Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition

06/02/2026

Is the United States on the Road to a New Civil War?
Fritz Stern Lecture, The American Academy in Berlin

David W Blight will examine this history, especially the decade that led to the Civil War, as a possible means of understanding where we are today.

Fritz Stern Lecture Is the United States on the Road to a New Civil War? The question has arisen in recent years in a manner unseen since at least the 1960s. Gi

05/13/2026

On May 13, 1862 Robert Smalls and other Black Americans who were enslaved commandeered an armed Confederate ship in Charleston and sailed to freedom.

On this day in 1862, Robert Smalls and other slaves commandeered an armed Confederate ship and sailed to freedom.

05/06/2026

Don’t miss our FINAL GLC@Lunch of the 2025–2026 academic year!

Join us on Wednesday, May 13 from 12:30–1:45 PM (Hybrid) for a powerful and thought-provoking session with historian K. Stephen Prince (GLC Research Affiliate; Louisiana State University).

This talk explores the profound impact of the blackface minstrel show—not only as a source of deeply harmful racial stereotypes, but as one of the first truly national forms of American popular culture. By examining minstrelsy as a widespread entertainment industry, we gain new insight into how racial ideologies were shaped and sustained across the country.

📍 Attend in person: Yale University, Rosenkranz Hall, Room 241 (115 Prospect St, New Haven)
⚠️ Limited seating—first come, first served!
💻 Or join us live on Zoom (registration required only for Zoom)

Let’s close out the year with an engaging and important conversation you won’t want to miss.

👉 Register here: https://macmillan.yale.edu/glc/events/2026-05-13/glclunch-blackface-minstrelsy-and-birth-american-popular-culture-new-history

04/22/2026

To subscribe to our weekly GLC newsletter visit https://subscribe.yale.edu/browse?search=macmillan and search for Gilder Lehrman

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04/07/2026

From Fashioning the Self in Slavery and Freedom

The sitter of this mid-18th century portrait is unfortunately unknown. Clues to her identity may lie in the orange blossom that she is holding or the pearl jewelry that adorns her neck and wrists. Oranges were originally imported to Europe from Asia; pearls, too, were often associated with far-flung locales. Thanks to these signifiers of exotic-ness (and the color of her skin), most agree that she is a woman of color and, most likely, a woman of African descent. Despite her foreign origin, her sumptuous blue silk gown woven with intricate lace trim signifies her elite status. https://bit.ly/2TnXpl3

04/05/2026

04/05/2026

Kevin M. Levin, from Civil War Memory (4/5/26):
Free Before She Knew It, Terrorized Before She Could Enjoy It

The story of what Fannie Berry and enslaved people saw, risked, and lost during the Confederate retreat to Appomattox.

The story of what Fannie Berry and enslaved people saw, risked, and lost during the Confederate retreat to Appomattox.

03/21/2026

South Africa observes Human Rights Day, March 21 2026, commemorating the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will lead the national Human Rights Day Commemoration in Kimberley in the Northern Cape on Saturday. This year's Human Rights Month...

03/04/2026

02/24/2026

💫 TOMORROW!

Please register to attend our virtual program on the character Tituba from "The Crucible."

Free and open to the public!

Register on our website: https://macmillan.yale.edu/glc/events/2026-02-25/glc-teacher-talk-recentering-tituba-crucible

Join us for our upcoming GLC Teachers Corner Event!
Who gets pushed to the margins of history… and why?

What if the most important voice in the Salem story is the one we barely let students hear?

Join us for an engaging evening with 2025 Yale and Slavery Teachers Institute Alum Susannah Boersma as she reimagines how we teach Tituba — the Indigenous enslaved woman whose testimony helped ignite the Salem witch trials.

One of the first women questioned, Tituba is often flattened in the American literary canon and overshadowed in readings of The Crucible. Yet her story is one of survival, strategy, complexity, and consequence.

In recent years, historians and artists — including Jamaican-British playwright Winsome Pinnock — have worked to reframe her role and broaden our understanding of the landscape that surrounded her. Now, Susannah brings that same depth and nuance into her 7th grade classroom.

In this riveting live session, you’ll explore:
✨ How to bring context and agency to characters in the periphery
✨ Strategies for deepening literary analysis
✨ Ways to incorporate art, technology, and writing
✨ Practical approaches for helping students question dominant narratives

Susannah will also reflect on her experience at the 2025 Yale and Slavery Teachers Institute and how that professional learning shaped her lesson revision and approach to teaching complex historical narratives.

🎥 This is a LIVE Zoom webinar.
💬 Register to interact directly with Susannah and participate in the Q&A.

🔗 Save your seat here: https://macmillan.yale.edu/glc/events/2026-02-25/glc-teacher-talk-recentering-tituba-crucible

Let’s bring hidden histories into the light.