As the leading nonprofit preservation and history organization in Annapolis, MD, Historic Annapolis strives to offer informative and engaging lectures that promote the organization’s legacy in the history of preservation of Maryland’s capital city.
Historic Annapolis is pleased to announce the 2025 Virtual Lecture Series
Please join HA for one – or all – of our world-class virtual lectures, being offered free of charge in 2025 thanks to a generous anonymous donor.
Connect with the amazing history of Annapolis and our nation as we welcome a great lineup of professors, writers, poets, and historians.
Spring dates are below; please find the full line-up of dates and topics on our website (more lectures are added as they are confirmed!)
APRIL
How and why did slavery begin in North America? It’s an incredibly important question, as America’s embrace of racial slavery as a major labor system is an event which has colored the development of this continent ever since. How were traditional practices of enslavement in Africa and Europe similar to and different…
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 – Music of the “Ancient and Honorable Tuesday Club of Annapolis” (1745-1756)
Annapolis wasn’t necessarily the most exciting place culturally in the middle of the 18th century, so a group of mostly Scottish immigrants decided to make things happen. They formed a gentlemen’s club, held bi-monthly meetings for over ten years, and left us with a rich and often comical account of their goings-on. Music (and also rum…
Join Nathan M. Richardson as Frederick Douglass for an in-depth look at the writings and oratory of Frederick Douglass. Experience this internationally-acclaimed first person interpretation. See the 19th century literary masters through the eyes of Frederick Douglass. Learn about the personal relationships, the letters between them and the influenced their writings and activism …
MAY
Elias Pollock and the Forgotten Jews of Early Maryland
One of Maryland few Jewish Revolutionary War veterans, Elias Pollock was a successful businessman in Baltimore during the early 1800s until his son-in-law bankrupted him. Over the course of his life, Pollock took great pains to identify himself as a Jew at a time when doing so was a political act. The story of Jewish…
– Fighting and Praying in Colonial Native America with Dr. Richard Bell
Fighting and Praying in Colonial Native America presented by Dr. Richard Bell What did Native peoples do when confronted by European settlement in North America? The changing balance of power between Native Americans and European colonists is one of the biggest stories of the 17th century. That tense and constantly shifting relationship provided the context…
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 – Walk Around Arundel: 52 Places to Hike with Your Dog (And other best friends)
Jefferson Holland will share some of his favorite places to explore in Annapolis and Anne Arundel County with notes from his book, “ Walk around Arundel: 52 places to hike with your dog (and other best friends)” – a collection of essays from his popular column in the Annapolis Capital. Food and drink suggestion: crab…
JUNE
Why did so many 17th century Americans believe that witches walked among them? How could they balance their faith in reason with a belief system that encouraged them to see wondrous signs of God’s love and the Devil’s temptations all around them? How did they respond when they believed the devil’s servants were stalking their own…
JULY
“The Great Awakening” presented by Dr. Richard Bell The Great Awakening was a major revitalization of Christian faith and practice that swept through the American colonies in the 1700s. It marks the moment at which new faiths began to compete with Puritanism, Anglicanism, and Quakerism for the hearts and minds of American colonists. But…
AUGUST
The Balance of Power in Colonial Native America Native Americans did not disappear from colonial history in the 18th century. On the contrary, throughout the 1700s, Native Americans exerted decisive influence on the American colonies encroaching all around them. But how, why, and at what cost? How did Native people navigate the rapid changes to…
The first Africans had been brought to Virginia as slaves in 1619 but it wasn’t until the 1670s that slavery began to dominate parts of the American economy. That process continued apace in the 18th century transforming every aspect of most southern colonies, from Virginia to South Carolina and Georgia. How did American law transform to…
SEPTEMBER
Presented by Daniel J. Sieh The United States, or “Gold Mountain” as it was known in Asia, was often seen as a very distant but promising destination for many in the East looking for opportunity. New research puts the beginnings of Asian immigration much earlier than expected, with some even making their way to the American Revolution…
OCTOBER
Storyteller Jefferson Holland presents a delightful program of original tall tales and songs inspired by the people and places of the Bay, from the Native Americans who feasted on oysters along her shores to the modern-day sailors who ply her waters. Food/drink suggestion: Chesapeake oyster stew with Fordham Copperhead Ale The Historic Annapolis 2025 Virtual…
North Slavery in Colonial America We tend to think of slavery as a labor system that was confined to the American South. But it turns out that that’s not the full story. Slavery was also a fact of life in many northern colonies before the American Revolution. Northern slavery was never as widespread or as…
DECEMBER
The American colonies were full of strangers—new arrivals born far away. Among the white population, those colonies teemed with immigrants from all across western Europe and elsewhere. Why did they come? Where did they settle? How did they live? To answer these questions, we’ll examine the demographic makeup of the British colonies in 1700 and…
Can’t watch live? All lectures will be recorded. Please register and you’ll receive the link to watch the recording after the event.
Time: 7 pm (ET) (pre-registration required; registration closes at 6:30 pm)