs,...

Program/Event

Civil War Essay Contest Winners 2015

High School Division Click on the title to view a pdf of a winning essay. First Prize Anjelica Matcho, Bridgewater Raritan High School, Bridgewater, New Jersey "Dethroning King Cotton: The Failed Diplomacy of the Confederacy" Second...

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

Teachers responsible for a class in early American history often find themselves asking: When does American history begin? What does "America" include? Is this a story only of the English colonies, or is it the story of the settlement...

Appears in:

25 | Three Worlds Meet Fall 2010

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...

History Now Essay

From the Editor

Carol Berkin

The Declaration of Independence remains one of the most hallowed documents in our national history and the men who produced it are singularly honored by the unique designation “the Signers.” Yet most of us know little about these...

Appears in:

64 | New Light on the Declaration and Its Signers Fall 2022

Lesson Plan

Examining Women’s Roles through Primary Sources and Literature

Art, Literature

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

Essential Question: How were the ever-changing roles of women in American society chronicled? Background Joseph Heller writes in his book The Feminization of Quest-Romance that "American Literature equates the very essence of what it...

About page

Annette Gordon-Reed

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University and a professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She was formerly the Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for...

Program/Event

Library Affiliate FAQs

GENERAL What is the Library Affiliate Program? The Library Affiliate Program is a new initiative that recognizes public and university academic libraries as centers for American history learning for students and teachers and offers a...

Lesson Plan

Farewell to Manzanar: Japanese Internment Camps During World War II

Government and Civics, Literature, World History

6, 7, 8

Background In 1886, after the arrival of Commodore Perry, the Japanese government lifted its ban on emigration and allowed its citizens to move to other countries. In the years after that, however, the United States made it more...

Program/Event

National Book Prizes

The Institute co-sponsors four national book prizes annually. Each recognizes the best book of the year in its field. A jury of leading scholars evaluates the entries and presents the top choices to the prize’s board for final...