“Women in the American Revolution”

Please note that the series package includes all 7 lectures taking place every Monday from January 26 to March 9, 2026. Tickets for single lectures will be available beginning December 1, 2025

Dr. Blair will introduce the audience to a range of American women who helped shape the coming of the American Revolution and the course of the war. From well-known women like Abigail Adams and Deborah Sampson to lesser-known figures like Esther Reed and Shawnee leader Nonhelema, we’ll meet women who fought and spied for both sides, who argued for or against independence, and who pushed the new nation to “consider the ladies” as the United States began to take shape.​

Dr. Melissa Estes Blair is Professor of History and department chair at Auburn University in Auburn, AL, where she has taught since 2015. Prior to arriving at Auburn, she taught for six years at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, and her B.A. from the University of Kentucky. Her research focuses on women and politics in the twentieth-century United States. She is the author of co-author of three books, most recently American Women’s History: A New Narrative History (Wiley-Blackwell 2023) co-authored with Vanessa Holden and Maeve Kane.