Skip to main content

The Library frequently hosts a variety of dynamic events, welcoming established scholars, leaders, and experts from numerous fields.


Upcoming Events

Brown Bag Lunch: Determined to be American

July 22, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

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, 1783–1824. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Nager is conducting research on migration politics during the Washington Administration.

Learn More

Ford Evening Book Talk: Lineage

July 22, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Hear from historian Karin Wulf, author of Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America.

This book offers a deep understanding of genealogy as a foundational element of American history, illuminating its vital role from the colonial era through the birth of the nation.

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

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: Henry Laurens

July 23, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Greg Brooking's research project, Henry Laurens: A Southern Founder. Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Brooking is researching the personal and public life of Henry Laurens.

Learn More

Lunch at the Library: Artificial Intelligence and Historical Research

July 24, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Join us for lunch and a compelling discussion with Loren S. Moulds about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing archival transcription and analysis.

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

Learn More

RevEd American Revolution Workshop Series: Alliances in the American Revolution

July 26, 2025 — 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Join us for two public lectures to explore the international involvement of the French and Spanish during the American Revolution.

After the lectures, educators are welcome to attend an exclusive workshop to learn how to apply the lecture material in the classroom.

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: Negotiating the Endless Mountains

August 5, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

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.

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: America’s Birth Certificate

August 12, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Richard Bell's research project, America’s Birth Certificate: The Declaration of Independence

Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Bell is continuing research for his upcoming book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World which reframes America's War of Independence as a transformative international event.

Learn More

Lunch at the Library: Protestant Relics in Early America

August 14, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

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.

Learn More

Ford Evening Book Talk: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America

August 19, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Hear from historian Kostya Kennedy, author of The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America.

One of America’s most famous founding events: Paul Revere’s heroic ride, newly told with fresh research into little-known aspects of the story Americans have heard since childhood but hardly understood.

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

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: The Unknown Story of the Revolution’s Special Troops

September 10, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Patrick K. O’Donnell's research project, Washington’s Elite: The Unknown Story of the Revolution’s Special Troops

Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, O’Donnell is researching the Pennsylvania Long Rifle and men who wielded these weapons.  

REGISTER

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: Science and Commerce in Early America

September 23, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

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.

Learn More

Brown Bag Lunch: Women in Preservation

October 7, 2025 — 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Bring your lunch and learn about Library Fellow Amanda Roper's research project, Saving America’s Past: Women in Preservation

Using the resources at the George Washington Presidential Library, Roper is researching the story of how Ann Pamela Cunningham and the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association (MVLA) saved the crumbling home of America's founding father.

Learn More

2025 USC Sol Price Leadership Lecture

October 16, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Ford Orientation Center - Smith Theater

Join Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU, and Gregg Nunziata, Executive Director of the Society for the Rule of Law, for a discussion on how the rule of law was established in the U.S., why it is central to our republic, and how it has evolved over time. This conversation will be moderated by Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, Executive Director of the Washington Library. This trio of experts will explore our nation's understanding of law and order from the founding to today.

A reception with complimentary beer, wine, and hors-d'œuvres will follow the lecture.

REGISTER

Learn More

Ford Evening Book Talk: The Pursuit of Liberty

November 12, 2025 — 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. George Washington Presidential Library

Hear from historian Jeffrey Rosen, author of The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America, on how the opposing constitutional visions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton have defined our country for 250 years, influenced presidents from Washington to Trump, and continue to drive the debate over the power of government today.

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

Learn More

Ford Evening Book Talk: The Tragic Side of the American Founding

February 11, 2026 — 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Robert H. and Clarice Smith Auditorium

Hear from historian Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding, a daring and important work that ultimately reckons with the two great failures of America’s founding: the failure to end slavery and the failure to avoid Indian removal.

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

Learn More