Revisiting the Founding Era

FAIN: GW-256118-17

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (New York, NY 10036-5900)
Susan F. Saidenberg (Project Director: January 2017 to October 2019)
Mindy DePalma (Project Director: October 2019 to present)

Implementation of a nationwide library discussion program about the Founding Era (1760–1800) and its contemporary resonances.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History seeks to develop Revisiting the Founding Era, a library outreach program based on primary sources. The program will prompt conversations in 100 public libraries in underserved communities about the Founding Era and suggest how this period’s ideas continue to resonate today. New appreciation of many uniquely American ideals, achieved through a close reading of Founding Era documents, will encourage participants to explore current issues in light of historic controversies, conversations, and compromises. The Institute, in cooperation with the American Library Association and the National Constitution Center, plans to create a website, videos, and a 100-page reader in print and digital formats to support community conversations. Local libraries may use the resources in different ways to plan programs that encourage Americans to draw on these ides when talking about issues of concern in their communities.

Associated Products

Revisiting the Founding Era Readings from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (Book)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era Readings from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Author: Carol Berkin
Author: Benjamin L. Carp
Author: Denver Brunsman
Author: Julie Silverbrook
Editor: Carol Berkin
Abstract: At first glance, the world of George Washington, Phillis Wheatley, and Alexander Hamilton shares little in common with twenty-first-century America. The founding fathers and mothers lived in a young and unproven nation, born in revolution and built upon principles of representative government and individual liberties that the older, more established nations of Europe viewed skeptically. No one, not even a visionary like Hamilton, could imagine that the United States would become a world leader, prosperous and powerful. What, then, can we learn from examining the founders’ ideas and their actions? What can we discover if we read their words? How can the past help us understand our present? These are the questions this book seeks to address. National Endowment for the Humanities. Featuring a total of twenty core documents from the holdings of the Gilder Lehrman Institute, this reader offers you an opportunity to listen to the founding generation as it speaks to us across the centuries. It invites you to examine the challenges these men and women faced and the steps they took to meet them. And finally, it encourages you to engage in debate and discussion about the issues Americans confront today. Revisiting the Founding Era is divided into four chronological sections: “Declaring Independence,” “Realizing Independence,” “Creating the Constitution,” and “Governing the New Nation.” Each section follows the same format: a brief introductory essay by a noted scholar followed by a selection of five documents— including letters, political writings, and poems—that provide insight into the momentous events and decisions of the eighteenth century through the eyes of those who participated in them. Each section is built around important themes that connect the introductory essay and the documents. Finally, each section includes questions that can serve as starting points for your community’s conversations about documents and ideas that remain relevant today.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/GLI_RevisitingtheFoundingEra_Reader.pdf
Primary URL Description: URL is a link located on the Revisiting the Founding Era program webpage (https://www.gilderlehrman.org/programs-and-events/revisiting-founding-era)
Access Model: open access
Publisher: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 978-1-932821-1
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Revisiting the Founding Era Site Support Notebook (Web Resource)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era Site Support Notebook
Author: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: The Revisiting the Founding Era Site Support Notebook provides guidance to participating libraries on program implementation. Revisiting the Founding Era is designed to accommodate libraries of various sizes and resources. The programming ideas provided in this guide are flexible to ensure adaptability for any library. A programming series may include, for example, a youth-focused forum led by local high school students and teachers, moderated dialogues with local scholars, or a series of group discussions on historic Founding Era documents. Use this guide as a starting point to plan programs capitalizing on local assets and are best suited for the interests and needs of your community.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/sites/default/files/Revisiting%20the%20Founding%20Era%20-%20Site%20Support%20Notebook.pdf
Primary URL Description: The link to this resource is found on our Revisiting the Founding Era program webpage
Secondary URL: http://foundingera.org

Primary Source Documents (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Primary Source Documents
Author: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: This is an online collection of 1,925 founding era documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection that supplement program participant learning as well as offer resources for participating libraries to draw upon for their program development.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources-search?tid_2=47298&tid=1667&tid_1=All&keys=&events=&creator=&people=
Primary URL Description: Link to website found on program webpage
Secondary URL: http://foundingera.org
Access Model: open access

Revisiting the Founding Era Website (Web Resource)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era Website
Author: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: This is the program's website containing resources for participating libraries to draw upon for implementation of their community programming, as well as resources that community participants and the public at large can draw upon to increase their learning about this period and its connections to present day events.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://foundingera.org
Primary URL Description: Website for the Revisiting the Founding Era NEH grant-funded program

Revisiting the Founding Era Webinar 3.28.2018 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era Webinar 3.28.2018
Writer: no writer
Director: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Producer: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: This host site seminar was offered to provide libraries guidance in applying and developing their community programming. All host sites were invited to join the webinar held on March 28, 2018. At the webinar, Susan Saidenberg of GLI presented a project overview, Professor Carol Berkin presented the humanities themes, Mary Kate Kwasnik of GLI outlined programming requirements, and Melanie Welch of ALA described the ALA Apply Portal.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/262412187?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=5181545
Primary URL Description: Link located on Revisiting the Founding Era program website (foundingera.org)
Access Model: open access
Format: Video

Carol Berkin and Julie Silverbrook discuss George Washington's Letter to John Trumbull (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Carol Berkin and Julie Silverbrook discuss George Washington's Letter to John Trumbull
Writer: no writer
Director: Peter Shea
Producer: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: Discussion about 1799 letter to Washington that highlights a need for a strong central government in the face of anti-federalists.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/255817015?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=5181545
Primary URL Description: Video link embedded on program website (foundationera.org)
Format: Video

Revisiting the Founding Era: The Articles of Confederation, 1777 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era: The Articles of Confederation, 1777
Writer: none
Director: Peter Shea
Producer: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: Denver Brunsman and Julie Silverbrook discussi the origins of the Articles of Confederation and the context in which it was written. Also discussed was the committee structure debating the Articles vis-a-vis the current three branches of government.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/255814426?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=5181545
Primary URL Description: Video link embedded on program website (foundingera.org)
Format: Video

Revisiting the Founding Era: The Preamble to the Constitution (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era: The Preamble to the Constitution
Writer: none
Director: Peter Shea
Producer: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: Discussion with Carol Berkin and Ben Carp about the Preamble. The Preamble is a lyrical description of what we can do if we ratify the Constitution. The significance of the line "We the People" was that people were the "sovereign." The definition of who "the People" were and were not left was left unclear by the preamble.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/198098796?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=5181545
Primary URL Description: Link to video embedded on program website (foundingera.org)
Access Model: open access
Format: Video

Revisiting the Founding Era: Lucy Knox to Henry Knox, August 23, 1777 (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Revisiting the Founding Era: Lucy Knox to Henry Knox, August 23, 1777
Writer: none
Director: Peter Shea
Producer: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Abstract: Denver Brunsman and Carol Berkin discuss the letter sent by Lucy Knox to Henry Knox during the Revolutionary War. It captures a microcosm of the impact of war. She is alone; her family who were loyalists had fled; and she gives insights on what happens on the home front when your country has been involved in a war for a long period (over a year in this case). The letter also captures how she does not have an equal voice when she is outside the home, but she assets her equality to him in their home.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/255808320?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=5181545
Primary URL Description: Video link is embedded on program website (foundingera.org)
Format: Video

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