The David Center for the American Revolution at the American Philosophical Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society intend to host a conference on the theme “Empire and Its Discontent” at the Massachusetts Historical Society on December 1 and 2, 2023. This conference is part of a series of interdisciplinary and international meetings designed to re-examine the origins, course and consequences of the American Revolution. Our 2023 meetings mark the 260th anniversary of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Seven Years’ War and the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. We intend to use this gathering to examine the British empire at its moment of great triumph, in 1763, with its enemies defeated and its control spreading from India to the Mississippi; and again at 1773, with its control beginning to slip away in North America as a radical mobilization began against imperial power.    

The program committee invites papers from historians and scholars working in all other fields whose research addresses questions of empire, revolution, and independence in the period between 1763 and 1773.

Applicants should submit a title and a 250-word proposal along with a C.V. by May 1, 2023 via Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/121667

All scholars invited to participate will be notified by May 30, 2023. All presenters will receive travel subsidies and hotel accommodations to attend the gathering. Accepted papers will be due by November 1, 2023, a month before the conference, and these will be pre-circulated to registered attendees. Papers should be no longer than 20 double-spaced pages. Presenters may also have the opportunity to publish revised papers in an edited volume.

For more information, visit https://www.amphilsoc.org, or contact Adrianna Link, Head of Scholarly Programs, at [email protected]

The David Center for the American Revolution integrates the collections of the David Library with that of the APS to create a one-stop-shop for the study of the American Revolution.

The David Library collections consist of approximately 8,000 volumes, 9,000 reels of microfilm, and the large Sol Feinstone manuscript collection. The Sol Feinstone Collection, a rich collection of letters and documents, was assembled by DLAR Founder Sol Feinstone (1888-1980) over a period of fifty years. It includes material on almost all notable Americans from before the Revolution to the 1850s, as well as prominent Europeans and documents relating to military affairs. There are substantial groups of letters from: John Adams, Henry Dearborn, Alexander Hamilton, Jedidiah Huntington, Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette, George Washington, and a long run of letters from a Massachusetts military surgeon named Samuel Adams. Many letters, though written by revolutionary figures, relate to events that occurred before or after the War.

This adds to the APS Library's Early American History Collections, which are particularly strong for the period from 1750 to 1840. In addition to the Benjamin Franklin Papers and the Thomas Paine Collection, the APS has a wide assortment of documents from the revolutionary era. Among these are official government documents and correspondence, military records that range from the Continental Army to Pennsylvania county records, and personal correspondence from various historical actors. Notable collections of correspondence include the Nathanael Greene Papers, the Peale-Sellers Family Collection, the Richard Henry Lee Papers, and the William Temple Franklin Papers. 

Of particular note is the record of the American missions to Europe during the American Revolution. The William Temple Franklin Papers, the Arthur Lee Collection, the Benjamin Franklin Papers, and the Benjamin Franklin Bache collections provide a nearly complete window into America’s diplomatic maneuverings in Europe during the American Revolution. 

Finding aids that were previously available on the David Library website can be found to the right. Please check "Latest Updates" above for when the materials they list will be accessible.

The David Center aims to build a community of scholars through a program of long- and short-term fellowships:

David Center for the American Revolution Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships

Deadline: March 5, 2021

These fellowships continue the 30-year tradition of the David Library awarding over 200 fellowships to scholars working on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. These opportunities provide one month of support for researchers in residence and are open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

2020-2021 Fellows:

• Benjamin Bankhurst
• Christopher R. Pearl
• Meg Roberts
• Robert E. Wright

David Center for the American Revolution Postdoctoral Fellowship

Deadline: January 29, 2021

This 24-month fellowship is intended for a recent Ph.D., professor at any level seeking sabbatical support for a research project, or an independent scholar working on a project. Applicants will receive a stipend of $50,000 per year to support twenty-four months of work on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. 

David Center for the American Revolution Predoctoral Fellowship

Deadline: January 29, 2021

This 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation. Applicants will receive a stipend of $25,000 to support twelve months of work on projects about the American Revolution and Founding Era. 

Friends of the APS Predoctoral Fellowship in Early American History (to 1840)

Deadline: January 29, 2021

The APS Library offers long-term residential predoctoral fellowships for graduate students working on topics in early American History (to 1840). The 12-month fellowship is intended for advanced Ph.D. students working toward the completion of the dissertation.

Swan Foundation Short-Term Resident Research Fellowship for Revolutionary-Era Material Culture

Deadline: March 5, 2021

This funding opportunity provides one month of support for researchers to work in the artifact collections of the Swan Historical Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and other repositories in the Greater Philadelphia Region. The fellowship is open to scholars in all fields who show a demonstrated need to use the collections for their project.

Library & Museum Short-Term Resident Research Fellowships

Not offered in 2021-2022

Short-term Fellowships generally support scholars working toward the completion of a dissertation or book. The grant is also open to independent or community-based scholars as well as academic scholars. The grant provides a stipend of $3,000 for 1–3 months of research in residence at the APS.

Brendan McConville (Co-Chair), Professor of History, Boston University and member of the David Library's Board of Trustees

Patrick K. Spero (Co-Chair), Librarian and Director of the American Philosophical Society Library & Museum

Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard University

Katherine Grandjean, Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College

Patrick Griffin, the Madden-Hennebry Professor at the University of Notre Dame

Woody Holton, the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina

Jack Rakove, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Stanford University

Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center

R. Scott Stephenson, President and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution

The David Center regular holds international conferences, public lectures, family and adult programming, and major exhibitions inspired by the Sol Feinstone Collection.

The fourth 2022-2023 David Center for the American Revolution Seminar will take place April 12, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. ET on Zoom: David Center for the American Revolution Seminar: "In the Eye of Enmity”: Censoring and Celebrating the Declaration of Independence in London" with Emily Sneff

David Center Lecture: "Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778" with Ricardo Herrera