“If a nation expects to be
ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and
never will be.”
-Thomas Jefferson
“There is an old saying that the
course of civilization is a race between catastrophe and education. In a
democracy such as ours, we must make sure that education wins the race.”
-John F. Kennedy
“What
nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who
instructs the rising generation.”
-Cicero
“Be the change that you wish to
see in the world.”
-Mohandas Gandhi
“Those that don’t know their
history are condemned to repeat the 11th grade.”
-James Lowen
When people find out that I am a
high school American history teacher I am usually met with one of two
reactions, “wow that’s cool, I loved my history class when I was in school!” or
“I hated history, it was sooooo boring.” Because you are reading this I can
assume that you are either a history teacher or are studying to become one, and
chances are that you share the perspective of the former and not the later. Of
course if you had a bad history experience in school, you have hopefully had an
epiphany, and now understand how wonderful the study of the past can be, and now
you want to share your passion with your students and develop within them a
love for the subject. The arguments for history education have already been
articulated by others with much more insight and skill then I am able muster.
For an excellent overview take a look at the influential report published by
the Bradley Commission, titled “Building a History Curriculum: Guidelines for
Teaching History in Schools,” or
Peter Stearns insightful essay written for the American Historical Association,
Why Study History?
However, my favorite argument for the study of history, comes from the pen of
Thomas Jefferson in his classic work of American thought, Notes on the State of Virginia, “History, by apprizing them of the
past, will enable them to judge o the future; it will avail them of experience
of other times and other nations; it will qualify them as judges of the actions
and designs of men.”
Despite the many rewards for
studying history many students, from elementary school through college, lack
even a basic understanding of American history. This is according to the latest
report of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or the
nation’s report card. The NAEP history test assesses students in the 4th,
8th, and the 12th grade, the questions were designed to
measure student’s knowledge of U.S. history in the context of democracy,
culture, technological and economic changes, and America’s changing world role.
First the good news, at all grades, the average
U.S. history scores in 2010 were higher than the scores in 1994, and the score
for eighth-graders was also higher than in 2006. However all is not well
in the history classroom, as only twenty percent of fourth-graders, 17 percent
of eighth-graders, and 12 percent of twelfth-graders performed at or above the
proficient level on the 2010 U.S. history assessment.
NAEP defines
proficient as a demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter,
including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world
situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter. At grades
4 and 8, the percentages of students at or above Proficient in 2010 were higher than the
percentages in the first assessment in 1994, but over the same time period the
percentage of twelfth-graders at or above Proficient was not significantly different. You
might be thinking “o.k. but that’s history taught in grade school and no one
likes that subject, I’m sure our more academic and highly educated college
students do much better. Unfortunately you would be wrong, college students did
not fare much better in their knowledge of American history. In an article
titled What About History Education?
Education commentator, Walt Gardner wrote “In 2003, the House Education and
Workforce Committee found that many students from marquee-name schools couldn't
name the President.”
And in 2006, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute assessed 14,000 freshmen and
seniors at 50 colleges and universities about American history and
constitutionalism. The average senior received a grade of 54 percent. More
disturbing, many schools demonstrated negative learning, meaning that seniors
performed worse than freshmen.
In 1999, the American Council of
Trustees and Alumni commissioned the University of Connecticut to evaluate the
civics knowledge of seniors from the country's top 55 colleges and
universities. The finding were disseminated in a study titled Losing America’s
Memory: Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century, the report
concluded that four out of five, or 81% of seniors received a grade of D or F
in terms of their history knowledge.
“Furthermore scarcely
more than half knew general information about American democracy and the Constitution.
Only 34% of the students surveyed could identify George Washington as an
American general at the battle of Yorktown, the culminating battle of the
American Revolution. Only 42% were able to identify George Washington as “First
in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” Less than one
quarter (23%) correctly identified James Madison as the “father of the Constitution.”
Even fewer, 22% of the college seniors were able to identify “Government of the
people, by the people, for the people” as a line from the Gettysburg Address arguably
one of the three most important documents underlying the American system of
government. Over one-third were unable to identify the U.S. Constitution as
establishing the division of power in American government. Little more than
half (52%) knew George Washington’s Farewell Address warned against permanent
alliances with foreign governments.”
Obviously
we have a lot of work to do if we want our students to be historically literate
at both the K-12 and collegiate levels. I think Jefferson would be rolling in his
grave if he knew how little our citizens know about the past. The fact that
American don’t know their history is not a new problem, however, we have perennially
lamented our nation’s historical amnesia, but as professional history teachers
we have a professional responsibility to change this and I believe part of the
solution lies in the way we prepare our new teachers.
Effective teachers may be the single
most important factor in educating students. The Center for High Impact
Philanthropy describes effective teachers the following way “A quality teacher
is one who has a positive effect on student learning and development through a combination
of content mastery, command of a broad set of pedagogic skills, and communications/interpersonal
skills. Quality teachers are life-long learners in their subject areas, teach
with commitment, and are reflective upon their teaching practice…” Anecdotal
observations of new teachers over the years has led me to believe that besides
classroom management, content knowledge is one of the most significant causes
of anxiety for new teachers, which raises the question, “how much history do
good teachers need to know?” Subject mastery is a hard thing to measure because
teachers are not merely responsible for knowing strings of irrelevant dates and
facts, but must have both subject matter knowledge and subject specific
pedagogical knowledge. Not only do teachers need to know their history, but they
must be able to effectively teach it. According to education researcher Lee Shulman,
“teachers must not only be capable of defining for students the accepted truths
in a domain. They must also be able to explain why a particular proposition is
deemed warranted, why it is worth knowing, and how it relates to other
propositions, both within the discipline and without, both in theory and
practice.” In
short, teachers cannot teach what they don’t know.
Education colleges are notorious for
graduating new teachers who have been adequately prepared in terms of teaching
methods and pedagogy, but insufficiently equipped in regards to content. Sam
Wineburg, noted educational psychologist, writes in his seminal work Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts
that “schools of education offer future teachers courses in the teaching of mathematics,
the teaching of science, and the teaching of literature, but we would be
hard-pressed to find more than a handful of courses in the entire nation
devoted to the teaching of history.”
The fact of the matter is that most history teachers in the classroom are not
actually licensed history teachers but have certification in social studies. According
to the National Council of the Social Studies, social studies is defined as the
“integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic
competence.” Social studies as an academic discipline got its start in 1912
when the National Education Association appointed a twenty one member committee
known as the Committee on the Social Studies to reorganize the secondary
curriculum. The committee’s final report issued in 1916 defined the social
studies as “those who subject matter relates directly to the organization and
development of human society, and to man as a member of social groups.” The
committee also laid out the broad goal of the social studies to develop “good
citizens.”
Social studies is comprised of many
disciplines, as a result, practitioners are seldom experts in any specific
field. For example, in the state of Nevada a comprehensive social studies
license allows the license holder to teach any of the social studies courses to
include U.S. history, world history, U.S. government, psychology, and economics.
In addition, a comprehensive social studies
license holder may teach a variety of social studies electives including
college level advanced placement courses. To be eligible for the license,
teachers must take a minimum of fifty-one credit hours spread across the
various social studies disciplines. Due to the way in which the courses can be
distributed, it is theoretically possible for a teacher to teach U.S. history
honors or advanced placement U.S. history having taken only two introductory U.S.
history classes. Now to be fair, it is uncommon for a new teacher to teach honors
level and advanced placement classes, usually those courses are taught by more
experienced teachers. However, that is not to say that general level history
students should be denied a knowledgeable history teacher. Teacher’s lack of
content knowledge may be a significant contributing factor to our nation’s
historical illiteracy.
Having a solid understanding of
content area is, in my opinion, one of the most important attributes of a great
teacher. Teachers who understand their subjects well, and who are knowledgeable
of the latest research and academic debates are going to teach with more confidence
and in greater depth. As a result, students are going to learn more. In addition,
having excellent content knowledge will help you think more deeply about your curriculum
and help you determine the most important topics to teach. To clarify, I am not
talking benchmarks and standards, rather I am referring to the larger themes of
your course, the big ideas that you believe to be important, such as exploring
the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy, or the importance
of innovation and entrepreneurialism through American history, or the
fulfillment of Jefferson’s proclamation that “all men are created equal,” and
the extension of civil liberties to all Americans regardless of race, gender,
economic status and sexual orientation. These organizing themes can shape your
course making it more intelligible to your students, but in order to think
about American history in this way, you must have an excellent understanding of
history and recognize its themes and connections.
Historiography is defined as the
study of the methodology and development of "history" as a
discipline, or a body of historical work on a specialized topic, it is
essentially the history of history and factors that shaped the writing of that
history. It is important for teachers to understand how history is interpreted
and written so that they will be better equipped to design, implement and
choose teaching resources wisely. It is important for teachers, at the
secondary level especially, to understand that traditional historical narratives
were written from the perspective of the “great man theory” of history. This
school of thought looked at the past and determined that significant historical
events were the result of influential men who through personal charisma,
integrity, and wisdom did great things. This interpretation oftentimes comes
across as teaching heritage or hero worship rather than history, as students
celebrate the achievements of predominately white, Christian men. This
interpretation tends to focus on presidents, politicians, military and business
leaders. I am not suggesting that it is wrong to teach from this perspective
but it must be tempered with the acknowledgment that there were other peoples
involved in our nation’s story. Newer
interpretations focus on the social aspects of the past, and tell the story of
American history through the eyes of every-day Americans including women,
minorities and other historically underrepresented groups. The “new social
history” approach tends to express a more liberal interpretation of history and
challenges students to think about the past from the point of view of the
laborer rather than the capitalist, or the private instead of the general.
Having an understanding of how history is interpreted and written will result
in greater understanding of the past and a more informed and balanced presentation
to your students.
The traditional way to become a
teacher is through a teacher preparation program offered at either the
undergraduate or graduate level. As I have said before education programs are
useful in terms of pedagogical preparation, but in my opinion fall short in
building a strong foundation in content. Traditionally teachers move up the pay
scale in relation to the number of years of experience and the amount of
education obtained. As a result, most teachers within a few years of teaching begin
graduate programs in order to advance in the pay scale. Most teachers choose to
earn degrees in education rather than their subject area. There is a simple
explanation for this, advanced degrees in an academic subject are usually much
more rigorous and time consuming to complete, than those in education related
fields. As a result, a whole cottage industry of M.Ed. (Masters of Education)
degree granting institutions has proliferated the market. With online education
it has become possible to take your degree without ever stepping foot into a brick
and mortar classroom. As convenient as online degrees are, especially to teachers
who are trying to balance their professional and personal lives, they are not
without controversy. My intention is not to argue the legitimacy or educational
value of such degrees, but rather to make the case that professional history educators
are much better off earning an advanced degree in history than in education.
The idea that educators should take academic degrees in the subjects they teach
instead of education has begun to take traction as there has been growing
pressure for teachers to be held accountable for what their students have
learned while under their tutelage, I believe strong content knowledge is
essential for student achievement in the social sciences Regardless if you earned a degree in history of not, it is
still important for you to continue building upon the body of knowledge you
already have. There are numerous ways to increase your content knowledge, and I
will outline some of those ways I have done this in the hopes of helping you to become a better teacher.
The Textbook
I believe the textbook is best
utilized as a reference resource much like a dictionary or an encyclopedia,
these types of books were not written to be read cover to cover, but to quickly
access information about a particular topic. Having said that, your course
textbook does contain useful information that will help you understand the
breadth of American history and give you a good overview, but please be aware of
the fact that many textbook publishers intentionally leave out history that
some interest groups may find objectionable, in the hopes of appealing to the
largest markets possible. Some issues that have been historically glossed over
in the attempts at reaching a consensus interpretation of past invents include
the causes and outcomes of the Civil War, issues focusing on religious
differences, particularly between Catholics and Protestants, issues of immigration,
conflicts between labor and capital, and the Civil Rights movement. It is the
downplay of conflict in American history that makes the textbooks so unreadable
and boring for students, as the very elements that make history interesting
have been purged from the pages of the text. As James Lowen writes in Lies My Teacher Told Me “The stories
that history textbooks tell are predictable; every problem has already been
solved or is about to be solved. Textbooks exclude conflict or real suspense.
They leave out anything that might reflect badly upon our national character.
When they try for drama, they achieve only melodrama, because readers know that
everything will turn out fine in the end.”
If you find it beneficial to use textbooks
as a source for history content try to get as many different textbooks as you
can. I have found it useful to collect and read Advanced Placement and college level textbooks, each book will
have a slightly different vantage point, as some will focus on economic
history, others might devote more time to issues including civil liberties and technology
and innovation among other themes. Because they are written at a higher level,
these texts will contain more detail. It is always a good idea to prepare for
your lessons using a different textbook than your students, as the material you
teach will not just be a regurgitation of what they have already read, but by
using various textbook sources you can hopefully introduce new points of view.
Some textbooks that I have used include The Enduring Vision, The American
Pageant, the most popular AP U.S. History textbook on the market, and Out of
Many.
Popular History
and Biography
Several years ago I worked with a
new teacher and we were discussing the Great Depression and the New Deal, she
admitted that she did not know much about that period in history, so I
recommend that she read David Kennedy’s magisterial work Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945.
I cautioned her that it is a doorstop of a book over 800 pages. She told me no
thanks, that reading made her tired, that whenever she tries to read she falls
asleep, so she doesn’t read much! A history teacher who doesn’t like to read is
like an art teacher who doesn’t like color, it is inconceivable to me. To be an
effective teacher, it is absolutely essential that we read widely and deeply. I
will not go into the virtues of being well read, I think they are self-evident,
however I will point out that it is important to step out of your immediate
area of interests and engage in works that pertain to subjects you don’t
normally read. This will help you become more confident in terms of your
subject as well as help you make connections between various periods in
American history. If you love colonial history, for example, force yourself to
read about World War Two, if the 60s is your thing, go out of your way to learn
more about the Antebellum period. I explain to my students the single most
important thing you can do in terms of becoming an educated person is to read
voraciously. Every year I take a survey of my classes to find out who has a
library card. And every year I am disappointed by the results, literally 5-10
students out of a class of 35 have one and I am sure that very few actually use
it on a regular basis. I like to take the books I am reading to class with me
and leave them in a conspicuous place, when I have the chance I will pick it up
and read briefly, like when the students are busy with seat work or taking a
quiz, I want my students to see me reading because I think it is important to
model the behavior we want our students to engage in.
I love to read popular history, and
evidently so do many others. As of this writing, The New York Times best
sellers list indicates that four of the top ten best-selling non-fiction
hardcover books are histories. Some of my favorite authors include David
McCullogh, Joseph Ellis, Doris Kearns Goodwin, H.W. Brands, Walter Isaacson,
Howard Zinn, Jared Diamond, Erik Larson, Mark Kurlansky, and Stephen Ambrose,
among many others. Through the pages of popular history, the past comes alive
in ways the textbook can never achieve. Readers have the opportunity to immerse
themselves in the time period, and to enjoy the milieu of the past to indulge
in the sights, sounds and smells of a time gone by. Readers become absorbed in
the complexities of history as well as the romance and intrigue of lives once
lived, but at the same time can draw parallels to our own times. I particularly
enjoy learning about what made historical figures tick, to include their
formative years, ambitions and foibles, these figures come alive for me and at
the same time illustrate an important concept of historical study, that the
past was not inevitable. What if there was not a Wahington, Jefferson or
Madison? Would we have won our independence from England? And even if we had,
would we have been able to create the Constitution and our democratic republic?
What if Lincoln had not been elected in 1860? Would there be two countries
instead of one? What if civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglas, Sojourner
Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Martin Luther King, and Stokely Carmichael did not
agitate for racial equality, would the nation have the same imperative to work
towards racial equality?
A great way to stay current with
recently published popular history and biography is to become a member of the
History Book Club (http://www.historybookclub.com) While it is
true that one may be able to find the latest books for less at major retailers
like Costco and Sam’s Club, the added convenience the club offers in my mind
makes it worth it. Here’s how it works, club members receive four books of
their choice for one dollar each, you
are then required to buy a certain number of books at regular club prices to
include shipping and handling to fulfill your membership obligation. The books
are of excellent quality and are all hardbound editions. I especially like the
recommendations section of the website. The club will offer me new titles . based
upon the books I have already purchased, I have discovered several new books this
way. The website makes browsing for new books easy by breaking down history
into various sub categories such as American, ancient, biography, Civil War
etc. In addition you can browse for books by “new arrivals,” “coming soon,” and
“best sellers.” For busy teachers who
don’t have a lot of time to peruse the local book store the History Book club
might prove to be convenient and useful alternative.
My students enjoy stories, and history
is made up of some incredible ones. When I get the feeling that my student’s
attention is starting to wane, I like to announce “story time!” One of the
things my students find most interesting about my little stories is the trivia,
they enjoy learning about the things that are not included in the textbook. I
will admit that they are generally drawn to the macabre, like detailed
descriptions of Civil War surgery, and the vulgar, such as a vivid explanation
of what it was like living in a 19th century tenement building
(where did they go the bathroom?). Reading widely will provide you with plenty
of interesting stories and anecdotes. I have several historical trivia books
lying around, and my students love learning the little known facts of the past.
I think learning about historical figures foibles and imperfections humanizes
the history, it certainly makes the past more interesting. Here are a few
popular titles American History Revised: 200 Startling Facts that Never Made it
into the Textbook, The Big Book of American Trivia, American Trivia: What We
Should All Know About U.S. History, Culture and Geography and After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of
American History’s Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters to name a few.
Summer Seminars
Teachers are busy people. We spend a
lot of our time preparing lessons, assessing student learning, managing our
classrooms as well as advising clubs, coaching sports, working with parents and
special education specialists, all in the pursuit of achieving better learning
outcomes for our students. Let’s not
forget the myriad other things that come up during the school day that fill up our
time. It is a special moment when we can find a moment to expand our content
knowledge and enjoy the process and fruits of learning for learning’s sake. For
example, during the year it may take weeks to get through a work of history,
nibbling away at a volume sometime only a few pages at a time, ugh! One of the
perks of being a teacher is of course our summer “vacation.” Despite the public
misconception that teachers sit around the pool drinking mai tais all summer
long, I use the time, as most teachers do, to evaluate, and restructure my
course to include lessons, projects and activities and assessments. In addition,
I learn about things I am either rusty on, or need a deeper understanding of. I
have found that one of the most interesting and interactive ways to gain a more
profound understanding of a historical topic is through participation in summer
seminars.
Summer seminars are exactly what the
name implies, seminars ranging in length from a few days to a few weeks usually
devoted to the in-depth study of a particular topic or time period, held during
the summer months. Summer seminars are usually located on the premises of
universities and taught by university faculty. Although some seminars I have
attended were held at national historic sites. Many institutes pay for the
teacher’s travel to and from the seminar and provide housing as well as meals,
usually at the university facilities. In addition, many seminars provide teachers with books and other course
supplementals free of charge. I love summer seminars because it gives me the opportunity
to become a scholar, and to immerse myself in deep historical study. It’s nice
not having to worry about taking attendance, preparing lesson plans, and
attending parent teacher conferences, you are there to learn about your subject
and to collaborate with peers. In all of the seminars I have participated in I
have always been afforded professional courtesy and respect from the professors
and facilitators alike, my opinions and points of view were valued and I truly
felt like a professional history teacher, valued for my knowledge of history
and experience in the classroom..
In addition, summer seminars provide
an excellent opportunity for teachers to meet colleagues from various parts of
the country and engage in meaningful dialogue as it pertains to history and
educational issues. Some of the most profound and insightful conversations I
have ever had regarding teaching and learning took place while in attendance at
a summer seminar. There are several different organizations that sponsor summer
seminars and I will briefly describe them. Most of the information about the
following summer seminars comes directly from the organization’s website.
The
Gilder Lehrman Teacher’s Seminar offers teachers institutes throughout the
summer consisting on average of a week’s residency at major colleges and
university across the nation. The Gilder Lehrman faculty is comprised of a
veritable whose who of the nation’s best scholars presenting in their field of
interest. While Gilder Lehrman’s major focus is on early American history it
does offer seminars on 20th century topics. Gilder Lehrman offers a
travel stipend of up to $400.00 as well as provides for room and board as well
as three meals daily. All course materials are provided to students free of
charge several weeks prior to the seminar.
Each year the NEH’s Division of Education
Programs offers teachers opportunities to study a variety of humanities topics
in NEH Summer Seminars and Institutes. An NEH Summer Seminar for school
teachers enables sixteen participants to explore a topic or set of readings
with an expert scholar. The core material of the seminar need not relate
directly to the school curriculum; the principal goal of the seminar is to
engage teachers in the scholarly enterprise and to expand and deepen their
understanding of the humanities through reading, discussion, writing, and
reflection.
Thomas
Jefferson Barringer Research Fellowship For Teachers of American History
The Barringer Fellowship for
Teachers of American History is designed to provide individual teachers an
opportunity to research and study at Monticello and the Jefferson Library in
Charlottesville, Virginia. The two-week fellowship allows teachers to work on
Jefferson-specific projects such as lesson plans, curricular units, resource
packets, or syllabus outlines that will enhance their classroom teaching and
contribute to the cannon of teacher resources available online at Monticello’s Digital
Classroom http://classroom.monticello.org/. Fellowship recipients spend two weeks in
independent research and consultation with Monticello scholars on projects of
their choice that relate directly to Thomas Jefferson and that will enhance
their classroom instruction
Established in 1999, the George
Washington Summer Residential Teachers' Institute is a highly
competitive program which brings teachers to Mount Vernon, Virginia for an
intensive week of study at Washington's home. Participating teachers
immerse themselves in the study and discussion of this critical period of
American history and the remarkable role George Washington played in the
founding of our nation. Teachers will have the opportunity to: Explore the
character and accomplishments of George Washington while living on his estate. Engage
in an active exploration of 18th-century history with top historians Participate
in interactive workshops, tours, fieldtrips, and group projects. Discuss how to
integrate the teaching of history into English, science, math, and geography
curricula. Return to your classroom and share new knowledge, teaching
materials, and enthusiasm with your students. All teachers accepted into the
institute receive a travel stipend and reside on the grounds of Washington's
home. Participants are required to complete one lesson plan for dissemination
to teachers across the nation on the Mount Vernon website, and perform one
in-service session for colleagues in their home district or state.
Abraham
Lincoln Fellowship
Each year 50 educators from around the country
are selected for the Horace Mann - Abraham Lincoln Fellowship program. Fellows
spend a week of their summer learning about Lincoln while touring various
historical sites in Illinois, including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential
Library and Museum, Lincoln's New Salem State Historic Site, Lincoln's home,
Lincoln's tomb and the Old State Capitol State Historic Site.
Bill of Rights Institute: Constitutional Seminars for Teachers
http://billofrightsinstitute.org/programs-events/educators-programs-events/about-our-teacher-programs/
Constitutional Seminars for Teachers professional development
programs are designed to include both content and pedagogy. At one of our
day-long seminars, you will engage with leading academics on important
constitutional principles, historical events, and Supreme Court rulings. Led by
a Master Teacher, you will spend time with your fellow educators exploring ways
to bring your knowledge to the classroom using Bill of Rights Institute
materials and teaching strategies. Each participant in our one-day programs is
given a professional development certificate showing completion of 6 contact
hours of instruction.
Primarily Teaching is designed to provide access to the
rich resources of the National Archives for educators at the upper elementary,
secondary, and college levels. Participants will learn how to research
historical records, create classroom materials based on the records, and
present documents in ways that sharpen students’ skills and enthusiasm for
history, government, and the other humanities. Each participant will search the
holdings of the National Archives for documents suitable for classroom use and
develop strategies for using these documents in the classroom or design
professional development activities to help classroom teachers use primary
source documents effectively. The sessions will be held at the National Archives
in Washington, DC, and at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library in Abilene, KS, will
have a special Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) focus. The
National Archives preserves and makes available to the public the permanently
valuable records of the United States government. Although the best known of
these are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of
Rights, there are billions of textual documents, maps, drawings, photographs,
films, sound recordings, and computer tapes in the National Archives holdings
that record the American experience of government from 1774 to the present. The
institute is free. Graduate credit for most sessions is available for a fee. Participation
in each session is limited to 10 members. Classes will be filled on a first
come first served basis. Participants will receive classroom materials and a
$250 stipend. A stipend upon successful completion of the course and submission
of a project.
James Madison Graduate Fellowship and Summer Institute
As part of the James Madison
Fellowship program, each fellow attends the four-week summer institute on the
Constitution held in July in Washington, D.C.. Fellows attend the institute
after they have matriculated in a graduate program and commenced coursework. The
academic focus of the institute is a graduate course entitled "The
Foundations of American Constitutionalism." Taught by constitutional
scholars, this course is a study of the principles, framing, ratification, and
implementation of constitutional government in the United States. A feature of
the institute is the occasional trips to sites associated with the
Constitution, in and around Washington. One of the informal benefits of
attending the Institute is the opportunity for interaction with a wide range of
individuals whose varied interests can lead to enduring friendships and
professional associations. Expenses for the Summer Institute are included in
the fellowship.
The
Butcher History Institute, co-chaired by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian
Walter A. McDougall and FPRI Senior Fellow David Eisenhower, aims to contribute
to the more effective teaching of history and to the public discourse over
America’s identity and its role in the world. Each year the Butcher History
Institute sponsors two or three weekend-long history institutes for high school
teachers and junior college faculty. Teachers from all over the country have
attended the weekends, including many leaders of statewide history and social
studies councils. these History Institutes have garnered a national reputation
for excellence and have worked with teachers from 600 high schools in 46
states. Its work is focused in four core areas: teaching military history, teaching
Asia, teaching the Middle East and 9/11, and teaching the history of innovation.
Recorded
Lectures
I love to learn, and if I could
afford to be a career student I would be, but the reality is that as a husband,
father and teacher, I don’t have the time, energy or resources to take college
classes for the fun of it. But I have found an alternative, recorded lectures. Recorded
lectures are the next best thing to actually being in a college classroom, and
in some ways better. There are no research papers or examinations, it’s all
about the pure joy of learning! Courses range in length from a handful of lectures
of between 30-45 minutes to an entire semester’s worth of content. The lectures
are available in several formats including CD, DVD, audio download and
streaming audio. Recorded lectures are available in almost every discipline to
include both American history and world history, as well as mathematics,
literature, science, business and personal wellness to name a few. Two of the
best known companies that produce recorded lectures include The Modern Scholar http://www.recordedbooks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=scholar.home&retail&consumer. And the Great
Courses http://www.thegreatcourses.com/.
Podcasts
Podcasts are a wonderful way to
learn history while living a busy life. A podcast is a type of digital media consisting
of a series of audio files subscribed
to and or downloaded through web syndication or
streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The thing I love about podcasts
is that I can load them onto my iPod (or other portable audio device) and
listen to the lectures on the go. They’re perfect for when I am working out,
doing chores around the house, or commuting. Some of the most popular history
based podcasts can be found at Gilder Lehrman Podcast, iTunes
U, and Open Culture.
Magazines
Finding
time to page through a book can be hard to come by for busy teachers, that’s
why I love to read historically themed magazines. Magazine articles are short
and informative and they don’t take very long to read. I like the fact that
many articles present a unique historical narrative or are based upon a new interpretations
or findings. Some popular history magazines include the following.
History
Magazine http://www.history-magazine.com. “History Magazine provides interesting and
thought-provoking accounts of key events in global history. Chronicling
everything from the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Second World
War to the sinking of the Titanic and the exploits of Al Capone, the articles
in History Magazine are accompanied by breathtaking archival images and
detailed maps. Boasting articles written by some of the field's best known
authors and industry experts, each issue offers an insightful and compelling
take on our continent's greatest (and most infamous) moments. You'll read
fascinating stories and discover facts you never knew about the development of
government, medicine, technology, trade, crime, the arts, the art of war, and
everything in between! Published six times a year, you'll soon be able to
impress your friends by rhyming off new tidbits of knowledge you learned from
the pages of History Magazine!
Smithsonian http://smithsonian.com-sub.biz/?gclid=COOBwerohbQCFQhyQgod0yIAUg.
Smithsonian Magazine brings history, science, nature, culture, and travel to
you. Explore history and archaeology from the Sphinx to Abraham Lincoln and the
Civil War. Catch up on the latest science from wildlife to evolution and the
solar system. Travel to the best places from Petra to Prague. Stop at art
museums and cultural treasures along the way! Your order includes membership in
The Smithsonian Institution. Some other fantastic magazines include:
American Heritage http://www.americanheritage.com/ American Heritage magazine is an award-winning American
history magazine. American Heritage magazine features articles on the people,
places and events that shaped America's past and are sharping the present and
future.
Armchair General http://www.armchairgeneral.com/ Armchair General Magazine lets you experience military
history and strategy with a unique interactive approach. We bring combat to
life by positioning you, the reader at the core of history's momentous battles
- on land, at sea and in the air.
Civil War Times Civil War Times is edited for readers to come face-to-face
with real people who lived the history: soldiers and commanders, families at
home and the politicians who led rival Americas. Civil War Times tells true
stories of the war and its people. Fascinating weaponry of the first modern
war, and the art, music, photography and spirit of the times - all these emerge
from features illustrated with genuine images and objects of the period.
Regular departments provide advice on where to travel, and what to read, listen
to or watch to enrich their experience of the Civil War.
Military History http://www.historynet.com/magazines/military_history Provides the most authoritative, popularly-written,
in-depth articles on the history of warfare from ancient times to the 20th
century. Readers from serious students of military tactics, strategy, leaders
and campaigns to general world history enthusiasts find each issue compelling.
World War Two http://www.historynet.com/magazines/world_war_ii Provides popularly written articles on all aspects of
the Second World War, for readers of all levels of historical knowledge,
ranging from experts to novices. World War II covers not just the drama of the
most famous battles, but features insightful and exciting articles .
American Legacy Magazine http://www.americanlegacymag.com/ In every issue of American Legacy—the premier magazine of
African-American history and culture—we bring to light new stories of great men
and women whose struggles, triumphs, and accomplishments compose our remarkable
history and continue to empower us. American Legacy celebrates an exceptional
group of pioneers and leaders, whose contributions have impacted not only the
African–American community, but also society as a whole.
Footsteps Magazine http://www.footstepsmagazine.com/ Footsteps is a magazine designed for young people, their
parents, and other individuals interested in discovering the scope, substance,
and many often unheralded facts of African American heritage. It is an excellent
classroom resource for teachers, a valuable research tool for students, and an
important vehicle for bringing this rich heritage to people of all backgrounds.
Wild West http://www.historynetshop.com/901ww1.html Wild West Magazine presents the great American frontier
from its beginnings to today. America’s western frontier has been a vital part
of the country’s myths and reality, from the earliest exploration beyond the
territory of the first colonies, to the wide expanses of the western prairies
and deserts. Experience the old west and cowboys and Indians from top
historical writers. Wild West brings to life the fascinating history, lore and
culture of the great American frontier.
Professional Organizations
Participation
in professional organizations gives teachers the opportunity to gain content
knowledge through professional conferences and publications, network, and
actively lobby to raise awareness as to the mission and value of a high quality
social studies education. In addition, participation in professional
organizations helps to distinguish teachers as dedicated professionals who are
concerned with staying on top of the latest research and innovations in the
field. Within the social studies there are a number of professional
organizations to choose from, each organization has a unique mission and
focus.
·
National
Council for the Social Studies- www.socialstudies.org
NCSS is the flagship professional organization for the social studies, it is
the oldest and the most recognized. Membership at the high school level
includes a subscription to the NCSS journal Social Education .
Online Teacher’s
Library U.S. History Collection, a collection of
classroom activities, teaching ideas, and articles from Social Education,
Middle Level Learning, and Social Studies and the Young Learner, the collection
is searchable based on lesson topic and grade level. In addition teachers have
the opportunity to apply for The High School Social Studies Teacher of the Year
Award, which is given at the NCSS Annual Conference. The council also
celebrates excellence in social studies teaching with the Christa McAuliffe
Reach for the Stars Award, the Award for Global Understanding Given in honor of
James M. Becker, as well as the Grant for the Enhancement of Geographic
Literacy. Teachers can expand their content knowledge and teaching repertoire
by attending the NCSS annual conference. The annual conference is one of
the world's largest and most
comprehensive professional development conference. With more than 500
content-rich sessions covering all subjects and grade levels, a lineup of
renowned speakers and education experts, more than 150 exhibiting organizations
displaying the latest in educational resources, and the opportunity to share
the most current knowledge, ideas, research, and expertise in social studies
education. Lastly the council publishes The Social Studies Professional eight
times a year. The TSSP is the official newsletter of NCSS, featuring the latest
news, new resource and professional development listings, and information on
local and state meetings.
·
Southern
and Northern Nevada Council for the Social Studies
Both
are professional organizations affiliated with the NCSS consisting of Social
Studies educators striving to maintain and enhance the importance of Social
Studies in Nevada and the nation. They are committed to fostering the
professional growth of teachers and to the strengthening of the social studies
discipline though professional development, public awareness, and collaboration
at local, state, and national levels.
Founded in 1907, the
Organization of American Historians (OAH) is the largest professional society
dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. The mission of the
organization is to promote excellence in the scholarship, teaching, and
presentation of American history, and to encourage wide discussion of historical
questions and equitable treatment of all practitioners of history.
·
National
Council for History Education
The
National Council for History Education builds bridges between K-12 teachers,
college and university faculty and museums/libraries/historical societies who
all share a common passion for teaching history through outstanding
professional development opportunities, access to a wide range of historical
organizations, thought-provoking annual conferences, free publications, and
information on critical national and local educational issues.
·
Nevada
Council for History Education
The
Nevada Council for History Education, a state affiliate of the National Council
for History Education, is a non-profit corporation whose Board of Trustees is
dedicated to promoting the importance of history in the schools and in society.
This mission became apparent after the publication of the Bradley Commission
report in in 1988. The Council is supported by the national organization as
well as contributions of individuals and organizations. We provide a
communications network for all advocates of history education throughout the
state of Nevada, whether in schools, colleges, museums, historical councils or
community groups. The mission of the Nevada Council for History Education is to
promote history with a collaboration of scholars and teachers across all levels
of schooling, working together as equals who educate each other at every step
of the way.
·
American
Historical Association
The
American Historical Association (AHA) is a nonprofit membership organization
founded in 1884 and incorporated by Congress in 1889 for the promotion of
historical studies. The AHA provides leadership for the profession, protects
academic freedom, develops professional standards, aids in the pursuit and
publication of scholarship, and supplies various services to sustain and
enhance the work of its members. The association’s principal functions fall
within four realms: publication, teaching, advocacy, and networking. As the
largest historical society in the United States, the AHA serves historians
representing every historical period and geographical area. The nearly 14,000
members include academics at universities, two- and four-year colleges,
museums, historical organizations, libraries and archives, but also independent
historians, students, K–12 teachers, government and business professionals, and
countless people who, whatever their profession, possess an abiding interest in
history.
Webinars
Webinars are simply seminars presented over the internet. When viewed live
they will often allow for interaction between the lecturer and the participants
by allowing viewers to ask questions. They are an excellent and cost effective
way to gain historical content.
·
American Institute for History Education http://americaninstituteforhistory.org/talkinghistory/ Sessions
typically include audio and PowerPoint presentations, and usually integrate a
live video feed of the presenter. Participants are encouraged to ask questions
and discuss topics presented. Sessions are recorded for later playback.
·
Explore History Webinars http://hti.osu.edu/node/349/ Web-based
seminars presented by the History Teaching Institute in partnership with the
Ohio Historical Society and the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.
·
Talking History http://www.talkinghistory.org/index.html Talking
History, based at the University at Albany, State University of New York, is a
production, distribution, and instructional center for all forms of
"aural" history. Our mission is to provide teachers, students,
researchers and the general public with as broad and outstanding a collection
of audio documentaries, speeches, debates, oral histories, conference sessions,
commentaries, archival audio sources, and other aural history resources as is
available anywhere. We hope to expand our understanding of history by exploring
the audio dimensions of our past, and we hope to enlarge the tools and venues
of historical research and publication by promoting production of radio
documentaries and other forms of aural history.
Websites
There hasn’t been a more significant advancement in the
field of education than the proliferation of personal computers and the internet
in today’s classroom. Teachers have access to information and ideas
inconceivable in the old days of card catalogs and bound encyclopedias, and the
impacts have been profound for both teaching and learning. Teachers have at
their fingertips an almost inexhaustible number of resources to aid them in the
classroom to include lesson plans, primary source documents, images, sound and
video. The possibilities are both daunting and exhilarating, and for some, may
be a cause for information overload and anxiety. There are so many websites out
there, where to begin? Over the years I have been introduced to a number of
high quality history themed websites that I keep coming back to over and over
again, the following sites have helped me a great deal to deliver high quality
instruction and they may help you do the same.
·
Best of History Websites http://www.besthistorysites.net/ Best of History Web Sites aims to provide quick,
convenient, and reliable access to the best history-oriented resources online
in a wide range of categories and has been designed to benefit history teachers
and their students; however, general history enthusiasts will benefit from the
site as well. Ranked #1 by Google for history web sites, Best of History Web
Sitesd receives upwards of 140,000 visitors per month. With links to over 1200
history-related web sites that have been reviewed for quality, accuracy, and
usefulness, the site also includes links to K-12 history lesson plans, teacher
guides, activities, games, quizzes, and more. Sites with engaging educational
content and stimulating and useful multimedia technologies are most likely to
be included in these pages. However, useful general resources and
research-oriented sites have been included as well.
·
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History http://www.gilderlehrman.org/ Founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman,
the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization
devoted to the improvement of history education. The Institute has developed an
array of programs for schools, teachers, and students that now operate in all
fifty states, including a website that features the more than 60,000 unique
historical documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Each year the Institute
offers support and resources to tens of thousands of teachers, and through them
enhances the education of more than a million students.
·
Our Documents http://www.ourdocuments.gov/index.php?flash=true& is a list of 100 milestone documents, compiled by the
National Archives and Records Administration, and drawn primarily from its
nationwide holdings. The documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to
1965.
·
Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/index.html The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal
cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the
largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs,
maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library's mission is to support
the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the
progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.
o
American Memory Project from the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html Thousands of documents, photos, maps, films, sound
recordings, etc. from the collections of the Library of Congress, including
women's suffrage, African-American pamphlets, George Washington's letter books,
life histories from the WPA, American Revolution broadsides and much more.
·
National Archives and Records Administration http://www.archives.gov/ The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the
course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only
1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us
forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether
you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to
prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that
interests you.
·
The Smithsonian http://www.si.edu/
Founded in 1846, the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research
complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park
and nine research facilities. The Smithsonian is dedicated to the “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”
·
The Avalon Project
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ Documents in law, history and diplomacy.
·
History
Matters http://historymatters.gmu.edu/ Designed for high school and college teachers
and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to
web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary
documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence.
·
PBS
Online http://www.pbs.org/ A great source for information on a myriad of historical
events and personalities. PBS's assorted and diverse web exhibits supplement
their television series and generally include a summary of each episode,
interviews (often with sound bites), a timeline, primary sources, a glossary,
photos, maps, and links to relevant sites. PBS productions include American
Experience, Frontline and People's Century. Go to the PBS Teacher Source for
lessons and activities -- arranged by topic.
EDSITEment is a
partnership among the National Endowment for the Humanities, Verizon
Foundation, and the National Trust for the Humanities. All websites linked to EDSITEment
have been reviewed for content, design, and educational impact in the
classroom. This impressive site features reviewed links to top sites,
professionally developed lesson plans, classroom activities, materials to help
with daily classroom planning, and search engines. You can search lesson plans
by subcategory and grade level; middle school lessons are the most numerous.
·
Khan
Academy http://www.youtube.com/user/khanacademy The Khan Academy is
an organization on a mission. They are a not-for-profit with the goal of
changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education for
anyone anywhere. All of the site's resources are available to anyone. It
doesn't matter if you are a student, teacher, home-schooler, principal, adult
returning to the classroom after 20 years, or a friendly alien just trying to
get a leg up in earthly biology. The Khan Academy's materials and resources are
available to you completely free of charge.
Many
teachers new to Southern Nevada complain that unlike back home, Las Vegas has
no history. While it is true that we have a tendency to implode our historic casinos
when they become unfashionable and fail to turn a profit, and our constant
desire to reinvent ourselves has resulted in the destruction of historic
buildings and neighborhoods, our history is much like the natural beauty of
Southern Nevada, you have to look for it. But when you find it you can’t help
but appreciate its magnificence. But like our natural spaces, Nevada’s story
has to be considered on its own merits, that is, free of Eastern biases
concerning what is historical and what is not. I recall moving to Las Vegas
from Connecticut, I was still in high school at the time and I remember
thinking “this place is ugly, it looks like the moon!” I hated the idea of living
here, but with time I came to appreciate the natural beauty and history of the
region. Regardless if you are Southern Nevada native, long term resident, or
newly arrived Nevadan, you may find the following cultural attractions
beneficial in learning more about the history of this fascinating place. All
descriptions have been taken from the organization’s websites.
Southern Nevada
Museums
Las
Vegas Natural History Museum opened its doors in July 1991, exhibiting a varied
collection of wildlife and prehistoric exhibits on loan. Since then, the Museum
has obtained its own multi-million dollar, world-class collection, and created
an exciting and interactive learning experience. From the desert to the ocean,
from Nevada to Africa, from prehistoric times to the present, the Las Vegas
Natural History Museum takes young and old alike on a learning adventure around
the world.
Through expansive historic
collections, the museum works to advance the understanding of the history,
pre-history and natural history of Nevada, emphasizing Southern Nevada and its
relationship with surrounding areas.
·
National Atomic
Testing Museum http://www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/
The National Atomic Testing
Museum is a repository for one of the most comprehensive collections of nuclear
history. As part of its mission, the National Atomic Testing Museum seeks to
collect and preserve a wide variety of materials and artifacts relating to
atomic testing, the Nevada Test Site, the Cold War, and nuclear and
radiological science and technology. The current collection includes thousands
of rare photographs, videos, artifacts, scientific and nuclear reports and data
and one-of-a kind scientist collections.
The National Atomic Testing
Museum’s collection is fast growing and soon will include even more Cold War
artifacts including those of the men who worked at Area 51.
·
National Museum
of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement (The Mob Museum)
The Mob Museum is an interactive
Museum dedicated to the history of organized crime and law enforcement. The
Museum presents a bold and authentic view of organized crime’s impact on Las
Vegas history, as well as, its unique imprint on America and the world. The
Museum presents the real stories and actual events of Mob history via
interactive and engaging exhibits that reveal all sides of the story about the
role of organized crime in the U.S. The Mob Museum offers multiple perspectives
and provides a contemporary, engaging, challenging and educational experience.
The
Boulder City/Hoover Dam Museum tells the story of the Boulder Canyon Project as
it was experienced by the men and women who braved the desolation of the
Southern Nevada desert to build Hoover Dam and Boulder City. The Museum's
three-dimensional, interactive displays and exhibits describe the great social
and economic forces surrounding the 1929 Stock Market Crash and Depression that
drove thousands of unemployed citizens from their homes into the isolation of
the Nevada desert where the Boulder Canyon Project was one of the few places in
the United States where men could find work. Photographs, artifacts, oral
histories, and the sounds of Hoover Dam construction ringing off the walls of
Black Canyon provide a sense of the complexity, danger, and immense scale of
the construction project, as well as a picture of ordinary life in an
extraordinary time and place.
·
Lost City Museum
(Overton NV)
The Lost City Museum was built by
the National Park Service to exhibit artifacts that were being excavated from
Pueblo Grande de Nevada. These Anasazi Indian sites were being threatened by
the waters of Lake Mead as it backed up behind the newly built Hoover Dam.
Eventually, when the lake was filled to capacity, about five miles of sites had
been inundated or undercut by the water.
The Civilian Conservation Corps assisted in the excavation of the sites
and the construction of the museum building. The building was constructed of
sun-dried adobe brick in a pueblo- revival style. The museum also served as the
park headquarters for the Boulder Dam State Park that was established at Lake
Mead. The museum is currently owned and maintained by the State of Nevada as
one of its six state museums. Program include ongoing archaeological research
on the remaining Lost City sites, school tours and outreach programs, changing
exhibits and archival library and collections research capabilities. Special
public programs are held throughout the year.
·
Old Mormon Fort http://parks.nv.gov/parks/old-las-vegas-mormon-fort/
The first permanent non-native
settlers in the Las Vegas Valley were a group of Mormon missionaries who built
an adobe fort along Las Vegas Creek in 1855. The fort was called Old Las Vegas
Mormon Fort. They successfully farmed the area by diverting water from the
creek. Today, the park includes a remnant of the original adobe fort, which
contains interpretive displays. The Visitor Center contains exhibits on the
history of the site, as well as historic artifacts. Historic interpretation is
and will remain the focus of the park.
The
field of history education is evolving from the old model of teaching history
as a series of historical facts to be memorized in chronological fashion, to
one that requires students to think like historians, that is to analyze and
interpret the past through an examination of primary source documents. Primary
sources are artifacts resulting from direct personal experience with a time or
event. The benefit of using primary sources is that they provide a first-hand
account of a person or event that can then provide evidence of that given
historical era. Examples include diaries, art, autobiographies, interviews,
letters, music, photographs, and speeches (more on this in chapter 2). Teachers
can use primary sources to learn more about local and national history, but
also to develop interesting lessons based upon the area’s unique past. There
are several locations through the Las Vegas valley where teachers can access
primary sources. I have provided most of them below, all descriptions have been
taken from the organization’s websites.
Southern Nevada
Records and Archives
·
Nevada State
Museum Cahlan Research Library (Springs Preserve)
The Cahlan Research Library
maintains various manuscript collections and records related to the history of
Las Vegas and the surrounding area. Some of the papers included in the
collection are: Clark County naturalization records from 1909 to 1956, The
personal papers of Helen J. Stewart and John Cahlan & Florence Lee
Jones-Cahlan,
The Clark County Civil Defense,
including pamphlets from the 1950s, 1930s business records from the Boulder
Club and Pair-O-Dice Club.
The primary educational
objectives of the NVAHOF focus on honoring the past by supporting the future of
aviation. First, the programming consists of four annual scholarships awarded
to outstanding students of aviation and aerospace engineering on the high
school and university levels. Second, the NVAHOF also provides a state-wide
Speakers Bureau for outreach within the community. The third educational
objective is the creation of an accessible archive of Nevada aviation history.
The uniqueness and diversity of Nevada’s aviation projects make it the most
important state in the nation in regards to cutting-edge aerospace technology
and development. A virtual museum and research archive satisfies the final
educational objective, while the NVAHOF searches for a permanent home for its
collections.
·
UNLV Special
Collections
Special Collections houses
unique, rare, and specialized research material that documents the history,
culture and physical environment of the city of Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada
region, the gaming industry, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The collections
include books, pamphlets, posters, serials and periodicals, scrapbooks,
archives and manuscripts, maps, architectural drawings, photographs, video and
audio tapes.
Conducting research has never
been easier thanks to UNLV’s digital collections. This fascinating assemblage
of uniquely Las Vegas images, documents, maps and other ephemera is completely
assessable on line. A short description of each collection and link to the
collection’s home page has been provided for your convenience. All collection
descriptions have been taken from their respective websites.
This project draws exclusively
from the architectural collections of UNLV Libraries Special Collections. These
consist primarily of sets of architectural drawings and renderings from the
offices of the two major hotel architects working in Las Vegas from 1954 to the
1980s: Martin Stern, Jr., and Homer Rissman. Stern’s drawings were acquired in
1996 when he closed his Los Angeles office. Soon after, Homer Rissman agreed to
donate his drawings and records, although the collection was not transferred
from his Las Vegas office until after his death in 2001. The photographic
images for this project are drawn from the UNLV Special Collections photograph
collections.
The persistence of the natural
landscape and predominantly arid ecology of Nevada has created one of the
greatest challenges facing the people of Nevada and the American West as we
struggle to maintain our built environment. This digital collection, The
Historic Landscape of Nevada: Development, Water and the Natural Environment,
documents the historic role of water resource management in Southern Nevada.
The majority of menus selected
for this digital project came from the Bohn-Bettoni Collection, which consists
of approximately 2000 restaurant menus dating from 1870-1930. Henry J. Bohn,
editor and publisher of Hotel World magazine, an early hotel and restaurant
trade publication, collected both American and Canadian menus for many years
and subsequently purchased for his collection the scrapbook of Henri Bettoni, a
London restaurant manager of the late 19th century. Bohn’s own collection
numbered six smaller scrapbook volumes and also included additional cartons of
loose hotel convention dinner menus that Bohn had collected with the help of
Charles Gunther, the noted German-American confectioner and collector whose
collection of unusual artifacts were later sold to the Chicago History Museum.
The UNLV Libraries purchased the Bohn-Bettoni Collection in 1970.
Southern
Nevada: The Boomtown Years http://digital.library.unlv.edu/boomtown/
A new digital collection that
brings together a wide range of original source materials found in widely
diverse collections from UNLV Libraries Special Collections, the Nevada State
Museum, and Historical Society in Las Vegas and the Clark County Heritage Museum.
In addition to original source materials, the collection provides a wide
variety of standards-based activities for elementary and high schoolers.
“Welcome
Home Howard, or Whatever Became of the Daring Aviator?”
A digital collection drawing from
the Howard Hughes collections housed in UNLV Libraries Special Collections. The
exhibit focuses on Hughes the Aviator, popularized in the current Hollywood
film by Martin Scorsese. The exhibit also draws on unique unpublished
documentation and interviews with Hughes from the files of Dick Hannah,
Hughes's public relations director.
This collection features a visual
history of Las Vegas entertainment and focuses specifically on the iconic Las
Vegas showgirl. Included are over 200 scanned digital images of original
costume design sketches, photographic prints, and illustrations.
The planning and construction of
Hoover Dam is the central and defining phenomenon of the history presented by
this digital project. UNLV Special Collections houses the largest collection of
material relating to Hoover Dam, including film footage, maps, government
publications relating to the planning and construction of the dam, and well
over a thousand photographs.
A digital collection featuring
over 80 historic maps.
Built from 1931-1935, the dam put
Las Vegas on the map.
Over
the years historians have begun to recognize the importance of oral history to
preserve the past. There are several excellent oral history collections in
Southern Nevada that examine such topics
as African Americans in Las Vegas, early Las Vegas, show girls, and the
Nevada Test Site to name a few.
The
UNLV Oral History Research Center (OHRC)
OHRC conducts, collects and makes
accessible for research audio and video interviews of members of the Las Vegas
community, selected for their ability to provide reliable first-hand accounts
of the history of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Individual oral history
projects are designed to select and focus a series of interrelated histories
that address a particular historical subject or theme.
Founded in 1999, the Women’s
Research Institute of Nevada fosters the social and economic development of
Nevadans through the collection, preservation, and analysis of information on
women in the state.
The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project at
the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a comprehensive program dedicated to
documenting, preserving and disseminating the remembered past of persons
affiliated with and affected by the Nevada Test Site during the era of Cold War
nuclear testing.
Living
History Association
The Southern Nevada Living
History Association (SNLHA) is an active "Living History" and
"Historic Reenactment" organization. The SNLHA organizes its own
activities, as well as, supporting programs and activities of; the Old Las
Vegas Mormon Fort State Historical Park, Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, the
Boy Scouts of America, and other historically minded groups and local schools.
We do this by offering full programs, or by supplying manpower where needed. We
typically provide the following local programs for our community:
1.We plan and staff “The
Soldiers of The Old Fort” program at the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State
Historical Park, coordinated with the Friends of the Fort.
2.We manage the Spring
Mountain Ranch State Park "American Civil War Re-enactment", in
partnership with the of the American Civil War Society, Inc.
3.We coordinate the
Historic American Civil War era, and other Historic Time Period entries in
local parades: Heldorado Day, 4th of July, and Veteran's Day.
4.We staff the American
Civil War era style Color Guard, Honor Guard and Rifle Squad for public and
private ceremonies around southern Nevada. We do so in cooperation with the
local Veteran, Service, Civic, Ceremonial, Fraternal or other organizations
that request our services.
