On the night of April 14–15, 1912, the world’s largest passenger steamship, the RMS Titanic, sank in the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage, with approximately 1,500 people still on board. This letter, written on Carpathia stationery by first-class passenger Doctor Washington Dodge, is a vivid account of the sinking that describes the Titanic’s final hours. It is one of the earliest, most immediate, and compelling accounts of the disaster. In addition, the carelessness of Dodge’s handwriting offers a glimpse into his state of mind as he penned his testimony.
Martha Hodes’s 2016 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize–winning book Mourning Lincoln is an in-depth look at the national trauma that followed Abraham Lincoln’s death on April 15, 1865. In this video Hodes talks about her extensive research into the personal reactions of Americans to the assassination across regional, racial, economic, and political lines. For more on Abraham Lincoln, check out essays, featured primary sources, and more videos here.
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, Georgia.
The Gilder Lehrman Collection has a copy of the April 12 New York Journal-American that bears the headline "Roosevelt Dead!" The paper quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt’s telegram to her four sons, who were all in military service: "He did his job to the end as he would want you to do."
Winston Churchill delivered a memorial address to Parliament on April 17, 1945
Today is the Hamilton Education Program’s first student matinee! 1,300 New York City high school students are participating in the launch of the program, which includes presenting original student performances, having a special Q-and-A session with the Hamilton cast, and watching a matinee of Hamilton.
Check out the official press release to learn more about the exciting day, the Hamilton Education Program, and the thoughts of those who helped make the program possible—including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Gilder Lehrman Institute President James G. Basker, The Rockefeller Foundation President Judith
We’ve got tips on how to tackle all the sections of the AP Exam: Check out the videos from our AP US History Study Guide below!
Historian Adam Rome tells the story of a teach-in that sparked an international movement.
Find out more about Earth Day events in your area.
The AP US History test is May 6. That means it’s time to roll out our test-taking tips and our sample quiz.
Earthquakes are very much in the news, with devastating events in Ecuador and Japan within the past week. On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake, still by far the deadliest in US history, hit San Francisco. Almost immediately, several fires began in different parts of the city, greatly compounding the damage—in fact, the fires caused more damage than the earthquake itself. On April 20, US Commissioner Silas W. Mack described the scene to his wife Clara.
Excerpt
Wednesday, April 18th. will go down in history as the date of the most terrible calamity the United States, and particularly
Historian Catherine Clinton traces the life and times of the woman whose face will grace the new twenty dollar bill.
Thinking of hosting a Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibition at your school? Get some tips for incorporating one of our exhibitions into your curriculum from New Dorp High School in Staten Island, New York! New Dorp High School has booked two Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibitions since 2015, and each year has seamlessly worked each exhibition into the curriculum. For both Emancipation and Its Legacies in 2015, and The Progressive Era in 2016, New Dorp developed an interdisciplinary essay contest for their 11th grade students.
Using a set of document-based questions and The Progressive Era
The second Hamilton Education Program student matinee is underway! Over 1,200 high school students are having a day of student performances inspired by the musical, a cast Q-and-A session, and a performance of Hamilton. Stay tuned for pictures from the exciting day!
In the meantime, learn more about the Hamilton Education program and explore the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s videos, essays, featured primary sources, and teaching resources related to Alexander Hamilton at gilderlehrman.org/hamilton.
On May 17, 1954, the US Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, unanimously ruling that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. The decision overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson, which infamously permitted "separate but equal" facilities. Chief Justice Earl Warren responded directly to the 60-year-old case when he declared, "In the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
Though the ruling applied only to public schools, Brown v.
Many Americans are familiar with at least a few of the haunting images taken at the behest of the federal government during the Great Depression and World War II. Dorothea Lange’s haunting "Migrant Mother" is among the most reproduced of the massive archive of material. Yale University has teamed with programmers to create a map and subject and metadata search options to dig into the 170,000 photographs created by the United States Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information (FSA-OWI) from 1935 to 1945.
The Photogrammar is an excellent way to explore the American past.
On this day in 1932 Amelia Earhart took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. Although Earhart aimed for Paris, icy weather forced her to land in a farmer’s pasture in Ireland fifteen hours after takeoff. She became the second person and the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo five years after Charles Lindbergh made the first solo trip in 1927.
Earhart was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Congress for her transatlantic flight, and continued to make the news as the first person to fly solo across previous unconquered routes. She flew across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu,
The Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress on this day in 1830 and signed by President Andrew Jackson two days later. The act called for the removal of Native Americans residing within state borders in the East to a newly created Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma and parts of Nebraska. The goal was to free up state lands for white settlers, particularly in the Southeast, where a growing population clamored for access to agriculturally rich land on which to grow cotton.
While some members of each affected tribe—which included the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and
According to the US Veterans Administration, every three minutes a veteran of World War II dies. That means that some 430 memories of that conflict go missing each and every day. You can help preserve important memories of WWII and other conflicts by participating in the Library of Congress’s Veterans History Project. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress maintains and provides access to the collected materials.
You’ll find step-by-step instructions for taking part in this very important endeavor at the Veterans History Project website or you can download this PDF. Why not
When Helen Keller died on June 1, 1968, the world mourned. The American Federation for the Blind summarized her life: "Her story is, in brief, that of a half-wild creature become a highly intelligent and sensitive citizen with a definite place in the history of our time." Keller was one of the most famous Americans of the twentieth century—her story has been told and retold in venues from magazine serials to Oscar-winning films. The backyard pump at her childhood home, Ivy Green, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, where a young Helen had her "breakthrough" is still a powerful symbol of human potential
Seventy-two years ago today Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, opening a second front. The secrecy surrounding "Operation Overlord" is legendary. In a letter from the Gilder Lehrman Collection written on June 6, 1944, Morris "Moe" Weiner tells his wife, Sylvia: "It’s a little hard to sit down and calmly write a letter, just as though nothing were happening. Of course nothing has happened except the most world shaking event. Although I’m hurting to talk about it, I can’t."
Journalist Bill Moyers took a group of D-Day veterans to revisit the beaches in 1989. He updated the story in
On June 7, 1892, New Orleans native Homer Plessy purposely violated the Louisiana separate car law in order to bring the issue of segregation to the Supreme Court. Plessy was chosen for this action by the Comité des Citoyens—a "Citizens’ Committee" made up of white, African American, and Creole citizens in favor of civil rights—because he was ⅛ African American. He was considered white enough to board the whites-only car, and black enough to be arrested for doing so.
After boarding the car, Plessy informed the conductor of his ethnicity and was promptly arrested. The group’s lawyer, Albion
Be part of a national public programming initiative to mark the 100th anniversary of the US entry into World War I
The Gilder Lehrman Institute is pleased to announce that beginning in Fall 2016 grants of $1200–$1800 are available to libraries for public programming exploring the First World War and its resonances today.
Presented by Library of America with support from the Gilder Lehrman Institute, the NEH, and other partners, World War I and America is a two-year initiative that aims to bring veterans and their families together with the general public to explore the continuing relevance
Take some time out from the 2016 election to explore our Electing the President timeline and fill up on facts from elections past.
Then look for more of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s Online Exhibition and Interactive Features.
Today marks 112 years since the sinking of the General Slocum, the worst maritime disaster in New York City history.
The General Slocum, named after a Civil War general, Henry Warner Slocum, was built in 1891. On June 15, 1904, St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church—a German American church on the Lower East Side—chartered the steamer for an annual picnic outing on Long Island to celebrate the end of Sunday school for the year. It was one of the congregation’s most beloved and popular events, and the vessel was filled with more than 1,300 passengers, mainly women and children excited for the
It comes as no surprise that Hamilton won eleven Tony Awards last night. It was, after all, the most nominated show in Broadway history with sixteen nominations. It fell one short of tying the record of twelve awards won by The Producers in 2001.
Hamilton took home
Best Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Leslie Odom Jr.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Daveed Diggs
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Renée Elise Goldsberry
Best Book of a Musical: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Best Original Score Written for the
President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964. Title VII of the act banned discrimination based on sex, race, color, religion, or national origin.
The March on Washington and other widespread, grassroots activites; the murders of civil rights workers and attacks on African American people and organizations; and the assassination of President Kennedy all played a role in moving the act toward passage. You can see a fictionalized view of this crucial era, All the Way, starring Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as LBJ, on HBO.
Or review the history through our Civil
When Muhammad Ali died on June 3, 2016, the world mourned. Many recalled his boxing prowess, some his powerful role in the Civil Rights Movement, others his philanthropy. But Ali also made legal history in his lifetime as a plaintiff before the US Supreme Court.
When notified that he was eligible for the draft, Ali applied for conscientious objector classification for religious reasons, based on his membership in the Nation of Islam. His application was denied. On the day he was supposed to join the US Army, Ali went to the Selective Service center in Houston but refused to be inducted into
