American History

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By Sword and Rifle Divided? The English and American Civil Wars (2014 Founder’s Day Lecture) Feb 20, 2014

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Steve Hindle explores the similarities and differences between the English and American civil wars in his 2014 Founder’s Day lecture at The Huntington. Both English and American societies still bear the scars from civil wars, each with its heroes, villains, and contested legacy. Hindle is The Huntington’s W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research.

How Do Indians Fit In? Oct 09, 2013

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Frederick E. Hoxie explains that over the past generation, historians have discovered many new facts about Native Americans. In this talk he examines how this new information affects our understanding of who we are as Americans and how we all fit into a single national culture. Hoxie professor of history at the University of Illinois, Urbana, and the Los Angeles Times Distinguished Fellow at The Huntington in 2013–14.

Entrepreneurs of the New Deal (Haaga Lecture) Sep 25, 2013

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Louis Hyman offers important lessons of the New Deal, when the most transformative programs were steered by business leaders whose entrepreneurship made the postwar boom possible. Hyman is assistant professor of history at the ILR School of Cornell University. He delivered the 2013–14 Haaga Lecture at The Huntington.

The Slave War of 1812 (2012–13 Ritchie Distinguished Fellow Lecture) Oct 03, 2012

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Alan Taylor, author of “The Civil War of 1812,” discusses the escape of more than 3,000 slaves from Virginia and Maryland during the War of 1812. They stole boats to reach British warships in Chesapeake Bay, where they were taken on board and employed. Their help proved essential to the British coastal raids, particularly the capture of Washington, D.C. Taylor is professor of history at the University of California, Davis, and the inaugural Robert C. Ritchie Distinguished Fellow at The Huntington.

Andrew W. Mellon: The Life of Business and the Business of Life (2012-13 Haaga Lecture) Sep 20, 2012

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Professor Sir David Cannadine of Princeton University describes Andrew Mellon’s remarkable and varied career as a banker, industrialist, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, art collector, and founder of the National Gallery of Art. Cannadine is the author of "Mellon: An American Life" (2006).

Witch-Hunting and the Sadness of Everyday Life: An Alternative Perspective on Early New England (2012-13 Nevins Lecture) Sep 12, 2012

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David D. Hall discusses an alternate view of witch-hunting in 17th-century New England, which was often characterized as a titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil. Could those accused of “diabolical possession” actually have been bedeviled by everyday problems such as unmet religious and social needs or family tensions? Hall is professor of New England Church History at Harvard Divinity School.

Hail to the Chief: The Americanization of Walter Scott During the War of 1812 (2012 Ridge Lecture) May 23, 2012

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Joseph Rezek explains how the song “Hail to the Chief” had its origins in Sir Walter Scott’s poem “The Lady of the Lake,” an anthem to a Scottish highland clan leader. In his talk, he describes how it became a patriotic song during the War of 1812, when Scott’s popularity was at its height in America. Rezek is assistant professor of English at Boston University.

J. Pierpont Morgan, Financial Entrepreneur (2012 Haaga Lecture) Feb 13, 2012

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Jean Strouse, author of “Morgan: American Financier,” discusses the life of J. Pierpont Morgan, the titan of American industry who not only imposed order on the chaotic creation of American railroads, but also organized General Electric, U.S. Steel, International Harvester, and served as a one-man central bank before the United States had a Federal Reserve. Strouse is the Sue Ann and John Weinberg Director of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. This talk was the 2012 Paul G. Haaga Lecture in American Entrepreneurship at The Huntington.

The Vanderbilt Era: Cornelius Vanderbilt and the Dilemma of the “Robber Baron” (2011 Haaga Lecture) Mar 09, 2011

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T. J. Stiles discusses the life and impact of Cornelius Vanderbilt, America’s first great corporate tycoon. Ruthless yet honest, Vanderbilt epitomized the conundrum of the so-called robber barons, who amassed unprecedented power but revolutionized business and donated vast sums to charity. Stiles won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book “The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt.” His talk at the Huntington Library was the 2011 Paul G. Haaga Jr. Lecture in American Entrepreneurship.

Lincoln the Politician Jan 26, 2011

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Historian Sean Wilentz discusses Abraham Lincoln as a cunning and partisan politician. Wilentz is The Huntington’s Los Angeles Times Fellow for 2010–11 and the George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University.

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