The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session and Historic New Orleans Collection Session: June 14, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 15, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 16, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET
• Pedagogy Session and Historic New Orleans Collection Session: June 17, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET

Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Professor of Public Affairs, and Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, University of Texas at Austin

This seminar examines African American history from emancipation to the present, focusing on the struggle of African Americans to achieve full citizenship in the aftermath of legal slavery. In particular, it considers the promise and demise of citizenship represented by Reconstruction, the era of breathtaking anti-Black violence and terror known as “Redemption,” and the Great Migrations of African Americans from the South to the North.

The seminar studies the rise of Jim Crow, the roots of Black political organizing in the early twentieth century, and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. It concludes by exploring the transformative effect on American politics of the Black Power Movement and considers how an understanding of its importance compels us to rethink the civil rights era. The seminar also looks ahead to the decades since, when African Americans have continued to wage intense campaigns against racism and other forms of social injustice.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with The Historic New Orleans Collection. The Historic New Orleans Collection is a museum, research center, and publisher dedicated to preserving the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. Thanks to the Collection’s support, teachers participating in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions focused on finding and using engaging primary sources and will get exclusive access to related resources provided by THNOC.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 21, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 22, 11:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 23, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 24, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET
• Additional sessions led by the National WWII Museum will be announced in the coming weeks.

Melvin I. Urofsky, Professor Emeritus of History, Virginia Commonwealth University

The Constitution is the founding document of the United States. Yet ever since the process of ratification, the document’s meaning—and questions about who gets to decide its meaning—have spurred pitched political battles, campaigns for elected office and social change, and arguments among ordinary voters from all walks of life. Americans have debated the question of what the Constitution means in courtrooms and legislatures, at lunch counters and on picket lines, outside medical clinics and in schools. Studying the Constitution in the twentieth century means learning about how law, society, politics, and culture all interact.

Through examination of nine defining cases and themes, the seminar explores how regular people, social movement activists and organizations, politicians, scholars, lawyers, and judges have fought about what the Constitution should mean inside and outside of the courtroom:

• Lochner v. New York (1905) and the Role of the Constitution in the Workplace and the Economy
• Debs v. United States (1918), Schenck v. United States (1919), Abrams v. United States (1919), Whitney v. California (1927) and the Rise of Free Speech
• Korematsu v. United States (1944) and Changing Ideas of Citizenship and Belonging
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and the Struggle for Racial Equality
• Roe v. Wade (1972), the Abortion Debate, and Women’s Rights
• Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) and the Gay Rights Movement

In the process of studying the meaning of the Constitution throughout the twentieth century, the seminar looks at how we remain integral parts of the process of constitutional change today.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with the National WWII Museum. The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. Thanks to the Museum’s support, teachers participating in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions and will get exclusive access to related resources provided by the National WWII Museum.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 21, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 22, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 23, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 24, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 

Live Sessions: Lisa Tetrault, Associate Professor of History, Carnegie Mellon University

Pre-recorded Lectures: Linda Gordon, University Professor of the Humanities, New York University

This seminar examines the struggles and successes of American women in fighting for equality in American politics, life, and culture, from the movement for suffrage through campaigns for fair wages.

Led by esteemed historian and two-time Bancroft Prize winner Linda Gordon, seminar participants study grassroots political activism, landmark court decisions, significant achievements in the arts, and the intersection of work on behalf of women’s rights in the United States with other galvanizing movements for equality at home and abroad. We also consider the evolving role of gender in mediating political discourse and social relations in the United States and study important distinctions in activism and opportunity shaped by race, geography, economics, and marriage.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 28, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 29, 11:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 30, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 1, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 

Vincent J. Cannato, Associate Professor of History, University of Massachusetts, Boston

This seminar explores the struggles and achievements of major groups who journeyed to a new home in the United States, including Irish, Italian, Jewish, Asian, and Latino Americans. Historian Vincent Cannato, author of the acclaimed American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, leads a consideration of exclusion and inclusion; patterns of settlement; questions of race, gender, and ethnicity; and the evolution of federal government policy.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 28, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 29, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 30, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET
• Pedagogy Session: July 1, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET
• Additional sessions led by the National WWII Museum will be announced in the coming weeks.

John Stauffer, Sumner R. and Marshall S. Kates Professor of English and of African American Studies, Harvard University

This interdisciplinary seminar examines the rich tradition of progressive protest literature in the United States from the American Revolution to the rise of globalization, hip-hop, and modern-day slavery. Using a broad definition of “protest literature,” we focus on the production and consumption of dissent as a site of social critique, using a wide variety of print, visual, and oral forms.

We examine the historical links between forms of protest, social change, and meanings of literature; and we explore how various expressions of dissent function as political, ideological, rhetorical, aesthetic, and performative texts within specific cultural contexts. Documents highlighted in this seminar range from novels and political pamphlets to photographs, music, sociology, and history.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with the National WWII Museum. The National WWII Museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world—why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today—so that all generations will understand the price of freedom and be inspired by what they learn. Thanks to the Museum’s support, teachers participating in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions and will get exclusive access to related resources provided by the National WWII Museum.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 28, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 29, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 30, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 1, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Additional sessions led by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute will be announced in the coming weeks.

Harold Holzer, Jonathan F. Fanton Director, Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Hunter College

The tension between presidents and journalists is as old as the republic itself. George Washington, upon seeing an unflattering caricature of himself in a local newspaper, “got into one of those passions when he cannot command himself,” according to then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Since the founding era, almost everything about access and expectation, literacy and technology has changed. At the same time, the office of the president has grown increasingly powerful. This seminar chronicles the eternal battle between the core institutions that define the republic, revealing that the essence of this confrontation is built into the fabric of the nation.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of citizen-leaders through programs, scholarships, immersive experiences, and primary source-based curriculum from the Reagan Archives. Thanks to the Reagan Foundation’s support, teachers participating in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions hosted by the Foundation, and will get exclusive access to related resources provided by the Reagan Foundation.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 12, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 13, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 14, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 15, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 

Kellie Carter Jackson, Knafel Assistant Professor of Humanities and Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, Wellesley College

This seminar focuses on African American women’s history in the United States with certain aspects of Black women’s activism and leadership covered within the African Diaspora. We will examine ways in which these women engaged in local, national, and international freedom struggles while simultaneously defining their identities as wives, mothers, leaders, citizens, and workers.

We will pay special attention to the diversity of Black women’s experiences and to the dominant images of Black women from Mumbet (the first enslaved Black woman to sue for her freedom and win) to contemporary issues of race, sex, and class in the Age of (Michelle) Obama. Participants will explore such questions as: What is Black women’s history? How does Black women’s history add to our understanding of American history? Where should Black women’s history go from here?

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 26, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 27, 11:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 28, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 29, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 

Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone), Professor of History and American Studies, Yale University

Ignored for generations, American Indian history has recently become among the most dynamic fields of historical inquiry. As scholars now recognize, Indian peoples have fundamentally shaped and defined the modern world. From the founding of the first European settlements in North America to continuing debates over the meanings of American democracy, Indian history remains integral to understanding of US history and culture. This seminar introduces this complex and often ignored field of study.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 26, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 27, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 28, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session and Center for Presidential History Session: July 29, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET 
• Center for Presidential History Panel Session: July 30, 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET

Live Sessions: Jeffrey A. Engel, Director, Center for Presidential History, Southern Methodist University 

Pre-recorded Lectures: Meg Jacobs, Senior Research Scholar, Princeton School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University, and Julian E. Zelizer, Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University

This seminar takes an in-depth look at the history and powers of the executive office through case studies of six twentieth- and twenty-first-century presidents:

• Franklin Roosevelt
• Lyndon Johnson
• Richard Nixon
• Jimmy Carter
• Ronald Reagan
• Barack Obama

Through the examination of these modern presidents, participants will develop an understanding of the evolution of presidential power in relation to other branches of government, and in the country more generally. Seminar materials include optional selected readings from a number of texts as well as archival audio and video. Lectures are organized in interview format, with two lectures devoted to each president.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University (CPH). The CPH exists to research and advance understanding of the history of the American presidency. Thanks to the Center’s support, teachers participating in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions with bonus content and will get exclusive access to related resources provided by the CPH.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 26, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 27, 6:00–8:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 28, 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 29, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET 

Lucas Morel, John K. Boardman, Jr. Professor of Politics, Washington & Lee University

This seminar explores the diverse political philosophies of influential Black Americans as they sought to secure their dignity as human beings and rights as citizens. What makes this story intriguing is that Black Americans struggled to secure justice for themselves on the basis of principles White Americans professed to hold near and dear. Quite simply, Black Americans asked that America be true to herself. As Frederick Douglass put it: “Not a Negro problem, not a race problem, but a national problem; whether the American people will ultimately administer equal justice to all the varieties of the human race in this Republic.” America answered by being true, to one extent or another, to the principle of consent. American Blacks asked her to be true to that other American principle, equality. This seminar examines the fundamental tension between human equality and government by consent, a tension present at the birth of the American Union in 1776.

The tension between freedom and equality forms the context for the struggle of Black Americans—nay, all Americans—to exercise their rights as citizens. A critical evaluation of leading Black thinkers in American political thought helps one understand what it means to be both an American citizen and a civilized human being.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: August 2, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: August 3, 6:00–8:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: August 4, 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET
• Pedagogy Session: August 5, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET

Daina Ramey Berry, Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History, University of Texas at Austin

This seminar is a study of enslaved people and the ways in which human beings coped with captivity. It also listens to their voices through audio files, diaries, letters, actions, and silences. Centering on the people of slavery rather than viewing them as objects shifts the focus to their commentary on slavery. In addition to listening to enslaved people, students will have the opportunity to engage some of the most cutting-edge scholarship on the subject. Although the early literature objectified enslaved people and hardly paid attention to their experiences, work published since the Civil Rights Movement and into the twenty-first century offers rich accounts of enslaved life. By approaching the institution of slavery in the United States from the enslaved perspective through firsthand accounts of their experiences, students will have the opportunity to engage a variety of sources, including narratives, plantation records, podcasts, short films, and other media. Some of the specific themes addressed include gender, sexuality, region, labor, resistance, pleasure, love, family, and community among the enslaved.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 26, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 27, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 28, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 29, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 

John Fea, Professor of History, Messiah College

Too often the history of the “American colonies” focuses on the thirteen British provinces that rebelled against the mother country in 1776 and formed what became known as the United States. While such an approach allows us to understand the British roots of our current national identity, it fails to do justice to those regions of North America (many of which eventually became part of the United States) and those people and groups that did not participate in the grand experiment of American independence. Rather than thinking about this period as a necessary forerunner to the American Revolution or the birth of the United States, the seminar looks at colonial life on its own terms, and examines the British, French, Spanish, and Dutch colonial experiences.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 14, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 15, 11:00 a.m.–1:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 16, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 17, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET 

Carol Berkin, Professor Emerita, Baruch College, City University of New York

Alexander Hamilton is very much the man of the moment, but he was equally a man of his times. This seminar puts Hamilton in the context of the colonial and Revolutionary eras to help us fully understand both where he came from and the impact he had on American government and politics.

In the seminar, participants will come to appreciate the many ways in which Hamilton’s story opens up multiple perspectives on US history. From the close economic connections between the Caribbean and mainland colonies of the British empire, to the importance of cities in the developing nation, to the workings of gossip and innuendo in society, to the context for the writing of the US Constitution and the challenges the republic faced in the first decade of the federal government, Hamilton’s life has much to teach us. In each session, renowned historian Carol Berkin is joined by Founding Era scholars to deepen participants’ understanding of Hamilton’s transformative character, and the times in which he lived.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 14, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 15, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 16, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 17, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 

Caroline Winterer, William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Stanford University

The Enlightenment is often associated with Europe, but in this seminar we will explore how the specific conditions of eighteenth-century North America—slavery, the presence of large numbers of indigenous peoples, a colonial political context, and even local animals, rocks, and plants—also shaped the major questions and conversations of the time. We will examine how Enlightenment ideas directly influenced the American Revolution’s commitment to liberty, natural rights, separation of powers, and the pursuit of happiness—and how those ideas crept into almost every other area of American life as well.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 5, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 6, 6:00–8:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 7, 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET
• Pedagogy Session: July 8, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET

Denver Brunsman, Associate Professor of History, George Washington University

The American Revolution is arguably the most significant event in US history. Put simply, without the Revolution, the United States as we know it would not exist. And yet, the Revolution is also one of the events in American history most misunderstood by the general public. It is a much more complex, surprising event than most Americans realize. Participants will gain insight into new scholarly approaches to traditional subjects, including American resistance to British rule, the decision for independence, and America’s victory in the Revolutionary War.

In addition, participants will consider marginalized figures and groups, including loyalists, women, African Americans, and American Indians, who challenge conventional interpretations of the Revolution. Finally, the seminar examines how the Revolution gave birth to a new—and fractious—style of politics under the Articles of Confederation and US Constitution. In this seminar, participants will engage in a project as timeless as the Revolution itself: interpreting what exactly American independence meant for the inhabitants of North America and the world.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 14, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 15, 6:00–8:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 16, 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 17, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET 

James G. Basker, Richard Gilder Professor of Literary History, Barnard College

In this seminar, Professor James Basker and a number of guest speakers restore to view the lives and writings of a wide array of African Americans in the period 1760 to 1800. Drawing on rare and long-forgotten texts, we will focus on prominent individuals such as Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Banneker, Jupiter Hammon, Absalom Jones, Richard Allen, Prince Hall, and James Forten, along with others who lived more ordinary lives—Black soldiers, formerly enslaved people petitioning the government, women both enslaved and free, religious and civic leaders, and writers of early slave narratives.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: June 21, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: June 22, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: June 23, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: June 24, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 

Elliott West, Alumni Distinguished Professor of History, University of Arkansas

The American West has played an enduring role in the popular culture of the nation and the world. The images are familiar: cowboys and cattle drives, Indian wars, wagon trains, rowdy mining towns, and homesteaders. All, in fact, were part of the story, but behind the color and drama of films, novels, and art were developments critical to the creation of the modern American nation and its rise as a global economic, political, and military power. The West was as well a showplace of the industrial, social, technological, and scientific forces remaking the world beyond America. This seminar will trace the expansion of the United States to the Pacific, the exploration of the West, the defeat and dispossession, and profound tragedy of its Native peoples, and environmental transformations matched at few if any other places on earth. Within all of this were compelling human stories that are part of our collective national identity.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 12, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 13, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 14, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 15, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 

Allen C. Guelzo, Director, Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship, Princeton University

A four-year cataclysm that left in its wake more than six hundred thousand dead and two million refugees—and destroyed legal slavery in the United States—the Civil War sparked some of the most heroic and achingly dark moments in American history. Join Gilder Lehrman and Allen C. Guelzo of Gettysburg College in a study of the war’s strategy, tactics, and memory, and consider the legacy of the Civil War 150 years after its end.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 19, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 20, 3:00–5:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 21, 3:00–5:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 22, 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET 

David W. Blight, Sterling Professor of American History, Yale University

These twelve lectures and the discussions probe the nature of the life, work, and thought of the nineteenth-century abolitionist, orator, and author Frederick Douglass. We will examine in depth the public and private sides of Douglass’s life and his importance as a thinker and a political activist in the great dramas of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.  

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: July 19, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: July 20, 6:00–8:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: July 21, 6:00–8:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: July 22, 6:00–7:00 p.m. ET
• Additional sessions led by the USS Midway Museum will be announced in the coming weeks.

Fredrik Logevall, Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs, Harvard University

This seminar covers the long struggle for Vietnam, waged between 1940 and 1975, with particular attention to the period of direct American involvement. The events will be considered in their relationship to Vietnam’s history, to US politics and society, and to the concurrent Cold War.

We are excited to be offering this seminar in partnership with the USS Midway Museum. The USS Midway’s Institute for Teachers emphasizes professional development through seminars about the Vietnam War, Cold War, and related conflicts. Thanks to the USS Midway’s support, teachers in this seminar will have the opportunity to participate in two additional live sessions. The first will explore how men’s adventure magazines helped shape the attitudes of young, working-class Americans who fought the long and bitter war in Vietnam, and the second will be a narrated video tour of flight deck operations aboard USS Midway, one of the primary aircraft carriers of the Vietnam War. They will also receive exclusive access to related resources.

Live Sessions

• Scholar Session: August 2, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 
• Scholar Session and Pedagogy Session: August 3, 1:00–3:15 p.m. ET
• Scholar Session and Optional Social Hour: August 4, 1:00–3:00 p.m. ET 
• Pedagogy Session: August 5, 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET 

Peniel Joseph, Professor of History, Professor of Public Affairs, and Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values, University of Texas at Austin

This seminar examines the lives and legacies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. These pillars of the Civil Rights Movement are often portrayed as opposites. While it is true that their rhetoric and methods differed, they are less dissimilar than the popular narrative of their lives allows. By looking simultaneously at both men as they battle White supremacy and the oppression of African Americans, we will highlight their similarities and their influence on one another and the Civil Rights Movement.