» Teaching with Primary Sources
Our program will offer 5 webinars that are free and open to the public. Registration is required. The link will be sent in a confirmation email. Webinars will be shared on our YouTube channel.
"Teaching through a Local Lens"
Dr. Elyssa Ford, Professor of History, Northwest Missouri State University
Monday, February 10, 2025 from 6:00pm-7:30pm CST
Elyssa Ford is a professor of history at Northwest Missouri State University. She is a scholar of sexuality in the American West and is a public historian. She has published two books on rodeo in the West. Rodeo as Refuge, Rodeo as Rebellion: Gender, Race, and Identity in the American Rodeo was released by the University Press of Kansas in 2020, and Slapping Leather: Queer Cowfolx at the Gay Rodeo was published by the University of Washington Press in 2023. As a public historian, she is committed to researching the community around her. She has written extensively on local history topics and directs the Nodaway County Digital History Project.
In her webinar, Professor Ford will work with teachers on exploring local history. She will introduce them to online collections, including FamilySearch, Sanborn maps, Chronicling America on the Library of Congress. Teachers will have the opportunity to discover materials for their own communities and will begin to think about how to use these materials in the classroom.
"Bringing Rural Histories to Life: Using Picture Books and Primary Source Investigations"
Rachel Swearengin, Manchester Park Elementary School, Olathe, Kansas
Monday, March 17, 2025 from 6:00pm-7:30pm CST
Rachel Swearengin is the author of the book “Making Time for Social Studies: A Four-Step Process for Unit Planning in the Elementary Classroom”. She currently teaches fifth grade in Olathe, Kansas, and serves as a Field Educator for the Humanities Department of the Kansas State Department of Education where she facilitates professional development and serves on assessment and planning committees. As an adjunct professor for Emporia State University, she teaches an Elementary Social Studies Methods undergraduate course. She is the 2023 recipient of the Gilder Lehrman Kansas History Teacher of the Year award as well as one of the top 10 finalists for the 2023 Gilder Lehrman National History Teacher of the Year award. She is passionate about teaching effective social studies in the elementary classroom to prepare even our youngest learners for their role as productive citizens in a democracy.
"History in Our Backyard: Amplifying Rural Histories Through Inquiry and Primary Sources"
Valencia Abbott, Rockingham Early College High School in Wentworth, North Carolina
Monday, April 7, 2025 from 6:00pm-7:30pm CST
Valencia Abbott was born and raised in Rockingham County. She can trace her paternal grandparents and great-grandparents, who also resided and teaches in Rockingham County, North Carolina. Valencia spearheads The Civil Rights Movement Beyond 1968: Griggs vs. Duke Power Company, which tells the history of the 1971 United States Supreme Court case. Valencia is a Social Studies/History teacher at Rockingham Early College High School in Wentworth, North Carolina.
After 20 years in the classroom and completing a Master's Degree in Liberal Studies, she received a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in African American Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2016, she received her Add-On Licensure Academically/Intellectually Gifted (AIG) from Duke University.
Serving on several advisory boards and committees, including the Carter G. Woodson Book Award Selection Committee, National Council of History Education, The Dan River Basin Association (DRBA), which protects and promotes the Dan River Basin through recreation, education and stewardship and Help Incorporated: Center Against Violence, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit agency, provides emergency and ongoing services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, human trafficking, and elder maltreatment and the Rockingham County Reading Association.
2023 received the Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Excellence in Teaching Award. The Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes and honors a social studies educator's civil rights and civil liberties achievements. Nominees inspire students to be fully informed about their civil rights and civil liberties assured by the Constitution. The teacher who inspires students to take informed action when they see injustices and to be responsible contributing members of our democracy. This award honors a person striving to continue their work advancing civil rights and civil liberties. The recipient is recognized at the annual North Carolina state social studies conference.
Valencia is the 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year at Rockingham Early College High School (RECHS).
In 2022, she was the recipient of the James Arthur Griggs Civil Rights Memorial Award (presented by the Historical Society of North Carolina) for accomplishments in Keeping Dr. King's Dream Alive in Reidsville and Outstanding Teacher of North Carolina History.
The other parts of her life are filled with three daughters, one son-in-law, five grandchildren, and two grand furbabies.
"Ethics, Access, and Historical Thinking: Conducting Oral History work with Students in Rural Communities"
Rory Dunn, Ph.D. Student at the Virginia Commonwealth University
May 5, 2025 from 6:00pm-7:30pm CST
Rory Dunn is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has an M.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and an M.A. Ed. from the College of William and Mary. He has taught Social Studies methods courses in Higher Education, and is a former K-12 Social Studies Teacher. He has a passion for conducting oral history work with students, and has previously worked with the National Council for History Education (NCHE) in providing meaningful professional development for rural Social Studies teachers. His research interests include the theory and practice of Critical Historical Inquiry, and empowering rural Social Studies teachers and students to engage in meaningful historical research and inquiry.
Coming in Fall 2025
Our YouTube channel will host all of our webinars about using inquiry based practices while teaching with primary sources. Each one will focus on ways to amplify rural histories.
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Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress. Header Photo Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, photograph by Carol M. Highsmith [LC-DIG-highsm-67124] |
