Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for Community College Faculty

The following hypothetical examples are offered for illustrative purposes only.

John Adams and the Founding of the United States

A Massachusetts community college, collaborating with a historical association, conducts two week-long workshops on the life of John Adams and his role in the founding of the nation. Participants use the archival resources of the Massachusetts Historical Society and, with the guidance of an architectural historian, study Adams's family home and farm in Braintree and sites from Revolutionary-era Boston. Readings for the workshop focus on Adams's political writings, including Thoughts on Government (1776), A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America (1787), and Discourses on Davila (1790), as well as his later reflections in his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. Participants also study the constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1779), which was drafted by Adams and influenced the U.S. Constitution. To understand Adams's life and personal values, participants read his diary and autobiography, along with his correspondence with his wife, Abigail. Field trips to Lexington, Concord, and Boston provide participants with the opportunity to study relevant buildings and sites.

Faulkner's Counties: Yoknapatawpha and Lafayette

A university literature department, in collaboration with a local historical society, conducts two week-long residential summer workshops on William Faulkner's fictional Yoknapatawpha County and its relationship to Lafayette, the actual Mississippi county that provided the background for his writings. Guided by a literature professor who specializes in Faulkner and a historian of the American south who has written about the relationship between history and fiction, the participants read and discuss writings by Faulkner, including The Sound and the Fury, Absalom, Absalom!, Go Down, Moses, and The Hamlet, as well as selected criticism. Participants also visit sites in Lafayette County that Faulkner used in his fictional depiction of Yoknapatawpha, among them Faulkner's home, Rowan Oak, the Thompson mansion, the Courthouse, Frenchman's Bend, and Faulkner's farm. Participants take part in lecture-discussion sessions in the morning. In the afternoons they visit sites and research collections of the university library and historical society.

Abraham Lincoln, the Civil War, and the Fight Against Slavery

Two colleges collaborate to conduct three week-long workshops on the Civil War, focusing on two sites: Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and Gettysburg National Battlefield in Pennsylvania. Following the Union army's bloody victory at Antietam in 1862, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which called for all slaves not residing in Union territory to be set free if the Confederacy did not surrender. The Union won another costly victory at Gettysburg the following year, ending the Confederacy's hopes for British aid, but leaving President Lincoln with a populace disenchanted with the human cost of the war. Early in the workshop, historians lead discussions on the background of the events and on primary documents, including Congressional debates over the expansion of slavery, antislavery writings, the Lincoln-Douglas debates, letters and speeches by Lincoln and other Union leaders, newspaper accounts of Union debates over the conduct of the war, and Northerners' and Southerners' responses to the Emancipation Proclamation. Participants visit Antietam and Gettysburg with an archaeologist, a historian, and a military expert. Faculty work on course materials to be posted on a Web site maintained by one of the sponsoring colleges. The other participating college provides accommodations.

The Wyeths: Visions of America

A liberal arts college with an American Studies program, in partnership with a consortium of cultural organizations, offers two week-long workshops on the Wyeth family, an American painting dynasty. Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where N.C. Wyeth (an artist featured in NEH's initiative, Picturing America) moved in 1911, is at the center of these explorations, giving participants access to the places in which three generations of Wyeths lived and worked. The workshop focuses on the collections of Wyeth's paintings and illustrations at the Brandywine River Museum. The workshop gives participants an opportunity to situate formal issues in art within a social and historical context. Participants visit local sites such as the Keurner Farm, which served as Andrew Wyeth's inspiration for more than 70 years. Readings and presentations by visiting scholars are aimed at placing the Wyeths' works in their historical contexts and exploring them in relation to American realism. Specialists guide lecture-discussion sessions in the mornings. Participants go on field trips in the afternoon, study the collections at the Brandywine River Museum, or engage in small group work.

The Alamo in History: Studies in the Southwestern US

Two public universities in Texas collaborate with a state historical association to provide two week-long workshops exploring how the region's historical landmarks, particularly the Alamo, reflect the convergence of American Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo-European cultures. Archaeologists, historians, and museum specialists lead explorations of the geographic setting, the material remains of Indian settlements and culture, and local Spanish missions. The program includes the study of artifacts and written accounts of the Spanish colonial period, including Cabeza de Vaca's La relacion y comentarios in a 1555 edition and an online translation. Participants study primary and secondary sources on the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War, including The Papers of the Texas Revolution; The Writings of Sam Houston, 1813-1863; and José Enrique de la Peña's With Santa Anna in Texas: A Personal Narrative of the Revolution. They are also given the opportunity to conduct research in document and material culture collections. At the end of the week, each participant has completed an outline of a unit for a survey course that uses primary documents, an outline of a new course, or a précis of a short research project to be completed over the year. Through a listserv provided by the grantee institution, participants communicate with each other and at least one of the visiting scholars over the year and continue to develop and test their curricular materials.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Architect for Modern America

A community college works with several associations to conduct three week-long residential summer workshops on Frank Lloyd Wright, the development of Prairie Style architecture, and the historical context of his contributions. Participants visit private and public buildings designed by Wright in the area, including his studio and Oak Park houses. A field trip to Racine, Wisconsin, gives participants the opportunity to study the Johnson Wax Building and the Wingspread Conference Center, two of Wright's major architectural designs. Participants read selections from Wright's writings and speeches that illuminate his approach to private and public buildings. Wright's interest in individualizing modestly priced private homes and his commitment to allow function to shape form serve as the workshop's focal points. Visiting scholars discuss Wright in the wider context of American architecture; explore the role of Louis Sullivan, Wright's Chicago mentor; and analyze the Chicago buildings designed by Wright in light of his other major projects, among them the Tokyo Imperial Hotel, Fallingwater, and the Guggenheim Museum. Participants meet each afternoon for small group discussion of lectures, readings, and site visits and explore ways they may incorporate the visual and textual elements of Wright's works into their curricula.