Turner and Cromwell Prize Winner To Speak on “Nursery of Rebellion: Snapshots from Revolutionary Princeton” June 18

PBS Cadwalader Lectures in 2026 Focus on the 250^th Anniversary of the Nation’s Birth

The Princeton Battlefield Society (PBS) announced today that Princeton University professor and historian, Dr. Michael A. Blaakman will deliver the first PBS Cadwalader Lecture of 2026 on June 18 at 6 PM at the Nassau Club.

Blaakman, a Cromwell Book Prize Winner, is a historian of revolutionary and early national America, and is the creative force behind the highly acclaimed University exhibition, “Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution.”

Tickets to the lecture, which begins at 6 PM, are $50.

“We are very pleased to have a scholar of Michael’s magnitude kick off our Cadwalader Lectures in the SemiQuint year,” said PBS President Ben Strong. “We have an exciting roster of lectures for the year planned and Michael’s expertise on Princeton’s role in the Revolution will be a boon to all of us.”

Dr. Blaakman’s first book, Speculation Nation, received the Frederick Jackson Turner Award for best first book in American history from the Organization of American Historians as well as the William Nelson Cromwell Book Prize from the American Society for Legal History, and it was a finalist for the George Washington Prize. His dissertation was awarded the 2017 Manuscript Prize from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.

He is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, and he earned a Ph.D. in history from Yale University in 2016.

The Cadwalader Lecture Series, hosted by the Princeton Battlefield Society, offers a compelling forum for the exploration of Revolutionary War history, with a special focus on the Battle of Princeton and the broader fight for American independence. The series brings together distinguished historians, authors, scholars, and preservationists to present original research, fresh perspectives, and in-depth discussions about the people, strategy, and legacy of the American Revolution.

About The Princeton Battlefield Society

The Princeton Battlefield Society is a national historic non-profit organization dedicated to the protection, preservation, and promotion of the Princeton Battlefield as a national treasure of the American Revolutionary War. For more information, including exhibitions and events, visit the Princeton Battlefield Society at https://PBS1777.org/

About the Princeton Battlefield

Princeton Battlefield State Park is a 681-acre state park located in Princeton. The park preserves part of the site of the Battle of Princeton and is located on Mercer Road (Princeton Pike), about 1.5 miles south of Princeton University.

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