TAH in Austin, Texas

National Council of History Teachers Annual Conference: Seven OVEC teachers and our 3 TAH specialists attended the annual NCHE Conference in Austin, Texas in March. Two of these seven were presenters at this conference: Jerona White, Henry Co. High School, and Misty Buchanan from Carroll Co High School presented on Teaching AP History.

Participants had opportunities to explore sites of National Significance to American History including such places as the Alamo, an historic San Antonio Mission, the LBJ Library and Ranch, the National Museum of the Pacific War, and the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library. Nationally renowned speakers in the field of American History keynoted the conference, which also included many excellent break-out sessions.

What made eight leaders of the American Revolution different? Find out in Revolutionary Characters by Gordon S. Wood, our latest book review.

Did America escape from becoming a dictatorship in 1933 during the depths of the Depression? Check our review of The Defining Moment by Jonathan Alter.

Also new is the review of The Mayflower by Nathaniel Phillbrick

PD Highlights

Kentucky’s great statesman, Henry Clay, portrayed by Chatauquan, George McGee, has been visiting some of our TAHG schools this spring. Thanks to a partnership with the Kentucky Humanities Council we were able to bring a few of the fascinating characters from Kentucky’s past to life for students. Other characters who have performed this spring are: Rosie the Riveter, Simon Kenton, and Dinnie Thompson. Pictured above, students from Roby Elementary in Bullitt County participate in the performance.

Available Resource

Exciting News!! We now have the Gilder Lehrman traveling exhibit on Frederick Douglas. If you are interested in using this resource at your school contact Chantal D’Hondt cdhondt@ovec.org Let her know the dates (up to 3 days) that you would like to display the exhibit. If you have any questions contact your history specialist.

Resources Now Available Online!

As part of our Teaching American History web site, we have begun posting relevant resources for teachers on our Resources page. Currently we have posted the draft edition of the Kentucky Core Content for Social Studies and the Elementary, Middle and High School Crosswalk documents.

New online resources for students and teachers are now available under the Links Page.

Ben Franklin - A Self-Made American

Printer and publisher, author and educator, scientist and inventor, statesman and philanthropist – and, of course, founder of the University of Pennsylvania – Benjamin Franklin was the very embodiment of the American type of self-made man. In 1771, at the age of 65, he sat down to write his autobiography, “having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity.”