Top-notch teachers will demonstrate how to teach local California community history—including geography of the local region, the culture of the Gabrielino Indians, the daily life and economic legacy of the local ranchos, the development of the harbor, local government, and the community. Participants will each receive instructional materials kit with model lessons, maps, primary source materials, and literature books.

Using ESSEX History is pleased to welcome back Dr. Cynthia Lyerly (Boston College) to lead a discussion of the culture of Jim Crow. This seminar will provide nuance for discussions of segregation by taking educators out of the courtrooms and voting booths to examine how the Jim Crow system affected everyday life and how depictions of race in popular culture complemented and supported both legal and de facto segregation. Readings for this seminar will focus on the turn of the 20th century and will bring together a diverse amount of scholarship including: Dr. Lyerly's own work on The Clansman author Thomas Dixon, Jr.'s studies on the segregation of consumption and public spaces, and investigations into popular cultural icons such as Shirley Temple and Scarlett O'Hara. This seminar will take place at the NARA facilities in Waltham and will include screenings of portions of several films including Gone With the Wind, The Littlest Rebel, and Within Our Gates, as well as investigations into NARA's archives.The primary sources for the day reveal surprising ways in which the culture of segregation affected life here in New England.

The Foundations of Democracy Series consists of curricular materials for students from kindergarten through fifth grade on four concepts fundamental to an understanding of politics and government: Authority, Privacy, Responsibility, and Justice. This multidisciplinary curriculum draws upon such fields as political philosophy, political science, law, history, literature, and environmental studies.