When the author tells people that her research focuses on how people teach and learn with historic places, the first response is usually "Oh, I love field trips." This sensibility, that field trips are required to teach about a place, is the single greatest barrier to understanding what can be learned from Place. Every Place is an…

As Americans contend with the question of which statues and markers belong (or don't) on public land, government leaders, civic groups, and citizens must be prepared to engage these conversations and answer a range of related questions. In this article, the authors view arguments over public statues--statues of persons that reside on public…

Jamestown is at the heart of any teaching and learning of colonial American history. Stories of John Smith and Pocahontas are learned by elementary and secondary students across the United States. In Virginia, Jamestown is first taught in third grade and revisited five more times from historical, political, economic, and geographic perspectives.…

"Americans," historian Richard White often reminds his audiences, "prefer celebrating to remembering history." The landscape of the United States is populated with local, state, and national sites, house museums, working farms and other places of collective past that are deemed of historic significance. Many of these sites do…

Bridges are some of the most majestic features in the American landscape. For classrooms, the bridge serves as an important component of one of the main themes of geography: movement. One bridge, north of Manhattan and crossing the Hudson River, is the Tappan Zee. One aspect that stands out in a way that does not at all appear reasonable: the…

Monuments are valuable resources for social studies teachers. They provide opportunities for student learning and engagement that are not easily duplicated in the classroom. Their physical appearance, history of creation, narratives, and other features promote opportunities for students to deepen understanding of specific content and to develop…

Samuel Gist was a wealthy British merchant who, toward the end of his life, lived in England, but owned a considerable amount of land with a large number of slaves in America. Upon his death in 1815, his will specified that within one year his slaves should be emancipated, and his estate was to provide them with a new beginning in the form of…

This article discusses the Pleasant Valley School, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, which is now a living history project where contemporary 4th grade students throughout Oklahoma have the opportunity to spend a day as students did in a turn of the century one-room schoolhouse, complete with coal heating, ink wells, and "McGuffey…

Academics debate the veracity of historic sites and what they represent, but no one that has visited historic places as a student, or traveled with students to historic places, can deny their power to teach. Every community has historic sites. Historic sites are, by definition, primary sources. They are artifacts of the past that often contain a…

In this article the author discusses the love for teaching social studies, however with the continued emphasis on reading and math, very little funding is available for social studies materials. Over the years the author has become an expert at teaching on a shoestring budget. Drawing from personal experiences and from the ideas of many other…

On July 31, 1966. David F. Rogers, a citizen of Lincoln, Massachusetts, wrote to Congressman Wayne N. Aspinall, chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. In his single-page, typed letter, Rogers voiced his concern over potential development in his community that would threaten historic sites, and articulated his support for…

This article features original text passages from the primary source, "Diary of Judge A. N. Ferguson engaged as Civil Engineer with a U.P.R.R. [Union Pacific Rail Road] Surveying Party April 25, 1868 to May 10, 1869." Creative ideas for discussion are provided about topics such as weather, and the dangers the survey team endured as they completed…

Presents a lesson plan on the San Antonio River missions. Suggests that students will learn about the role of Spanish missions in the history of the Southwest, the psychological and cultural factors that led Indians to accept mission life, and Spanish contributions to agriculture through irrigation systems. Includes student readings, maps, and…

Presents a history lesson plan on village life among two groups of Plains Indians in the early nineteenth century. Includes student handouts of contemporary writings by Euro-Americans, maps of the area, and early American paintings of the villages. Describes and structures teaching activities, vocabulary, and additional reading. (DK)

Introduces "Teaching with Historic Places," a lesson plan series designed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service. Suggests that teaching with historic places helps students develop an empathetic connection to the past. Explains that students use historic places as primary sources to gather facts and…