The U.S. Department of Education and the Teaching American History program presents this Project Directors Conference for Teaching American History grantees who received grants from 2005 through 2008.
The We the People Bookshelf, a collection of classic books for young readers, is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities' "We the People" program, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office. Each year, NEH identifies a theme important to the nation's heritage and selects books that embody that theme to build the We the People Bookshelf. The theme for the 20082009 Bookshelf is "Picturing America."
Sponsoring Organization
American Library Association; National Endowment for the Humanities
Eligibility Requirements
All public libraries and school libraries (K–12) in the United States and its territories are eligible to apply. School libraries (K–12) include public, private, parochial, charter schools, and home school consortia. Libraries with collections that circulate to the general public and offer reading–based programs for the general public are eligible to apply. Libraries may also collaborate with other (non–library) organizations to develop and deliver programs; however, the Bookshelves must be housed in the libraries to which they are awarded.
Individuals, organizations other than libraries, and schools and libraries operated by Federal entities, such as the Department of Defense, are not eligible to apply.
Application Deadline
Award Amount
Successful applicants will receive a set of classic hardcover books for young readers, all related to the "Picturing America" theme. The set includes 17 books in English and Spanish translations of three of these works.
Tim Mulligan, retired from National Archives and currently teaching at the University of Maryland, will speak on the Christmas Truce of 1914. The truce was not one ordered from above, rather the French, German, and Scottish troops in the trenches began singing carols, which lead to a meeting in "no man's land" (the area between trenches) and exchanging of gifts. The presentation will include a showing of the film Joyeux Noel 2005 about the same topic. Mulligan often uses this film in his course "History through Hollywood."
Dr. John Barrett of St. Johns University of Law (one of the foremost Nuremberg Trials historian in the United States) will give the background and importance of the Nuremberg Trials. John Q. Barrett is a Professor of Law at St. Johns University School of Law in New York City, where he teaches constitutional law, criminal procedure, and legal history. Professor Barrett currently is working on a biography of Justice Jackson that will include the first inside account of his year (194546) away from the Supreme Court as the chief American prosecutor of the principal surviving Nazi leaders at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany. He will be followed by three veterans of the First Division who were guards or military police during the trials who will share their experiences.
Presentations at this symposium include "The Emancipation Proclamation as a War Measure," "Current Lincoln Scholarship," "Lincoln Records in the National Archives," "Lincoln and the Copperhead Movement in Illinois," and living history reenactors throughout the day.
Clark Welch and other veterans will share their experiences from the Battle of Ong Thanh. October 17th marks the 41st anniversary of the action. A movie based on Pulitzer Prize winner David Maraniss's book They Marched Into the Sunlight, which tells the story of the battle, is currently in production.
In the second volume of his epic trilogy about the liberation of Europe in World War II, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson tells the harrowing story of the campaigns in Sicily and Italy. Attendees at this event join author Rick Atkinson as he discusses his new book in the Liberation Trilogy, The Day of Battle. A book signing will follow.
Joe Galloway and Lieutenant General Hal Moore, authors of We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang the Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam are releasing a new book, We Are Soldiers Still, in August. In their new book, Galloway and Moore revisit the Ia Drang battlefield with veterans and commanders from both sides. Using vintage maps from 1965 the veterans locate the hallowed ground where so many lives had been lost more than 40 years ago. At this event, attendees join authors Joe Galloway and Hal Moore as they discuss their new book.
Founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund and bestselling author Marian Wright Edelman examines how to make the nation and world safe and fair for all children. She will also offer insights from her new book The Sea Is So Wide and My Boat Is So Small.
Attendees can tour the new Facing History office and reconnect with and meet new program staff and educators from around Cleveland. New resources, video, and print materials will be available for preview.