News, Events, and
Resources
Forthcoming in summer 2024 from Oxford University Press...
...the first complete and accurate biography of John Dickinson, made possible by the work of the JDP. See the Biography page for more detail.
October 20–22, 2022, Philadelphia, Pa.
Scholars from around the country in a variety of disciplines and with early access to JDP materials presented papers at this first-ever symposium on Dickinson. Hosted jointly by the American Philosophical Society, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and the McNeil Center for Early American Studies.
John Dickinson and the Making of the U.S. Constitution, 1776–1788
Hosted by the Library Company of Philadelphia, October-November 2020.
Session I with guest Liz Covart
Session II with guest Jack N. Rakove
Session III with guest John Kaminski
Recent Interviews with Dr. Jane E. Calvert
“The American Arc” blog, The Jack Miller Center, January 2024.
“Understanding the Legacy of John Dickinson,” The Real America Revolution, February 2022.
“Enlighten Men: The John Dickinson Writings Project,” Delaware Public Media, December 2021.
Ben Franklin’s World: Doing History: To the Revolution! Series, Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture, Fall 2019.
Ben Franklin’s World: Doing History: To the Revolution! Series, Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture, Fall 2017.
Publications on Dickinson and the JDP by Dr. Calvert
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“The Friendly Jurisprudence and Early Feminism of John Dickinson,” in Great Christian Jurists in American History ed. Daniel L. Dreisbach and Mark David Hall (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019), 133–59.
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“An Expansive Conception of Rights: The Abolitionism of John Dickinson,” in When in the Course of Human Events: 1776 in America and Beyond ed. William R. Jordan (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2018), 21–54.
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“Myth-Making and Myth-Breaking in the Historiography on John Dickinson,” The Journal of the Early Republic vol. 34, no. 3 (2014): 467–80.
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“John Dickinson’s Quaker Contributions to the Creation of the American Republic,” in Faith and the Founders of the American Republic, ed. Mark David Hall and Daniel L. Dreisbach. (Oxford University Press, 2014), 277–304.
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“The ‘Documentary Democracy’ of the Writings of John Dickinson, Then and Now,” Scholarly Editing 34 (2013).
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“Letter to Farmers in Pennsylvania: John Dickinson Writes to the Paxton Boys,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography vol. 136, no. 4 (2012): 475–77.
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“‘The Character of an Author’: Attribution and Misattribution of the Writings of John Dickinson,” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America vol. 104, no. 3 (2010): 341–46.
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Quaker Constitutionalism and the Political Thought of John Dickinson. Cambridge University Press, 2009. Or purchase it through Amazon.
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“Liberty without Tumult: Understanding the Politics of John Dickinson,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography vol. 132, no. 3 (2007): 233–62.
With the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall, July 4, 2012.
Dr. Calvert's Public Lectures on Dickinson and the JDP
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“John Dickinson Manuscripts at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania,” Annual Meeting, Board of Directors of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, December 2021.
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“‘Defending the Innocent & Redressing the Injurd’: Discovering the Rights Advocacy of Delaware’s John Dickinson,” University of Delaware, October 2019.
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“Founding Fathers and American Leadership Conference,” Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, September 20, 2019.
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“Human Rights at the American Founding: The Unexpected Contributions of John Dickinson,” University of Kentucky, November 13, 2017.
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Constitution Day Address, University of South Carolina, Upstate, October 2017.
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Constitution Day Address, University of Kentucky, September 2017.
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A.V. Elliott Conference on Great Books and Ideas, Mercy University, Macon, GA, March 2016.
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Delaware Humanities Forum Joseph P. del Tufo Annual Lecture, Wilmington, DE, October 2014.
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Constitution Day Address, George Fox University, Newberg, OR, September 2013.
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“Discovering America’s First Political Hero: The Writings of John Dickinson.” The American Revolution Round Table of Delaware, Newark, DE, October 2013.
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The Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, PA, July 4, 2012.
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“John Dickinson: America’s First Political Hero,” at The Center for Visions and Values, Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania, December 2011.
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Quaker Hill Historic Preservation Foundation, Wilmington, DE, October 2011.
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Saturday Symposium for University of Delaware Alumni, John Dickinson Plantation and The Old State House, Dover, DE, October 2011.
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David Library of the American Revolution, Washington’s Crossing, PA, January 2010.
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The Society for Colonial Wars in Delaware, Wilmington, DE, May 2010.
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The Society for Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Louisville, KY, June 2009.
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The Friends of the Dickinson College Library, Carlisle, PA, March 2008.