Technical Working Group

Technical Working Group

Barbara Ashbrook is a senior program officer in the Division of Education at the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is responsible for programs encouraging K–12 educators in the use of digital resources to strengthen humanities teaching. She was a Danforth Foundation Fellow in the graduate English program at the University of Virginia where she earned her masters degree.

Cynthia R. Copeland was the education curator with the New York Historical Society (NYHS) for many years. She most recently directed a digital learning project featuring NYHS collections illustrating the story of the American Revolution. She has curated the critically acclaimed exhibition, Before Central Park: The Life and Death of Seneca Village, a significant 19th-century free black community that once stood on the site today known as Central Park. Copeland has also researched and contributed to books, and has developed and written curricula, programs, and walking tours about New York City and American history, with an emphasis on integrating primary sources. Among Ms. Copeland's professional affiliations are local and national organizations working towards the preservation, acknowledgement, and dissemination of the significance of history in contemporary society and for museum education advocacy.

Spencer Crew is the Clarence J. Robinson Professor of history at George Mason University. Before coming to Mason, he was the first executive director and chief executive officer of the National Underground Railroad Center in Cincinnati, OH, and worked at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), Smithsonian Institution for 20 years, serving as its first African American director for eight years. He is the author of numerous books and articles on African American history and museum studies, including books for young adults. He holds a PhD from Rutgers University.

Elise Fillpot is the founder of Iowa's Bringing History Home Project, an elementary school history curriculum funded through the U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History (TAH) Grant program. She has directed TAH programs since 2001, and currently directs a grant to establish professional development opportunities for secondary history and social studies teachers. Dr. Fillpot earned her PhD in Educational Policy and Leadership from the University of Iowa.

Fritz Fischer is Professor History and Director of History Education at the University of Northern Colorado. He teaches courses in American History and runs the teacher preparation program for future secondary school history teachers. He received his BA and MA from Stanford University, taught for five years in middle/secondary schools and then earned his PhD at Northwestern University in 1994. His research specialties are 20th-century American cultural and diplomatic history (his book Making Them Like Us: Peace Corps Volunteers in the 1960s was published in 1998) and history education. He is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Council for History Education. Fritz serves as the co-Project Director for the Colorado Academy of History TAH grant (awarded 2006) and has served on more than a dozen presentation teams at history teacher professional development workshops all over the country.

Cathy Gorn is the executive director of National History Day, Inc. (NHD) and an adjunct professor of history at the University of Maryland at College Park. She has served as editor for more than 20 history curriculum guides and has directed eight national institutes for teachers of history and social studies. She serves on the White House Historical Association Board of Trustees, on the Education Committee of the National Council for Public History, the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, and the American Bar Association. She received her PhD in history from Case Western Reserve University.

Gus Hatzidimitriou is Director of Grants Development for community School District #30, in Jackson Heights, NY, and serves as Project Director of a TAH grant program encompassing a diverse consortium of urban middle schools.

Michelle M. Herczog is Consultant III, History-Social Science for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and holds a bachelor's degree in history and an EdD from UCLA. She provides professional development to K–12 educators in Los Angeles County and throughout the nation in the areas of standards-based practices, historical thinking and reading, differentiated instruction, civic education, service-learning, and closing achievement gaps in history-social science. Dr. Herczog is Past President of California Council for the Social Studies and has served as a member of the California Delegation to the Annual Congressional Conference on Civic Education, the Instructional Materials Adoption Process for the State of California, and Steering Committee of the California Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.

Roseanne Lichatin was selected as the Preserve America Teacher of the Year in 2006. During her 30-year career in education, Lichatin has taught at both the elementary and secondary level. Currently she teaches the Pre-AP U.S. History I class as well as U.S. History II at West Morris Central High School in Chester, NJ. She also is the co-advisor of the National History Club which encourages students with an enthusiasm for history to explore the study of our past beyond the classroom with field trips, guest speakers, bulletin board displays, and newsletters.

Candy Lowe is the Social Studies Student Achievement Specialist for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Georgia. She also serves as the administrator at Massie Heritage Center, Savannah’s teaching museum for history and architecture, working closely with Heritage Education teachers to develop Heritage Education and Character Education programs and overseeing the preservation of this historic site. Ms. Lowe has taught social studies for over 30 years.

Dennis Lubeck serves as Project Director for TAH grant programs for the Cooperating School Districts of St. Louis, MO. Lubeck has more than 20 years of teaching experience. He taught in University City, a diverse community, when students' skills ranged from third-grade reading levels to students who attended the nation's most prestigious universities. He has a PhD in American Studies and has written and spoken extensively on the role of the humanities in schools and multicultural education.

Bruce Milhans

Anthony Napoli, is Director of Education at Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History where he develops and directs national programs and workshops on historical thinking, teaching, and learning. An adjunct professor of education and a former high school principal and school superintendent, he is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards.

Lee Ann Potter is Director of Educational Outreach at the Library of Congress. The former director of education and volunteer programs at the National Archives, and former high school U.S. History and World Geography teacher, she now leads a dynamic team committed to developing programs and materials based on primary sources from the holdings of the Library of Congress that help build students’ content knowledge, critical thinking, and analysis skills. Check out www.loc.gov/teachers.

Michael Regoli is Director of Publications and Chief Technology Officer for the Organization of American Historians in Bloomington, IN. He has a degree in management from Virginia Wesleyan College and has written on and has an interest in computer technology and its history.

Michael Yell is past president of the National Council for the Social Studies and serves on C-Span's Middle and High School Curriculum Advisory Team. He has taught history and social studies for 35 years and conducts national educational seminars and workshops. He also serves as a consultant, trainer and educational writer for the Bureau of Education and Research (BER), the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), McDougall-Littell, the Northwest Educational Association, WGBH, the Educational Development Center (EDC) of Boston, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, C-SPAN, PBS, Gareth Stevens, Inc., Learners Online, Inc., and numerous school districts. His publications include A Link to the Past: Engaging Students in the Study of History and Putting Gel Pen to Paper.

Kelly Woestman is a professor of history and history education director at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. She is president-elect of H-Net and coeditor of H-TAH. She serves as program director for a variety of TAH programs focusing on the use of primary sources and has served as a grant writer and evaluator. Her most recent monograph, “Digital Technologies and Teaching Women's History,” is anticipated for publication in Teaching Women’s History, Routledge Press, in 2007. She received her doctorate from the University of North Texas.