The beginning of the traditional summer break is a great time to look back at the at the educational programming the Historical Society of Washington, D.C, has provided this past year to elementary, high school and college students. Thanks to incredible support from a private foundation, a 150-year-old civic organization, and individual donors, it has been quite a year!
A grant from the Walter A. Bloedorn Foundation supported the research visits of more than ten classes, allowing the Historical Society to say Yes! when individual teachers connected with the Kiplinger Research Library to develop their syllabi.
An individual Adopt A Class donation allowed the Historical Society to dedicate resources to exposing the riches of a special collections archives and library to eight- and nine-year-old students.
And thanks to an Association of the Oldest Inhabitants (AOI) gift which funds projects at the Historical Society that further educational programming for third and twelfth graders, a team of public history graduate students were able to develop two prototype activity kits incorporating ephemera, maps and other historic holdings that explore the geographic development of Washington, D.C.
While school may be out, this summer the staff of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., will again welcome D.C. students through the on-going Investigating Where We Live collaboration with the National Building Museum and THATSummer with The Humanities and Technology (THAT) Class and the DC Public Library. Going forward, non-directed Adopt A Class donations, which allows individuals to support an educational visit to the Historical Society, are now dedicated to supporting visits by Title 1 schools; contributions from community members wishing to coordinate a visit for a specific non-Title 1 school are also welcome.
We’re looking forward to the 2016-2017 school year – and hope you’ll join us in supporting hands-on learning at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Student research conducted in the Kiplinger Research Library helped inform year-long projects, such as this National History Day presentation at the SEED Public Charter School.