Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom - John Adams, 1789
Established in September 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute is classified by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization, a public charity. The Institute develops instructional material and educational programs on America's Founding documents and principles for high school American History and Civics teachers and students.
With an annual operating budget of over $4 million, the Institute is grateful to be supported by 3,000 individual, corporate, and foundation donors as we work to strengthen civic knowledge and foster civic values among the next generation of citizens.
The Bill of Rights Institute has assembled a talented team to create each of our programs, including a full-time staff with more than 120 years combined experience in the classroom. In addition, we partner with experts, including outstanding secondary school teachers; academics from the fields of American history, political science, and constitutional law; video producers; web site designers; and evaluation and curriculum experts. As a result of this combination of talent and experience, we are successfully educating high school students and teachers about our country's Founding principles.
Organizational Timeline
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1999 |
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 September 1999: The Bill of Rights Institute is established to develop instructional material and educational programs on America’s founding documents and principles for high school American History and Civics teachers. |
December 2000: The Bill of Rights Institute
 provides 2,700 instructional units to the State of Pennsylvania for classroom celebrations of “Bill of Rights Week” |
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2000 |
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2001 |
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February 2001: The Institute releases The Bill of
 Rights and You – its first instructional material to supplement standard History and Government textbooks.
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March 2001: The Institute conducts its first Constitutional Seminar for teachers in Mount Vernon, Ohio, equipping teachers with tools, training, and strategies that better engage students with our Founding principles.
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 May 2001: www.BillofRightsInstitute.org is launched to provide teachers with easy access to lesson plans and student activities. |
March 2002: The Institute distributes its 10,000th E-Lesson to teachers online.
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2002 |
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2003 |
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December 2003: The Bill of Rights Institute trains its
 2,500th teacher about our Founding principles at its Constitutional Seminar in Elyria, Ohio. |
 September 2004: The Bill of Rights Institute celebrates its fifth anniversary. |
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2004 |
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November 2004: The Institute delivers its 50,000th Bill o f Rights Card, a wallet size card that unfolds to reveal the full text of the Bill of Rights. |
June 2005: The Institute conducts its 100th
 Constitutional Seminar, held in Lexington, Kentucky. |
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2005 |
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 August 2005: For the first time in its history, The Bill of Rights Institute conducted three Constitutional Seminars simultaneously on three coasts: East, Gulf, and West. |
 September 2006: The Institute launches its Student Programs Division, utilizing its base of 30,000+ teachers to reach and directly engage their students. |
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2006 |
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September 2006: The Bill of Rights Institute launches
 its Being an American Essay Contest in order to help students gain a deeper understanding of responsible citizenship by asking them to think critically about their rights and responsibilities as Americans. |
June 2007: The Bill of Rights Institute conducts its first Constitutional Academy for high school students, engaging talented students and helping them to increase their civic knowledge
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2007
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September 2007: The Institute educatesand trains its 10,000th teacher |
October 2007: The Institute’s 100th scholar,
 Professor Tuan Samahan, leads a Constitutional Seminar |
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2008 |
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 June 2008: The Institute redesigns its website, www.billofrightsinstitute.org, in order to make it more accessible for teachers and students, and provide more information to them.
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August 2008: The Institute conducts its 105th
 seminar of the calendar year, the most seminars ever held in one year |
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December 2008: The Bill of Rights Institute reaches its 45th state with educational seminars and programs. |
