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Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton re-enactors debated the need for a Bill of Rights. December 2016 marked the 225th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

This 1918 silent film documents the U.S. experience in World War I. Two historians provided provided context and commentary throughout. America Goes Over is one of many silent World War I films that the National Archives has restored.

Guests talked about the life, works and legacy of author F. Scott Fitzgerald in an effort to learn about the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. “The Jazz Age,” which F. Scott Fitzgerald coined, or the “roaring 20's” as it came to be known, was a period of decadence, youth, and rebellion in a post-World War I era. It was during this time that Fitzgerald and a large group of young writers came to the forefront: Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, John Dos Passos, Henry Miller and numerous others. Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda traveled throughout Europe, as members of the self-exiled expatriates looking for artistic inspiration, intellectual growth, and a good time. Fitzgerald became a major voice for his generation. His works, including The Great Gatsby, offer an insider’s look into the leisure class. He vividly brought social issues like class status, as well as an abandonment of more traditional values to the general public.