70 items
Are you smarter than a (1925) eighth grader? In the 1920s, when most students did not go to high school, the eighth-grade state examinations marked the end of their formal education. Sam C. Stephenson published review books to help...
Inside the Vault: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
On the November 4, 2021, Inside the Vault , our curators are joined by Dr. Barbara Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, and Gilder Lehrman Master...
Inside the Vault: Fight the Red Menace
On the December 2, 2021, session of Inside the Vault , Professor Victoria Phillips discussed selected trading cards from the Fight the Red Menace: Children’s Crusade against Communism series . In 1951, the Bowman Bubblegum Company...
Inside the Vault: Washington's Crossing of the Delaware River
On January 6, 2022, our curators were joined by Dr. Phillip Hamilton to learn about George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on December 25–26, 1776, and the Battle of Trenton. We discussed Washington’s orders to his troops...
Inside the Vault: David Blight Discusses Frederick Douglass Documents
On February 3, 2022, our curators were joined by Dr. David Blight to discuss his favorite Frederick Douglass documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Click here to download the slides from the presentation. Featured Documents...
Inside the Vault: Mary Katherine Goddard
On March 3, 2022, our curators were joined by Dr. Martha J. King to discuss Mary Katherine Goddard. Goddard was a newspaper publisher and printer, producing one of the first copies of the Declaration of Independence, and served as...
Inside the Vault: A Summary View of the Rights of British America
On April 7, 2022, our curators were joined by Professor Andrew Robertson to discuss A Summary View of the Rights of British America . Written in 1774 by Thomas Jefferson, this document laid out the principal point that he would argue...
Inside the Vault: The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt
On May 5, 2022, our curators discussed documents written by President Theodore Roosevelt. Joined by his great-grandson Tweed Roosevelt, we learned more about Roosevelt and his legacy. This session of Inside the Vault was sponsored by...
Inside the Vault: D-Day in maps and letters from soldiers and families
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...
Inside the Vault: Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
On July 7, 2022, our curators discussed Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense . They were joined by Eric Slauter, Associate Professor of English at the University of Chicago, who provided an overview of the pamphlet’s publication...
Inside the Vault: The New Deal & FDR's Presidential Campaigns
On August 4, 2022, our curators discussed materials from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second and third presidential campaigns. They were joined by Barbara Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of Presidential Studies at the...
Inside the Vault: 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence
On September 1, 2022, our curators discussed the 1836 Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico. They were joined by Professor H. W. Brands of the University of Texas at Austin, who provided insight into the background and...
Inside the Vault: Dwight D. Eisenhower's Views on Vietnam in 1967 and 1968
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...
Inside the Vault: "Meanwhile Back at the Branch..."
On November 3, 2022, our curators were joined by Barbara Harris Combs of Kennesaw State University. Professor Combs discussed the NAACP pamphlet Meanwhile Back at the Branch... and the many ways in which civil rights activists worked...
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....
Inside the Vault: Black Enfranchisement and Education: Selected Gilder Lehrman Collection Items on Exhibition at the Morgan Library & Museum
On January 5, 2023, our curators discussed documents from the Morgan Library & Museum’s exhibition Fighting to Learn: Black Enfranchisement and Education in the Gilder Lehrman Collection . They were joined by Dr. Jesse Erickson,...
Inside the Vault: Benjamin Franklin
On February 2, 2023, our curators discussed Benjamin Franklin’s copy of the US Constitution and Jean-Antoine Houdon’s bust of Franklin. They were joined by Liz Covart (Founding Director, Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios) and...
Inside the Vault: Food Purity, Prohibition, and the 1884 Election
On March 2, 2023, our curators were joined by Lisa M. F. Andersen, Director of Academic Strategy at the Gilder Lehrman Institute, to discuss an 1884 pamphlet accusing presidential candidate Grover Cleveland of favoring “adulterated”...
Inside the Vault: Lynching and Anti-Lynching Materials
On April 6, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Terry Anne Scott (Director, Institute for Common Power). Dr. Scott used primary sources to discuss the history of anti-lynching activism and the dreadful events that gave rise to it,...
Inside the Vault: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Voting Rights
On May 4, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Andrew Robertson (The Graduate Center and Lehman College, CUNY) to discuss materials related to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century voting rights. Dr. Robertson explained how voting...
Inside the Vault: The Whiskey Rebellion and United States Great Seal
On June 1, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Gautham Rao (American University) to discuss the Whiskey Rebellion and the United States Great Seal. The program explored the broader context of the Whiskey Rebellion and how it, like...
Inside the Vault: 1796 Civics Textbook
On July 6, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Adam Laats (Binghamton University) to discuss the 1796 book A Plain Political Catechism Intended for the Use of Schools in the United States of America . The program explored the...
Inside the Vault: Twentieth-Century Voting Rights
On August 3, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Barbara Perry, Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, to discuss materials related to twentieth-century...
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