All upcoming American History programs

From civil rights to feminism to gay liberation to the environmental movement to the silent majority, a period that began more than half a century ago has shaped and influenced our country ever since. Leonard Steinhorn, a professor in the School of Communication at American University, explores the 1960’s meaning and its legacy—one that may have created the dividing line in our current politics and society.

George Washington not only played a vital role in framing the Constitution as the president of the Philadelphia Convention, he also put the document into practice as America’s first leader. Historian Denver Brunsman explores the origins of executive power through the writings and actions of the United States’ first president.

From early settlers arriving on the Mayflower to white settlers moving west in wagon trains in the 1800s to Black Americans making the great migration to the North in the 1930s, scholars argue that the culture of the United States has been shaped by people pushing into new territory in search of better opportunity. Historian Allen Pietrobon looks at the ways Americans traveled in the past, the rapid growth of interstates in the 1960s, the associated rise of fast food and roadside motels, and, most importantly, the birth of the notion that the open road is the epitome of American freedom.

In the fall of 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman and his army set off for the sea and the most important city at the time: Savannah. Plantation owners fled the approaching troops, but even before they did so, slaves self-emancipated to Union lines—with many as 20,000 enslaved people ultimately attaching themselves to Sherman’s army. Historian Bennett Parten, author of Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation, reframes this seminal episode in Civil War history, discussing how Sherman’s still-controversial March to the Sea played a significant role in bringing the conflict to a close, due in no small part to the efforts of thousands of enslaved people who took part in it.

Historian Sophia Rosenfeld explores how, between the 17th century and the present, the practice of making choices from menus of options came to shape many aspects of our existence, from consumer culture to human rights. Rosenfeld discusses the lives of women—who often have the fewest choices and who have frequently been the drivers of this change—as she examines how reproductive rights became a symbolic flashpoint in the contemporary struggles over the association of liberty with choice. She draws on sources ranging from the latest findings in economics and psychology to novels and restaurant menus.

Once lionized as our most relatable and revolutionary founding father Thomas Paine died a pariah: too radical and uncompromising for the cautious new country he had helped call into being. Historian Richard Bell examines Paine’s meteoric rise to celebrity status during the American Revolution and his equally dramatic fall from grace in the decades afterward.

Washington, D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront is a study in contrasts: The neighborhood retains some of the most historic architecture in the federal capital and boasts one of the largest private development projects in the city, the District Wharf. Laid out by the Carroll family in the 1770s, the neighborhood teemed with commercial activity by the 1830s. In the mid-20th century, huge swaths of the area were demolished in the name of urban renewal. Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, leads a tour of the historic neighborhood.

Washington, D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront is a study in contrasts: The neighborhood retains some of the most historic architecture in the federal capital and boasts one of the largest private development projects in the city, the District Wharf. Laid out by the Carroll family in the 1770s, the neighborhood teemed with commercial activity by the 1830s. In the mid-20th century, huge swaths of the area were demolished in the name of urban renewal. Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, leads a tour of the historic neighborhood.

Washington, D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront is a study in contrasts: The neighborhood retains some of the most historic architecture in the federal capital and boasts one of the largest private development projects in the city, the District Wharf. Laid out by the Carroll family in the 1770s, the neighborhood teemed with commercial activity by the 1830s. In the mid-20th century, huge swaths of the area were demolished in the name of urban renewal. Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, leads a tour of the historic neighborhood.

Star Wars is a global phenomenon that people celebrate on May 4th every year. In conversation, curators from the National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of American History celebrate the Star Wars universe, its monumental legacy in pop culture, and its place in a familiar galaxy not so far, far away.