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American Revolution Institute

Name: American Revolution Institute
Address: 2118 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington D.C., DC, 20008, US
Telephone: (202) 785-2040
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Promoting knowledge and appreciation of the achievement of American independence with library, museu
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12/02/2023

For more than 200 years, all most Americans have ever known about Benedict Arnold is that he committed treason—yet he was more than a turncoat. He was a superb leader, a brilliant tactician, a supremely courageous soldier, and one of the most successful military officers of the early years of the Revolutionary War. His capture of Fort Ticonderoga, his Maine mountain expedition to attack Quebec, the famous artillery duel at Valcour Island, and the turning point at the Battle of Saratoga all laid the groundwork for our independence. Join us next Thursday, December 7 at 6:30 p.m. EST, for an author’s talk featuring historian Jack Kelly discussing his new book, God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America’s Most Hated Man, published by Macmillan Publishers. Although it doesn’t exonerate Arnold for his treason, the book forces a reexamination of Arnold by offering a fresh new perspective on the events and decisions that led to his momentous change of heart and the permanent stain on his character.

This author’s talk will be held in-person at Anderson House and last approximately 45 minutes. Registration is requested and virtual options are available. A recording of the program will be made available at a later date.

Learn more and register: https://bit.ly/3N6Z3nS

12/01/2023

Greetings from the National Council for the Social Studies 2023 Conference at the Nashville Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee! We are set up in the exhibit hall today and Saturday to welcome thousands of social studies educators, administrators, and professionals from across the country to inspire their usage of best practices and enjoy the fellowship of others in the social studies profession. Will Kelley, one of our 2022 master teacher alumni who teaches at Kirby High School - The Blue and Gray (Memphis-Shelby County Schools), has joined us to present our Saturday workshop session “Discord, Harmony, and the American Republic” which will feature his lesson plan, He Did It His Way: How George Washington Shaped the American Presidency.

Visit Will’s lesson plan at our website at: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/master-teacher-lesson-plans/lesson-plans-revolutionary-republic/he-did-it-his-way-how-george-washington-shaped-the-american-presidency/.

Image
Will Kelley, Master Teacher 2022 from Tennessee, Beck Stephens, Master Teacher 2023 from New York, and Andy Morse, Executive Director of the American Revolution Institute meet with attendees at the National Council for the Social Studies 2023 Conference.

11/30/2023

Happy 50th birthday to our library! On November 30, 1973, the Society of the Cincinnati’s archives, including the original parchment Society Institution signed by George Washington, were brought to our headquarters, Anderson House, from their holding place at The Library of Congress, to establish our library.

The return of the archives inspired the Society to build a comprehensive reference collection, focusing on the 19th- and 20th-century histories, biographies, documentary editions, and serials relevant to the Revolutionary era. Along the way, the Society had been accumulating a small but distinguished collection of rare books and manuscripts for researchers to study.

In 1988 the Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection was established to honor the memory of a young Society member who gave his life in service to his country as a first lieutenant in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam, where he was fatally wounded. The Fergusson Collection specializes in early printed and manuscript works that illuminate the theory and practice of warfare in the age of the American Revolution.

By the early 1990s, the collection had outgrown its small library space and, in 1994, the library closed to undergo a major renovation that would create more space (nearly the footprint of Anderson House) and modernize the library. The library reopened in 1997 as the space we know today.

Today, our library is regarded as one of the most important resources in the U.S. for advanced study on the Revolution and the art of war in the 18th century, housing more than 50,000 rare books, manuscripts, prints, broadsides, maps, and modern reference sources. The library helps to host the Master Teacher Seminar and other historical programs, and has an ever-growing fellowship program, established in 2007, that hosts scholars of the Revolutionary era to use the collections for their research.

Images:
1. The library ca. 1969
2. The library ca. 1977
3. The library front desk today
4. The library reading room today
5. Detail of the Institution of the Society
6. A small portion of the Fergusson Collection
7. A 2022 fellow, Riley Sutherland, in the library
8. A group of Master Teachers working in the library

11/29/2023

It’s time for another installment of “What is this object?” featuring items in our collections.

This small 18th-century object is just shy of 1” tall and ½” in diameter. It’s made of iron and has a hollow base that is threaded on the inside.

What is it? What was it used for? Share your guesses, and tomorrow we will post the answer in the comments.

11/27/2023

“In a few minutes the isthmus appeared an entire blaze, from the fire of their consuming batteries, and the reflection of the light was so great, that a person could have read upon our batteries. Thus successful, the whole body gave three huzzas.” This evocative scene of a world aflame comes from British Sergeant Samuel Ancell of the 58th Regiment of Foot who served during the 1779-1783 Siege of Gibraltar. After enduring 159 days of siege, British and Hanoverian soldiers, joined by British sailors at 2:45 in the morning on November 27, 1781, were leaving the great defenses of Gibraltar to take the fight to the Spanish.

On April 12, 1779, Spain and France agreed to the Convention of Aranjuez, with Spain pledging support for France’s war against Britain in exchange for French support of Spain’s design for various territorial gains, including Gibraltar. On June 16, Spain declared war against Britain; 5 days later they began a blockade of the Mediterranean British territory. By late November 1781 the Spanish siege lines were becoming formidable, consisting of a complex and robust network of earthworks comprising numerous gun batteries of both cannon and mortar. George Eliott, governor of the British territory, felt the time was nigh to attack and reduce the imposing defensive system that his adversary had spent so much time, effort, and money in constructing. With silence enforced and each man carrying 36 cartridges, the British and German men moved on to their targets. The thinly defended Spanish outer works were quickly taken, and the men began to lay waist to the Spanish siege lines with pick, axe, fire, and explosive. By 4:30 am, the British and Germans were back in Gibraltar. The sortie was bold, perhaps even foolhardy, but it was pulled off with minor loss to the Gibraltar garrison. The Spanish works were devastated at great cost to the Spanish in lives, finances, and in time.

Image:
“The sortie made by the garrison of Gibraltar in the morning of the 27 of Nov 1781” (detail). Engraving by William Sharp, after John Trumbull, London, 1798. The Society of the Cincinnati.

11/25/2023

Happy Evacuation Day, New York City!
What’s evacuation day, you might be asking yourself? Evacuation day in New York City was an annual celebration marked officially each November 25 beginning in the early 1800s with the last taking place in 1916. The commemorations mark the day in 1783 when the last British soldiers departed the city, ending 7 years of British occupation.

On the afternoon of November 25, 1783, at the head of 800 American soldiers, Gen. George Washington, Governor of New York George Clinton, and other dignitaries rode into New York City to great fanfare. That evening Governor Clinton held a dinner for Washington and the general officers where no less that 14 toasts were raised.

Image
"Evacuation day" and Washington's triumphal entry in New York City, Nov. 25th, 1783 (detail). Lithograph produced by Edmund P. Restein and Ludwig Restein, Philadelphia, 1879. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division.

11/24/2023

We are thrilled to announce our next battlefield tour!

Join us in New York on April 12-13, 2024, as we explore the Battle of Saratoga. Using Saratoga Springs as our base of operations, this two-day experience includes a Friday evening dinner and lecture given by the Institute’s historical programs manager, Andrew Outten, discussing the campaigns of 1777, political and military mistakes made by the British leadership, and other key events that led to the eventual surrender of British general John Burgoyne. On Saturday, historian and National Park Service ranger Eric Schnitzer will lead a day-long guided tour exploring Saratoga National Historical Park and other key locations to closely examine the events that transpired.

In addition to the two-day full experience, a dinner and lecture only option is also available. Bus seating is limited to 52 attendees and is being honored on a first-come, first serve basis. Registration closes on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.

Learn more and register at: https://bit.ly/3DnuGV7

11/23/2023

Traveling for Thanksgiving? In 1778, 10 non-commissioned officers and soldiers of Jackson’s Additional Continental Regiment asked to travel home to Dighton, Massachusetts, after receiving notice that their home state mandated a “Day of public prayer and Thanksgiving” to be celebrated on November 26, 1778. The men were stationed at Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, and petitioned their commanding officer, Col. Henry Jackson, for a day of leave to return to their hometown, just 20 miles away from their post.

The petition stated:
“Your petitioners are sincerely desirous to join with their Countrymen in the religious observance of that Day; and whereas it wou’d afford your petitioners the highest satisfaction to be present with their Relations, Friends, and Acquaintance, at their native places upon so joyfull an occasion, as thereby they will have opportunity of congratulating them upon the close of a very fatiguing tho’ successful campaign, and uniting with them in the agreeable services of the Day.”

Read the full petition on our Digital Library: https://cdm16923.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16923coll3/id/786/rec/9

11/22/2023

This is a call to all early American history teachers! We are now accepting applications for our 12th annual residential Master Teachers Seminar, held July 7-13, 2024, at our Washington, D.C., headquarters, Anderson House. This week of scholarly lectures and fellowship features the opportunity to perform original research with the Society of the Cincinnati’s library and museum collections, with the goal of developing original lesson plans on the achievements and legacy of the American Revolution. We share the best of these lessons—credited to their master teacher authors—with teachers nationwide through the Institute’s website.

To learn more and to apply, visit: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/professional-development/master-teachers-seminar/.

11/21/2023

The tree is trimmed, the garlands are hung, the poinsettias are placed - Anderson House is ready for the holiday season! From today through early January when you visit our museum you can delight in the festival decor that has been sprinkled throughout many of the historic interiors.

11/20/2023

Lafayette is coming! Lafayette is coming!

We’re getting ready for our next exhibition, Fete Lafayette, which explores the marquis de Lafayette’s farewell tour of America in 1824-1825 and marks its 200th anniversary. Opening in March, the exhibition will include two of our most recent acquisitions—a printed silk ribbon proclaiming Lafayette “the Friend of Freedom,” which was made in Philadelphia in 1824, and a long silk sash printed with the simple greeting “Welcome Lafayette,” which was worn during Lafayette’s visit to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1824.

Learn more about the exhibition at https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/exhibition/fete-lafayette-a-french-heros-tour-of-the-american-republic/

11/19/2023

, November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address as he dedicated the Soldiers' National Cemetery at the site in Gettysburg, PA where the Civil War’s deadliest battle had occurred just four and a half months earlier. Before and during the War, both Union and Confederate leaders had attempted to claim the legacy of the American Revolution, but President Lincoln—despite remarking that “The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here”—delivered a remarkable testimony that forever cemented the Revolution’s legacy to the Union cause, with an opening line immediately connecting 1863 to 1776: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Less than 200 words later, he concluded: “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln, engraving after a photograph by Anthony Berger, taken on February 9, 1864. The Society of the Cincinnati.

11/18/2023

Huzzah! After nearly eight years of circulation, we are excited that a set of our Continental Army traveling trunks finally visited a school in Ohio—and even more excited to learn that it was highlighted by the local media (Wilmington (Ohio) News Journal)! Go Falcons!

To read more about the trunks’ visit to Amy Kreider’s eighth-grade history students at Clinton Massie Middle School in Clarksville, OH, visit: https://www.wnewsj.com/2023/11/16/c-m-8th-graders-explore-american-revolution-history-via-traveling-trunks/

Our traveling trunks can be reserved online for the 2024-25 school year beginning in March 2024, at: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/traveling-trunks/

11/17/2023

Meet Meg Roberts, a Ph.D. candidate at University of Cambridge, Newnham College, Cambridge, one of our 2023 Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati fellows. Meg reflected on 2 weeks in the reading room on her last day in the library.

“During my fellowship, I have been combing the library collections for the women who cared for sick and wounded soldiers in the Continental Army. My PhD research explores the lives, networks, and labour practices of caregivers during the Revolutionary War—including army nurses. Soldiers and civilians alike experienced brutal injuries and epidemic diseases throughout the conflict, each requiring days, weeks, or months of intimate medical and personal care as they recovered. The Continental Army Hospital Department relied upon the tireless care work of employed nurses and civilian women, but was characteristically lax about keeping a record of their contribution. I started this project before Covid, but living through a health crisis has made me acutely aware of the caregiving labour that always accompanies epidemic and war, often with limited or superficial recognition. It takes some digging, but caregivers are definitely present in the archive.

It’s always exciting when I find a nurse’s full name in any military records, as it doesn’t happen very often! But the most interesting items I’ve looked at here have probably been a medical journal kept onboard a Continental frigate and a register of patients admitted to an unknown Continental Army hospital, ca. 1778-79. The latter lists soldiers’ names, regiment, and medical condition, giving us a sense of the range of afflictions soldiers suffered and the sheer scale of medical care needed for so many patients. We’re not sure which army hospital(s) the register is from, so it’s a fascinating puzzle as well as a useful source. The frigate register is even more exciting—it tracks each patient’s illness, exact symptoms, and prescribed treatment over a period of weeks. It’s really rare for 18th century medical records to tell us exactly how each patient was treated, so this journal is a treasure trove of information about patients and the labour their caregivers were doing. The collections here have already been extremely valuable for my work, and I’m hopeful that future fellows and researchers will find even more ways to explore the role of healthcare and medicine in the Revolutionary War.”

The Continental Army hospital register is on our Digital Library: https://cdm16923.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16923coll3/id/1474

Images:
1. Meg in the library with the hospital register
2. An opening from the “Medical journal kept aboard the Continental frigate Deane and other vessels,” Boston, 1777-1788.
3. A page from “Register of patients admitted to a Continental Army Hospital,” 1778-1779.

11/16/2023

, November 16, 1776, one of the worst defeats for the Continental Army occurred after the successful British and German attack on Fort Washington in New York, the last American defense of New York City. Situated near the north end of Manhattan, the fort had previously been a thorn in British general Sir William Howe’s side as it successfully harassed British ships attempting to sail on the Hudson River and had repulsed several previous attempts to capture it. This previous success gave some of the American leadership a false sense of security when it came to defending the fort further—a fatal judgement that eventually led to its capture.

After launching a three-pronged assault that consisted of a combined British and German force of approximately 8,000 men, Howe experienced some initial resistance against the fort’s 3,000 American defenders. This eventually changed, however, as the fort’s southern and eastern defenses deteriorated and failed. The fort was surrendered to the attackers by 3:00 p.m., resulting in 2,800 American prisoners of war. One prisoner of war included Margaret Corbin, a camp follower with the Continental Army and the wife of American artillerist John Corbin. After her husband was killed during the attack, Margaret assumed his role on his gun crew to assist in the fort’s defense before being wounded herself. Margaret survived her affliction and eventually became the first woman in American history to be awarded a pension by Congress for her service during the attack.

To learn more about Margaret Corbin and the attack on Fort Washington, visit: https://bit.ly/3SI9BNS

Image: A reprint of A View of the Attack Against Fort Washington And Rebel Redoubts Near New York On The 16th of November 1776 By The British and Hessian Brigades painted by Thomas Davies, ca. 1895. The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection. The Society of the Cincinnati.

11/15/2023

There’s only one month left to see our traveling exhibition Saving Soldiers at Historic Camden Foundation before it closes on December 16! This popular exhibition explores medical practice during the Revolutionary War and the experiences of army surgeons and their patients under the dire conditions of war. It features objects from our collections ranging from published medical treatises and army hospital registers to portraits of physicians and medical instruments they used during the war.

Learn more about visiting the exhibition at Historic Camden at https://www.historiccamden.org/2023/04/11/saving-soldiers/

And if you can’t make it to South Carolina, explore the exhibition online at https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/exhibition/saving-soldiers-medical-practice-in-the-revolutionary-war/

Image: Metal and tortoise shell instruments from the surgical kit owned by Dr. Justus Storrs, a surgeon’s mate in the Connecticut Continental Line. Made by Evans & Co., London, 18th century.

11/14/2023

Attention patriots! The men and women of the revolutionary generation won our independence and created a free and united republic. Can you do as well? Download Revolutionary Choices from the Apple App Store https://apple.co/3QtNBmU , or Google Play https://bit.ly/3sw1glU , or play online at https://bit.ly/3II5LPU today!

11/12/2023

We all take photos of forks, right? Well maybe you would if they were once owned by George Washington!

Photographer Greg Staley (https://grstaley.com/) was at Anderson House this week to photograph museum and library artifacts. We routinely arrange photography of items in our collections to accompany our online museum and library catalogues. Our online catalogues are a fantastic resource to engage with our collections for research or just for fun!

To view our online museum and library catalogues, click the following link:
https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/search-the-collections/

11/11/2023

Today—and all days—we say thank you to the men and women who have served in our nation’s military. Although Veterans Day wasn’t formally established in the United States until 1954, our nation’s commitment to honor and care for those who have served in the U.S. military is a legacy of the American Revolution and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who fought in the war that won our nation’s independence. Those who survived the Revolutionary War became America’s first veterans, but most of them returned home with nothing more than the personal satisfaction of duty faithfully performed. In the first decades after the Revolution, its veterans were rarely honored aside from a small number of high-ranking officers whose names became more widely known.

In the nineteenth century, the nation gradually realized the debt it owed to all the veterans of the Revolutionary War. Those who lived to be old men came to be recognized by their communities and government as honored veterans of a revolution that had created the first great republic of modern times. In 1832 Congress finally voted to award pensions to nearly all the surviving soldiers and sailors of the Revolution. These were the first pensions paid to veterans without regard to rank, financial distress, or physical disability. They reflected the gratitude of a free people for the brave Americans who secured their freedom and established the foundation for recognition of American veterans in the generations since.

Learn more about the veterans of the Revolution and their experiences after the war in our online exhibition, America’s First Veterans: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/exhibition/americas-first-veterans/.

Image:
Quarter-plate daguerreotype of George Warner, Jr., a veteran of the Battle of Bennington during the Revolutionary War, ca. 1855. The Society of the Cincinnati.

11/10/2023

Happy birthday to the United States Marine Corps! On this date, November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress passed the Contiental Marine Act. Nearly a month after the creation of the Continental Navy, Congress decreed that “two Battalions of Marines be raised” as landing forces in service with the fleet. The Tun Tavern in Philadelphia was quickly enlisted as the first Marine Corps recruiting headquarters, and by early March 1776, the Corps completed its first amphibious landing in Nassau, Bahamas, successfully raiding British munition stores. Thank you for your service to America, United States Marine Corps—Semper Fidelis!

Learn more about the origins of the Marine Corps, and its participation during the early years of the American Revolution, by watching a recording of our recent author’s talk featuring Maj. Gen. Jason Bohm (USMC) discussing his book, Washington’s Marines: The Origins of the Corps and the American Revolution, 1775-1777: https://youtu.be/3uGyCWNCqQg

Image:
Since 1775—United States Marines—Join Today (United States Marine Corps, 1955). The Society of the Cincinnati, The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection.

Marine Corps Recruiting

11/09/2023

“You’ll be back, time will tell, you’ll remember that I served you well.” Anyone who has watched the musical Hamilton will recognize these lyrics from King George III, but did the British monarch serve well throughout his reign? Find out at our next Lunch Bite object talk on Friday, November 17 at 12:30 p.m., as Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses a handkerchief commemorating the reign of King George III, made ca. 1812, from our museum collections. The large printed handkerchief chronicles contemporary events in a lavishly decorated manner and includes several portraits of notable British figures from the period. The Lunch Bite will focus on the various depictions on the printed textile, with a particular focus on how the American Revolution is referred to within the artifact and contextualized in the broader scope of British history.

The Lunch Bite will be held in-person at Anderson House and last approximately 30 minutes. Registration is requested and virtual options are available. A recording of the program will be made available at a later date.

Learn more and register at: https://bit.ly/40ujG2M

11/08/2023

In 1988 the Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection was established to honor the memory of a young twentieth-century Society of the Cincinnati member who gave his life in service to his country on this day in 1967. Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson (1943-1967) was elected to the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati in 1966, representing Capt. Benjamin Briggs of the Virginia Continental Line. The following year, as a first lieutenant in the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army serving in Vietnam, he was fatally wounded while leading a small force forward under enemy fire to assist his platoon that had been ambushed. Lieutenant Fergusson died from his wounds on November 8, 1967. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart for his valor and heroism.

The collection named in his honor specializes in early printed manuscript works that illuminate the theory and practice of warfare in the age of the American Revolution. The collection now numbers over 12,000 items and continues to grow through careful and focused collection development over more than three decades.

Learn more about the Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection: https://bit.ly/3QTpO1G

Image: Lt. Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson with his parents, Gen. Robert G. Fergusson and Charlotte Lawrence Fergusson, in the fall of 1966, just before he left for Vietnam.

11/07/2023

On this day, November 7, 1775, while aboard the British naval vessel William, Virginia’s royal governor, John Murray, Lord Dunmore, drafted a proclamation in which he, among other things, declared martial law and demanded that all able-bodied men take up arms and fight for the Crown. But what marks the document as remarkable is that Dunmore also “declare[d] all indented servants, Negroes, or others (appertaining to rebels) free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining his Majesty’s troops.” Although his motives were unlikely altruistic, Lord Dunmore’s words were earth-shattering—especially for the enslaved population and their enslavers in the 13 American colonies. Enslaved individuals (if in the captivity of a rebel) were given a new option. Flee your enslaver, reach British lines, and, in exchange for military service, earn your freedom.

Image: By his Excellency the Right Honorable John Earl of Dunmore . . . A Proclamation, 1775, Broadside 1775 .V852 FF, Special Collections, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

11/05/2023

Is America a client state or a great power? This question plagued American policymakers throughout the American Revolution, who found themselves divided into 2 factions—radicals and moderates. Radicals saw the United States as a great power, equal to France and worthy of alliances with as many foreign powers as possible. Moderates, however, doubted American military power and were content to rely on military assistance from France alone. In each case, battlefield results determined who held the upper hand when it came to diplomacy. Radicals prevailed when the war went well, but power quickly shifted in favor of the moderates when it went poorly. Join us on Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 p.m., for a lecture featuring Robert Smith, Ph.D., professor of history at Worcester State University , discussing the turbulence surrounding American diplomacy during the Revolution and how the Treaty of Paris was the final diplomatic triumph for the radicals. This program accompanies our current exhibition, Affairs of State: 118 Years of Diplomacy and Entertaining at Anderson House, on view through December 31.

The lecture will be held in-person at Anderson House and last approximately 45 minutes. Registration is requested and virtual options are available. A recording of the program will be made available at a later date.

Learn more and register at: https://bit.ly/3QKuN4u

Address

2118 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington D.C., DC
20008

Opening Hours

Tuesday	10am - 4pm
Wednesday	10am - 4pm
Thursday	10am - 4pm
Friday	10am - 4pm
Saturday	10am - 4pm
Sunday	12pm - 4pm

Telephone

(202) 785-2040

Website

https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/

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Videos

Revolutionary Choices Trailer

A 1770 Edition of John Milton's Paradise Lost

#OTD, October 17, 1777, British general John Burgoyne surrendered his army to American forces under Gen. Horatio Gates. To mark the 245th anniversary of that pivotal moment in the Revolutionary War, our latest edition of Collections Corner features Library Director Ellen McCallister Clark discussing an unexpected treasure from our library collections, a 1770 edition of John Milton’s Paradise Lost which bears inscriptions by a British officer and an American officer whose paths crossed in the aftermath of the Saratoga campaign. #amrevinstitute #revwar #amrev #OTD #CollectionsCorner #video #librarycollections #library #historicbooks #rarebooks

Welcome back to Collections Corner! This month’s edition features Stacia Smith, the Institute’s director of education, discussing “The Historiscope” from our Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection, just in time for teachers and students as they head back to the classroom for the upcoming school year. This nineteenth-century educational toy was manufactured by Milton Bradley & Co., of Springfield, Mass., to teach children about important events in early American history. View “The Siege of Charleston,” a lesson from one of our master teachers that prompts students to tell the story of the Revolutionary War with a historiscope of their own design here: https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/master-teacher-lesson-plans/the-revolutionary-war/siege-of-charleston-1780/ #amrevinstitute #amrev #revwar#ushistory #education #historyintheclassroom #teachingaid #educationalresource #becausehistorymatters #collectionscorner