Through our Speakers Bureau, Vermont Reads program, and a special Winter 2026 Zoom series, we’re offering many ways for you to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the historic events associated with the American Revolution in Vermont.
Follow the listings below to learn how to attend these free in-person, hybrid, and digital talks all across Vermont.
August 29
Historian Howard Coffin explains, with nearly 35,000 of the state’s able-bodied men at war, how women took on farming, worked in factories, served as nurses in the state’s military hospitals, and more. And at least one Vermont woman appears to have secretly enlisted and fought in a Vermont regiment! Drawing from letters and diaries, Coffin tells their story in their own words, describe life during the Civil War in the Green Mountain State.
September 3
New England’s longest river, the Connecticut, is rich in history. Michael Tougias, author of fourteen books about New England, offers a narrated slide presentation that takes the viewer down the entire 410 miles of the river, discussing history from the days of loggers, Indian Wars, steamships, and canals.
September 12
At this presentation you will learn that the mission statement of A Revolutionary Press, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, directs us in our efforts to bring about an entirely distinct Revolution for the present and the future, as we listen to, and print some of today’s lesser known radical and revolutionary visionaries. Everyone at this event will have the opportunity to print one of these pieces to help imagine that next Revolution.
September 12
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
September 20
At this presentation you will learn that the mission statement of A Revolutionary Press, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, directs us in our efforts to bring about an entirely distinct Revolution for the present and the future, as we listen to, and print some of today’s lesser known radical and revolutionary visionaries. Everyone at this event will have the opportunity to print one of these pieces to help imagine that next Revolution.
September 20
In the years running up to the current 250th commemorations of 1776, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has focused its research activities on the American Revolution.
September 21
Land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire-builder, Ira Allen was a key figure on the late eighteenth-century Green Mountain frontier. Based on his 2024 book Ira Allen: A Biography, J. Kevin Graffagnino’s lively talk evaluates Allen’s checkered career and makes the case for including him in our picture of Vermont’s formative decades.
September 27
Experience with author and filmmaker Jim Jones the colorful ups and downs of Vermont’s railways around the St. Johnsbury area. This is a special presentation meant to explore the local history and impact of the railroads.
October 1
CALLING is a participatory, interdisciplinary humanities offering that invites communities to reflect, create, and reimagine what it means to be American at the threshold of our nation’s 250th anniversary. Rooted in the belief that creativity is a liberating force and a civic practice, CALLING brings together spoken word, storytelling, and imaginative inquiry with Rajnii Eddins and block printing with A Revolutionary Press to engage participants in courageous conversation and hands-on art-making.
October 4
At this presentation you will learn that the mission statement of A Revolutionary Press, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, directs us in our efforts to bring about an entirely distinct Revolution for the present and the future, as we listen to, and print some of today’s lesser known radical and revolutionary visionaries. Everyone at this event will have the opportunity to print one of these pieces to help imagine that next Revolution.
October 7
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
October 7
In the years running up to the current 250th commemorations of 1776, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has focused its research activities on the American Revolution.
October 12
In the years running up to the current 250th commemorations of 1776, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has focused its research activities on the American Revolution.
October 14
At this presentation you will learn that the mission statement of A Revolutionary Press, inspired by the Declaration of Independence, directs us in our efforts to bring about an entirely distinct Revolution for the present and the future, as we listen to, and print some of today’s lesser known radical and revolutionary visionaries. Everyone at this event will have the opportunity to print one of these pieces to help imagine that next Revolution.
October 15
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
October 17
In the years running up to the current 250th commemorations of 1776, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum has focused its research activities on the American Revolution.
October 21
The First Amendment protects the free exercise of religion. The Fourteenth Amendment affords all persons equal protection under the law. What happens when those two rights collide, as happened in the in the Masterpiece Cake case? Must protections for religious liberties come at the expense of non-discrimination statutes?
October 22
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
October 23
CALLING is a participatory, interdisciplinary humanities offering that invites communities to reflect, create, and reimagine what it means to be American at the threshold of our nation’s 250th anniversary. Rooted in the belief that creativity is a liberating force and a civic practice, CALLING brings together spoken word, storytelling, and imaginative inquiry with Rajnii Eddins and block printing with A Revolutionary Press to engage participants in courageous conversation and hands-on art-making.
October 25
Land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire-builder, Ira Allen was a key figure on the late eighteenth-century Green Mountain frontier. Based on his 2024 book Ira Allen: A Biography, J. Kevin Graffagnino’s lively talk evaluates Allen’s checkered career and makes the case for including him in our picture of Vermont’s formative decades.
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
