Hear from National Book Award winner and Pulitzer Prize finalist Nathaniel Philbrick about our country’s westward expansion and _The Rush_. In his _New York Times_ best-selling book, the author reveals how California’s Gold Rush forged the modern United States—and lit the long fuse to civil war. Don’t miss Philbrick’s presentation and conversation with Ryan J. Woods, President and CEO of American Ancestors.
In January 1848, a carpenter spotted flecks of gold in a shallow stream at Sutter’s Mill in California, triggering the greatest voluntary migration in U.S. history, as hundreds of thousands raced west in pursuit of sudden wealth, reinvention, and power. In The Rush, Nathaniel Philbrick follows the gold as it moves from riverbed to countinghouse to the halls of power, revealing how vigilantism hardened into law and how debates over slavery in the West tipped the balance in Washington. The result is a clear, human story of how a scramble for wealth reshaped ideas of freedom, labor, and belonging—and how California’s rise helped push a fractured nation toward war. The Rush is alive with characters whose choices still reverberate: a searing, panoramic epic that captures both the fury and the promise of America. Join Nathaniel Philbrick and Ryan J. Woods for an immersion into history, a look at the origins of America’s modern contradictions.
Nathaniel Philbrick, our master storyteller, sees in the Gold Rush a Rosetta Stone for pre–Civil War America. It is a confounding and encouraging chronicle told from a myriad of perspectives, a bottom-up, epic tale of an inevitable rush toward profit and near-national suicide.”—Ken Burns, filmmaker
Zoom Access
Click here to join the live broadcast: https://zoom.us/j/95697194927
The live broadcast will take place on January 28, 2027, 6:00-7:15p.m. Eastern Time. The program will be recorded, and registrants will receive a link to the video recording, which will be posted to this page.
Additional Information
Signed Books: Attendees who purchase the $51 bundled ticket will be mailed a signed (book-plated) copy of The Rush ($38 value), in addition to gaining access to the virtual program. Book(s) will be sent by our partners at Porter Square Books (Cambridge, Mass.) two weeks after event; via Priority Mail throughout the U.S., except in Massachusetts (Media Mail).
Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of In the Heart of the Sea, winner of the National Book Award; Mayflower, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Valiant Ambition, winner of the George Washington Prize; Bunker Hill, winner of the New England Book Award; Travels with George; Away Off Shore; Second Wind; Sea of Glory; and The Last Stand. Philbrick was awarded American Ancestors’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015; January 28 will be his third appearance in the American Inspiration author series.
Ryan J. Woods is President and CEO of American Ancestors. An educator and historian, he has spent more than two decades advancing family history, heritage, and culture through scholarship, teaching, and public engagement. Ryan serves in leadership roles with several nonprofit organizations, including as an appointed commissioner of the Special Commission for the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and as a member of the advisory board for the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. During his tenure at American Ancestors, he has overseen the expansion of AmericanAncestors.org to more than one billion searchable records and led transformative initiatives, including the launch of 10 Million Names, the new national headquarters, and the Family Heritage Experience.