Portrait of Robert E. Lee

As I am preparing some posts for the upcoming anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, I thought I would share this quick link.

The Library of Congress sponsors discussions on various books and broadcasts them via their website. One of the recent webcasts was about Robert E. Lee and features the author Elizabeth Brown Pryor. The author talks about her research into Robert E. Lee and provides a unique insight into this famous historical figure.

Check out the webcast HERE

Photo credit: Selected Photographs of the Civil War

Coming Soon... Prelude to Gettysburg

Middle School Students have LIving History Weekend

Vaughn Dailey is a social studies teacher at Peters Township Middle School in McMurray, Pa. Mr. Dailey is an incredible teacher with a deep love for history that fills his classroom. Mr. Dailey has been honored as National History Day Teacher of the Year and as a teacher of excellence. Mr. Dailey engages kids in "doing history" by role playing, exploring primary sources and engaging kids in history, including the Civil War.

When I was employed at Peters Township School District, I would give talks to his students about military or civilian aspects of the Civil War. In addition to learning about the Civil War in the classroom, the students also get the opportunity to participate in a Civil War Living History weekend where they learn more about the life of a Civil War soldier. The event is lead by Civil War reenactors and Mr. Dailey portrays Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin.

Here is a video from the 2007 encampment from the Observer-Reporter newspaper.

Photos from the encampment are available HERE

Lincoln Museum Podcast

Eric Langhorst is an 8th Grade History teacher from Illinois and is the host of the Speaking of History podcast.

Eric recently made a trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and recorded a podcast of his thoughts on the museum.

You can view pictures from his trip and listen to his podcast on the visit on his Speaking of History Blog.

He also recorded a podcast about some of the historic locations in Springfield, Illinois related to Abraham Lincoln that you can listen to HERE.

Be sure to check out all of the links Eric has included in his show notes. I'll try to cover some of them in upcoming blog posts.

Until next time...

Lecture on the Civil War

The Foreign Policy Research Institute held the Teaching about the Military in American History: A History Institute for Teachers on March 24-25, 2007. One of the great aspects of this is that the lectures are available as streaming video from their website.

Click on the link above to go to the institute website and then you can click to view any of the lectures. I would recommend the following lectures:

The Social Dimensions of the US Civil War
Mark Grimsley, Associate Professor of History, Ohio State University Author of And Keep Moving On: The Virginia Campaign, May–June 1864 (University of Nebraska Press, 2002)

and

Teaching About the Military: the Basics
Paul Herbert, Executive Director, Cantigny First Division Foundation