CRM No 8—2000 37

One of the most memorable weeksof my National Park Service careertook place several years ago in

Virginia while attending a workshop to write aTeaching With Historic Places (TwHP) lessonplan for Andersonville National Historic Site. Itis rather hard to describe the emotion as I ate,slept, and lived in Montpelier, the home of Jamesand Dolly Madison. In addition, one day duringthat week was Constitution Day. Although Ilooked for the ghost of the “Father of theConstitution,” James Madison did not appearand the day and night passed without incident.Still, I felt overwhelmed with the realization thatI was in a historic place during such a very specialtime (not to mention feeling a little guilty thatothers did not have this same opportunity andexperience).

During that week of working on the TwHPlesson for Andersonville, I realized that the edu-cational materials that I and fellow workshopparticipants were developing had the potential totouch many people. I hoped that they wouldencourage students to learn more about thiscountry’s historic treasures, events, and people.For many students in many grade levels, thestudy of history means sitting in class, listeningto a lecture, and memorizing dates. These ways ofstudying history do have their place, but historyis so much more than that. Accolades to the edu-cator who can relate history to the student andmake it come alive in the student’s imagination!

One tool that can help educators reach thisgoal is the series of TwHP lesson plans. They areeasy to obtain and provide quick reference mater-ial on a multitude of historic places. One of theadvantages of the TwHP series is that the infor-mation can be used in a variety of ways.Educators can use the material to teach studentswho are unable to visit a historic site, prepare stu-dents who will visit the site, or conduct a post-visit “follow-up” or refresher for students whovisited a historic site.

The Andersonville lesson* has been used inall three ways mentioned above. Students from asfar away as Virginia have used the lesson to exam-ine the Civil War prison camp before visiting.Jim Percoco has brought his Springfield, Virginia,applied history students to Andersonville severaltimes. Because the park staff knows that the stu-dents already have made good use of the lessonplan and other information, the staff person whogives the tour of the prison camp and nationalcemetery can delve beyond the basic story andprovide deeper insight into the administration ofthe prison and prisoner relationships to theguards and each other. Not only has the lessonplan provided students with insight and informa-tion regarding the prisoner of war camp, but per-haps just as importantly it has instigated discus-sions and questions. The students want to learnmore, arriving at Andersonville with insightfulquestions and emotions derived from the knowl-edge that many individuals, North and South,suffered tremendously at this place. They realizethat among the Union prisoners of war buried inthe cemetery are young boys, African Americans,American Indians, Caucasians, Hispanics, andeven a woman who had concealed her identity.Students realize that everyone faced the sameconditions and that survival was more importantthan background. The students can relate tothese individuals. They have a connection withthe people who were there.

It is not only important but imperative thatwe continue to introduce students to the manyhistoric places in this country. TwHP is an idealavenue for this agenda. This unique series canhelp keep the history of our historic places freshin the hearts and minds of today’s students. Thereis an inscription on the Wisconsin Monument atAndersonville which reads: “To Live In HeartsWe Leave Behind Is Not to Die.” The Teachingwith Historic Places series is a positive step to edu-cate students with interesting, pertinent informa-tion that will make history mean something tothem and perhaps even be enjoyable in the process. _______________

Alan Marsh, Cultural Resources Specialist, AndersonvilleNational Historic Site, Georgia

Teaching with Historic Places in the Parks

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* <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/11andersonville/11andersonville.htm>

On-Site/Off-SiteStudents Learn about Andersonville

38 CRM No 8—2000

Teaching theKlondike Gold Rush

F ive years ago, when I was invited toparticipate in a Teaching withHistoric Places (TwHP) workshop, I

was apprehensive—how could I write a lessonplan in just five days? I was never trained as ateacher; I had no idea what to do. Fortunately,the TwHP template is easy to use and can beapplied to any historical site, public or private,prehistoric or modern. Attending the workshopturned the process into a collaborative effort,bouncing ideas off my peers, finding out whatworked and what did not. With a small assort-ment of secondary and primary sources pulledfrom the park’s library and vertical files, I wasable to write a tightly focused lesson plan thatallows students to explore how Seattle wasaffected by the Klondike Gold Rush. Five yearslater, the publication and subsequent digitizationof the park’s lesson plan has given the staff a toolto reach literally thousands of students who areunable to visit the park during the course of atypical school year.

Klondike Gold Rush National HistoricalPark (NHP) has two units, one in Seattle,Washington and the other in Skagway, Alaska.Because of the great distance between them—approximately 1,000 miles, both units are admin-istered as though they were separate parks. Theinterpretive programs tell two different parts ofthe story of the Klondike Gold Rush. In Seattle,

the program centers on how miners prepared fortheir trip in Seattle and how the 1898 gold rushaffected the United States. In Skagway, their storyrevolves around how the gold rush affectedsoutheast Alaska. Skagway controls 2,400 acres ofland and about a dozen historic buildings; theSeattle unit is in a storefront in Seattle’s oldestneighborhood, Pioneer Square. Because theSeattle unit of Klondike Gold Rush NHP is asmall park, with limited staff, a comprehensive,off-site outreach program is beyond what thepark can offer. The TwHP lesson plan is used as atool to bring the park’s story into classrooms thatare unable to visit the park. In 1997-1998, whenthe park celebrated the centennial of theKlondike Gold Rush, the lesson plan became oneof the key components for an outreach program.A grant from the Parks As Classrooms programallowed the park to purchase nearly every lessonplan that was in the publisher’s inventory anddistribute them to area teachers for free. In thepast few years we have mailed hundreds of lessonplans not only to teachers in the Seattle-Tacomaregion, but all over the United States.

The success of Seattle’s lesson planprompted Skagway to write a lesson plan. Theauthor, a park volunteer, did not have the benefitof attending a workshop, but the directions inthe TwHP “Guide To Developing Lesson Plans”1

provided directions for writing a lesson planaccording to the established formula. The advan-tages of having a pair of lesson plans is enormous;we can tell the story of the gold rush in a waythat encompasses the resources of both units.Now that both lesson plans are free and availableon the web,2 we hope to reach a wider audience,especially since so many schools now have highspeed access to the Internet. While feedback fromour clientele has been limited, comments havebeen generally positive. It is now up to the parkto spread the word._______________

Marc Blackburn, Education Coordinator, Klondike GoldRush National Historical Park, Seattle, Washington

With dreams ofstriking it rich,hopeful minersascend the“Golden Stairs”up to ChilkootPass on theChilkoot Trail,Alaska, in 1897.Courtesy Libraryof Congress.

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1 <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/guide.htm> 2 <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons

/55klondike/55klondike.htm> and<http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/75skagway/75skagway.htm>

Teaching with Historic Places in the Parks

CRM No 8—2000 39

Digging History at Fort Frederica On the serene, isolated west shore ofSt. Simons Island, Georgia, the ruinsof a once flourishing 18th-centurysettlement stand. A powder magazineoverlooks Frederica River, a reminderof the fort that protected the Britishcolonies against the Spanish duringthe early-18th-century struggle forcontrol of the southern frontier ofEnglish occupation in the New World.The excavated foundations of variousstructures remind visitors that from1736-1758, the planned communityof Frederica served the military garri-son quartered there and housed acivilian population.

So begins the TwHP lesson plan“Frederica: An 18th-Century PlannedCommunity,” by Marion Robinson.

Georgia curriculum standards require learningabout colonial history in the fourth grade andGeorgia history in the eighth grade. FortFrederica NationalMonument satisfies boththese requirements. The les-son plan, consisting of activi-ties, readings, and historicand modern maps of the fort,town, and southeast region,though written at an eighth-grade level, provides supple-mental material for an activefourth-grade program.

In 1994, Fort FredericaNational Monument estab-lished an archeology educa-tion program in collaborationwith the Glynn Countyschool system. Each year,over 1,100 fourth-grade stu-

dents excavate artifacts in a disturbed archeologi-cal site at the park and analyze the unearthedartifacts in an archeological laboratory located ata nearby school. Teachers use the curriculum,Discovering Our Past Through HistoricalArchaeology, to facilitate the study of archeologyto students. Over 20 hours of classroom time isspent on topics ranging from concepts to theory,and from field work and laboratory analysis toreport writing and artifact conservation. TheTwHP lesson developed on Fort Frederica filledin the missing historical content needed. In1998, age-appropriate lessons for the fourthgrade, entitled Frederica Families, were developedand added to the archeology curriculum.

Visitation to Frederica by eighth-grade stu-dents and their classes statewide occurs duringthe spring academic season. “Frederica: An 18th-Century Planned Community” continues toserve Georgia’s classrooms. Access via theInternet* has created an opportunity not onlyfor Georgia’s teachers and students but also forteachers nationwide to learn about one of ournational treasures._______________

Noelle Conrad, Education Specialist, Boston SupportOffice, National Park Service; formerly, Interpretive ParkRanger/Education Coordinator, Fort Frederica NationalMonument, Georgia_______________* <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/

31frederica/31frederica.htm>

Fourth-gradestudents fromGolden IslesElementarySchool, GlynnCounty, Georgia,study FortFredericaNationalMonument.Photo by theauthor.

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40 CRM No 8—2000

Training Teachers toUse Historic Placesat Fredericksburgand Spotsylvania I enjoyed attending the workshop. Ilook forward to looking through thematerials and using them in my class-room.

I can use these resources to betterteach my students and enrich theirknowledge of history.

Two educators who had just com-pleted a teacher workshop atFredericksburg and Spotsylvania

National Military Park (NMP) wrote these com-ments about their day’s experience. Many otherswho have attended workshops conducted by thepark share similar responses to the informationand resources that they have received. Among theeducation programs and materials I describe forthe participants is the TwHP program.

I was just beginning to develop an educa-tion program at Fredericksburg and SpotsylvaniaNMP in 1993, when I received an opportunityto participate in a TwHP workshop. The purposewas to develop a lesson plan for our park usinghistoric places to teach about events, themes,people, or issues related to the social studies cur-

riculum. Park historian Elsa Lohman and Iteamed together to produce “ChathamPlantation: Witness to the Civil War.” This ante-bellum home, located in Stafford County,Virginia, was the center of military activitybetween 1862 and 1864. Once the centerpiece ofa thriving estate supported by nearly a hundredslaves, it now witnessed the turmoil of war.Nearby, four major battles of the Civil War werefought. The Lacy family of Chatham becamerefugees like so many other civilians in the sur-rounding community. Their home became acommunication center, headquarters, and later ahospital. President Abraham Lincoln, WaltWhitman, and Clara Barton visited wartimeChatham. Primary sources, maps, and pho-tographs provide students with a sense of timeand place.

More than a hundred teachers in the fivearea school systems have attended our workshopssince 1994, eager to learn as much as possibleabout the Civil War. In this fast-growing part ofVirginia, many teachers are new to the area andare unfamiliar with the park and its resources.While an abundance of material exists on theCivil War, teachers do not have time to becomehistorians and sift through history books.Teachers here have the unique opportunity toteach students who live on land upon whicharmies marched, camped, and fought. They wel-come avenues through which to excite studentsboth in and out of the classroom to touch, feel,and experience this momentous time inAmerican history. Students, in turn, can developan appreciation and sense of stewardship for his-torical places and become potential champions ofpreservation.

In my workshop I share a number of cur-riculum-based programs designed to enrich class-room studies of the American Civil War and helpstudents meet Virginia Standards of Learning forSocial Studies. The traveling trunk serves as amini-museum with reproduction uniforms andequipment for students to handle and examine.The traveling map programs include large canvasmaps for a hands-on study of the area geographyand battlefields. Park brochures, pamphlets, andteacher packets provide useful information andideas.

Teacher’s partic-ipating in a 1999workshop visitthe SunkenRoad and learnhow Robert E.Lee won hismost lopsidedvictory in the1862 Battle ofFredericksburg.CourtesyFredericksburgand Spotsyl-vania NationalMilitary Park,National ParkService.

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of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), and theNational Trust for Historic Preservation(NTHP), the Institute focused on the use of pri-mary sources and issues related to learning styles,standards, content and skill acquisition, andauthentic assessment.

This type of collaboration is essential forthe development of effective NPS education pro-grams. Although NPS sites have great potentialto teach students about concepts, people, places,and events, if programs are not based on theschool curriculum, teachers will choose otheroptions to support their course of study. Today’seducators are faced with required learning stan-dards, lack of transportation funds, and a host ofissues vying for their limited time; they cannotexperiment with programs not designed to meet

Our TwHP lesson plan is another avenueavailable to help teachers link students to theirhistorical community. Educators in StaffordCounty have particularly appreciated this conciseand well-designed lesson, which augments theCivil War curriculum with people, places, andevents that happened right in the backyards ofmany area students. County schools regularlyschedule field trips to Chatham as part of anawareness of local history and Chatham’s role inthe bigger view of the war.

I have found that many teachers are notfamiliar with TwHP, so I provide workshop par-ticipants with a listing of all the lesson plansavailable from the National Register of HistoricPlaces. Should teachers desire short lessons andinformation to support other historical and cul-tural units of study, they will have a handy educa-tional resource for assistance. I even find numerousoccasions in the park’s visitor centers to offer thisand other educational material to visiting teachers.

The staff at Fredericksburg andSpotsylvania has made a striking success in thecommunity by employing cultural resources aspoints of departure for curriculum-based educa-tion programs. None of the park’s attempts tosecure funding for such programs has met withany success, so all of our endeavors have beenwedged into other operations as an intermittentcollateral duty. Funding limitations may sooncause our educational programs to evaporate.Those programs, such as the Teaching withHistoric Places lesson plans, have proved the richbenefits that can accrue from using historic placesas the grist for teaching.

A Stafford County teacher summed up heroverall experience in a workshop held inFredericksburg, August 19, 1999: “Wonderfullesson ideas and plans. Thanks for the informa-tion about this untapped source.” _______________

Janice Frye, Education Coordinator, Fredericksburg andSpotsylvania National Military Park, Virginia

Patti Reilly

Curriculum ConnectionsMaking the Most of National Park Experiences

W hat’s the first thing youwould do at the start ofsummer break after teach-ing a full year in the class-

room? Most of us would select an activity thatwas relaxing and probably not related to school.Not so for a dedicated group of educators whoparticipated in the Historic House ExplorersInstitute this past June. Teachers, museum educa-tors, and content specialists from Massachusetts,New York, South Carolina, and Washington,DC, signed up for a one-week working instituteto develop a framework, methodology, and actionplan for developing curriculum-based programsthat teach seventh- and eighth-grade students to“read” historic homes. Sponsored by the NationalPark Service (NPS), Society for the Preservation