The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati promotes knowledge and appreciation of the achievement of American Independence, fulfilling the aim of the Continental Army officers who founded the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783 to perpetuate the memory of that vast event. The Institute supports advanced study, presents exhibitions and other public programs, advocates preservation and provides resources to teachers and students to enrich understanding of our War for Independence and the principles of the men and women who secured the liberty of the American people.
The Society of the Cincinnati was founded in 1783 with more than 2,200 original members-officers of the Continental Army and Navy and their French counterparts who served together in the Revolutionary War and wanted to promote the ideals and nation they fought for as well as preserve the bonds they forged with their fellow soldiers. Named for the ancient Roman citizen-soldier Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the Society was led by its first president general, George Washington, whose own selfless, patriotic service earned him the nickname the "American Cincinnatus." The Society was created as a hereditary organization so the founders’ descendants could carry on their work, and it has more than four thousand members today. The Society became a federally recognized nonprofit educational organization in 1937, devoted to promoting knowledge and appreciation of the American Revolution and its legacy. The following year, the Society established its headquarters at Anderson House, a 1905 mansion in Washington, D.C., donated by Society member Larz Anderson and his wife, Isabel. In the years since, Anderson House-now a National Historic Landmark-has been the home of the Society’s work, including its museum, research library, and historical and teacher programs. Today this work is done under the umbrella of the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati, created in 2012 to focus the Society’s public presence on the subject, the American Revolution, that is at the heart of its mission.
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