Inside the Vault

Inside the Vault

Inside the Vault is a monthly online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Curators and scholars discuss historical documents from iconic treasures, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, to personal letters that reveal the contributions of ordinary Americans.

 

*Please note that each program is recorded and sent via email the following day to all registered participants.*

 

Image: Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation, General Orders No. 1, 1863 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC00460)

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Detail from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation with focus on text "By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation"

Table of Contents:

Upcoming Program

Inside the Vault: The Battle of Antietam and the Emancipation Proclamation

Date: September 4, 2025
Time: 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
With: Dr. Edward Ayers, Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus at the University of Richmond.
Featured Document: Printing of the Emancipation Proclamation

Many historians claim that the Battle of Antietam was a critical turning point for Black freedom. As the bloodiest single day of the Civil War, Antietam arguably provided President Lincoln the opportunity to justify the Emancipation Proclamation as a wartime measure that would weaken the Confederacy and help end the war. We will interrogate this claim and examine how pro-slavery Northerners influenced Lincoln’s timing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Join us on September 4, 2025, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT), when our curators will discuss the Battle of Antietam and the road to the Emancipation Proclamation with Dr. Edward Ayers, Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus at the University of Richmond.

Submit questions for Professor Ayers

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Printing of the Emancipation Proclamation

Related Resources for Upcoming Program

Essays

Essays

Exhibitions

Online Exhibitions

The Gilder Lehrman Institute has more than eighty online exhibitions that cover American history from the colonial era to the present day.

Historical Documents

Guided Readings

Spotlights on Primary Sources

Each Spotlight on a document from the Gilder Lehrman Collection provides explanatory text, a transcript, and an image of the featured document.

Lesson Plans

Elementary, Middle, and High School Students

Middle and High School Students

Videos

Videos

Future Programs

American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839

Abolitionist Rhetoric in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839

Our curators will discuss the American Anti-Slavery Almanac for 1839, published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, with Dr. Nikki Taylor, Professor of History at Howard University.

  • October 2, 2025
  • 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
Register
The President's dedication address at Gettysburg.

The Gettysburg Address

Our curators will discuss the language of the Gettysburg Address with Dr. Jonathan White, professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University.

  • November 6, 2025
  • 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT)
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Program Archive

View the complete archive of Inside the Vault recordings, presentation slides, and related resources. Our past programs have featured documents from throughout American history and guest presentations by historians, teachers, curators, and Hamilton cast members.

View the Program Archive