Library Events & Programs

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow John Stuart Gordon's research project, Gold in America: Artistry, Memory, Power. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Gordon is researching gold objects owned by the Custis and Washington families, as well as later commemorative items in gold.

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Hear from historian Joyce E. Chaplin, author of The Franklin Stove: An Unintended American Revolution.

This new book tells the surprising story of Benjamin Franklin’s most famous invention―and a new take on the Founding Father we thought we knew.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Steven Sarson's research project, History and Historical Consciousness in the US Declaration of Independence. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Sarson is continuing his research for his new book entitled “When in the Course of human events”: History and Historical Consciousness in the US Declaration of Independence (University of Virginia Press, 2025) and related articles and other publications.

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Join us for an immersive one-day leadership program hosted at the George Washington Leadership Institute. This unique experience combines historical perspective with modern leadership challenges, using the leadership lessons of George Washington as a foundation for developing contemporary leadership skills. 

This program includes tours of George Washington’s Mansion and the Rare Books Collection.

Hear from historian William Haldeman, author of Meeting the Moment: Inspiring Presidential Leadership that Transformed America.

This new book tells the stories of a selected group of US presidents and the inspired leadership characteristics they demonstrated during times of national crisis that set them apart and transformed America — qualities of judgment and ingenuity, dedication and courage, and confidence and optimism. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Trenton Cole Jones's research project, The Tory Rising. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Jones is researching the story of a little-known insurrection of British loyalists—or Tories—that nearly destroyed the American Revolution before independence was even declared.

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Join experts from the Washington Library, Caroline Sharp and Dr. Alexandra Montgomery, to learn how George Washington and his beloved Mount Vernon estate shaped the creation of one of the earliest published histories of the American Revolution. 

They will share details regarding an incredibly important 1st edition, four-volume set of books owned by Washington, The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment, of the Independence of the United States of America by William Gordon. The Library would like to thank Ambassador Nicholas F. Taubman for his generous loan of these volumes.

This special event is part of the Washington Library's Lunch at the Library series. Lunch will be provided.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Karima Moyer-Nocchi's research project, Macaroni and Beyond - From James Hemings to African American Women: The Early American Underpinnings in the making of an iconic dish. Moyer-Nocchi is researching societal conditions that would have impacted James Hemings, Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved head chef, in the areas he lived following his return from training in Paris. The talk will particularly highlight Philadelphia, where he would have been in contact with Hercules Posey, Washington's enslaved chef.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Bartholomew Sparrow's research project, The Unknown Founding: Indentured Servants, the White Poor, and American Political Development. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Sparrow is researching how the presence of unfree Europeans and their propertyless descendants systematically influenced American political development.

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The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780 is a fascinating examination of riveting narrative covering the middle years of the Revolution.

A book signing and reception with complimentary beer, wine, and hors-d'oeuvres will take place after the lecture. 

This event is the second in the 2025 Michelle Smith Lecture Series. 

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Dillon L. Streifeneder's research project, Revolution, War, and the Forging of a Vigorous Government. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Streifeneder is continuing his research on day-to-day experiences of governance and efforts to develop institutional structures needed to wage war. 

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Hear from historians Adam Jortner, Lincoln Mullen, and John G. Turner about George Washington, citizenship, and the Jewish community in America.

Adam Jortner is the author of A Promised Land: Jewish Patriots, the American Revolution, and the Birth of Religious Freedom. Lincoln Mullen and John G. Turner are co-authors of the podcast Antisemitism, U.S.A.

Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions and have their books signed.

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Join us for lunch and a compelling discussion with Jamie L. Brummitt, author of Protestant Relics in Early America. In this book Brummitt chronicles how American Protestants cultivated a lively relic culture centered around collecting supernatural memory objects associated with dead Christian leaders, family members, and friends. 

This event is part of the Washington Library's Lunch at the Library series. Lunch will be provided.

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On Character offers an inspiring roadmap for personal growth and integrity—a call to become our best selves, both as individuals and as Americans.

A book signing and reception with complimentary beer, wine, and hors-d'oeuvres will take place after the lecture. 

This event is the third in the 2025 Michelle Smith Lecture Series. 

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Join leading voices in the fields of history, horticulture, and landscape design as they explore revolutionary methods for stewarding gardens and landscapes in the face of environmental challenges. 

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow David Marsich's research project, Relating to the Republic: Representative-Constituent Relationships in the Early United States, 1794-1844. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Marsich is researching accounts about Congressmen in office and as candidates along with writings that suggest how people thought about representation more broadly.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Kieran J. O'Keefe's research project, Horatio Gates and the Pursuit of a Republican Revolution. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, O'Keefe is working on his biography of Horatio Gate which aims to take a fresh look at Gate's life and contributions to American independence.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Cody E. Nager's research project, Determined to be American: Regulating Migration and Citizenship in the Early American Republic, 1783–1815. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Nager is conducting research on migration politics during the Washington Administration.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Ryan P. Langton's research project, Negotiating the Endless Mountains: Networked Diplomacy along the Eighteenth-Century Trans-Appalachian Frontier. At the George Washington Presidential Library, Gordon is drawing upon the library's manuscript and map collections to chart the personal networks that shaped cross-cultural diplomacy around the Ohio Valley during and after the Seven Years' War.

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Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Laura Clerx's research project, Nature's Properties: Science and Commerce in Early America, 1780-1850. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Clerx is researching the meeting of scientific knowledge and early republic economic realities in the papers of the 1785 Potomac Navigation Company founded by Washington.

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