Professor Allen Gontz describes the techniques and technology used to search for sunken artifacts in the Boston Harbor and the wrecks found by these techniques, including those of the Magnifique (wrecked in 1782) and the Niagara (wrecked in 1897). The presentation includes slides.

Joseph Garver, reference librarian of the Harvard Map Collection, displays maps of coastal Massachusetts from the 1600s to the 1930s and shows how cartographers have drawn the shoreline to suit their political and commercial goals. His presentation includes slides.

An audio version can be downloaded.

Professor and author Michael Oren looks at the history of relations between the U.S. and the Middle East, beginning in 1785 with the Barbary Wars and continuing to the present day.

The lecture audio is also available as a mp3 file.

As a part of a bicentennial series celebrating Boston Athenaeum writers, Marshall Moriarty presents orator and statesman Daniel Webster (1782–1852); Representative Martha M. Walz presents activist Lydia Maria Child (1802–1880); and Daniel R. Coquillette presents sixth President of the U.S. John Quincy Adams (1767–1848).

Library of Congress Rare Book and Special Collections chief Mark Dimunation discusses a recently-completed project to reconstruct Thomas Jefferson's library—the library sold to the U.S. government to form the foundation of the Library of Congress. He deals with the history of the original collection, and what the collection reveals about Thomas Jefferson. The presentation includes slides.

The lecture audio can be downloaded separately.

As part of a bicentennial series celebrating Boston Athenaeum writers, Jill Ker Conway discusses the work of maritime historian Samuel Eliot Morison (1887–1976); Megan Marshall discusses Christian author and first female entrant to the Athenaeum, Hannah Adams (1755–1831); and Philip McFarland discusses historian Francis Parkman (1823–1893).

Historian Elizabeth Riely explores Benjamin Franklin's fascination with the wild turkey, including his desire to see the turkey made the national symbol. She touches on the history of European discovery of the turkey.

National Portrait Gallery curator Ellen Miles looks at painter Gilbert Stuart's 1796 portraits of George and Martha Washington, covering their creation by Stuart, Stuart's relationship with the presidential couple, and the impact and reception of the portraits since their creation. The presentation includes slides.

Audio and video options are available.

Former U.S. ambassador Michael Novak and wife and co-author Jana Novak examine the religious beliefs of George Washington and their impact on his life and roles as general and president.

Professor Joyce E. Chaplin covers Benjamin Franklin's creation of one of the first accurate charts of the Atlantic Gulf Stream in 1768 and the history of scientific research in the British colonies, both by Franklin and other scientists, that allowed the creation of such a chart.