Founded in 1943, the OI supports the scholars and scholarship of vast early America—a term used to describe the capacious histories of North America and related geographies, including foundational histories of indigenous peoples, the scale and impact of transatlantic slavery, and multidimensional European colonization and settlement, from the 1450s to the 1820s.

William & Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation founded the Institute of Early American History and Culture in 1943.

The Institute publishes a select number of books each year on topics pertaining to the histories and cultures of North America from circa 1450 to 1820, including related developments in the British Isles, Europe, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

The OI also supports other digital humanities work in early American history including Enslaved.org and the Slave Voyages Project.

Graduate students, junior, mid-career and senior scholars are all invited to submit proposals via a Call for Papers; all levels of career achievement are likewise represented on the final program.

An organizing theme or topic is proposed by a group of scholars who then form a program committee and issue a Call for Papers.