Crafting Independence: How the Gunboat Philadelphia Preserved the Revolution
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Oct 16, 2026
- 1:00 - 2:00pm EDT
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Kreitzberg Library
Kreitzberg Library provides electronic and print information resources and services to support all graduate and undergraduate programs.
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Kreitzberg Library
In the summer of 1776, British forces in Canada were plotting to invade the newly formed United States and quash the Revolution before the ink on the Declaration of Independence was even dry. What saved the country was not an army that could fight but one that could build. The story of how more than 10,000 Americans came to Lake Champlain that summer to swiftly construct a fleet and defenses to preserve the republic will change how you think about the Revolution.
Dr. Kenneth Cohen serves as curator of early American history and chair of the Division of Military & Society at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
In his role, he researches and interprets collections related to North American history before 1900 and oversees a curatorial division responsible for more than 250,000 military history artifacts spanning the 16th century to the present. Earlier in 2025, he also served as acting associate director for curatorial affairs at the Smithsonian, helping guide the museum's research, exhibition, and public programming initiatives. Prior to returning to the Smithsonian, he was director of museum studies and public engagement and associate professor of history at the University of Delaware, where he led one of the nation's premier museum studies programs.
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Cost
Free. Open to all.
Contact
Organizer
Joseph Cates
Curator of Academic Engagement and Outreach
Sullivan Museum and History Center