Building on the Success of the 2021 “Making of America” program, the Institute Will Offer American History PD for K–8 Teachers

August 16, 2022, NEW YORK CITY – The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History a Summer Institutes for K–12 Educators Grant for an innovative two-week residential program on American history from the late fifteenth to the nineteenth century for thirty-six elementary and middle school teachers.

Scheduled for July 9–22, 2023, “The Making of America: Colonial Era to Reconstruction” will take place in person at The George Washington University and build on the successful virtual NEH institute of the same name held in July 2021.

K–8 educators are charged with covering vast amounts of historical information, particularly from the colonial era through the Civil War and Reconstruction, but they are rarely provided with the necessary training or resources. “The Making of America: Colonial Era to Reconstruction” was designed to address the needs of underserved K–8 educators, many of whom have had little or no coursework in American history.

“The Making of America” will focus on the people, ideas, and events that made America into a cultural, social, and political reality. Teachers will learn about Indigenous peoples and colonial societies, the American Revolution and the US Constitution, slavery and early US political and economic systems, and the causes and consequences of the Civil War and Reconstruction, with a continued focus on women seeking political rights.

The Institute developed “The Making of America” independently as a summer seminar in 2018 and offered it again in 2019. In summer 2021, GLI and Project Director Denver Brunsman led “The Making of America,” an NEH virtual institute. This new NEH residential summer institute builds on the experience of past residential and virtual iterations of the program.

About the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Founded in 1994 by Lewis E. Lehrman and the late Richard Gilder, visionaries and lifelong supporters of American history education, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to K–12 history education while also serving the general public. The Institute’s mission is to promote the knowledge and understanding of American history through educational programs and resources. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is supported through the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Organization of American Historians, and the Council of Independent Colleges, and the National Daughters of the American Revolution.

About the National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency created in 1965. It is one of the largest funders of humanities programs in the United States. NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers. NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars.

PRESS CONTACT:

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Josh Landon, Director of Marketing and Communications
landon@gilderlehrman.org
(646) 366-9666, ext. 137

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