American History Teachers' Collaborative Events

Upcoming Events in Spring and Summer of 2006

Download the flyer/registration for April events

April 8 , 2006. AHTC Focus Workshop at Urbana Middle School and the Cattle Bank Museum. This workshop will feature Dannel McCollum as the keynote speaker on the history of Champaign County. Teacher resources will be presented, and there will be time to explore websites on local history and geography.

April 29 , 2006. AHTC Focus Workshop at Urbana Middle School. Dr. James Anderson, head of the Educational Policy Studies department at the University of Illinois, will lead the day on Brown v. Board of Education. Urbana Free Librarian Carol Inskeep will do a book talk, and there will be time to explore Brown v. Board websites and documentaries.

Download the flyer and application for the summer fellowships

June-July, 2006. AHTC Summer Fellowships. Selected teacher fellows will work with one of the AHTC partner organizations: The Early American Museum, the Champaign County Historical Archives, or the Champaign County Historical Museum at the Cattle Bank. Teachers will divide their time working as an intern for their assigned partner and preparing a unit plan based on the documents at the museum or archive.

Download the flyer and application for all three summer workshops

June 8th & 9th. AHTC American Labor History Two-Day Workshop. Dr. James Barrett and other historians will present on labor history. Librarian Carol Inskeep will also do a book talk and Chuck Koplinski will take a look at labor issues in the movies.

July 24-28. AHTC Summer Institute on Legal History. The first three days will feature presentations by legal historians and Librarian Carol Inskeep. On Thursday and Friday we will travel to Springfield to visit the Illinois Historical Archives and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

August 17th & 18th. AHTC Two-Day Learning Trip to Chicago: Labor History and the National Archives Regional Depository. On this trip, we will spend one day touring labor history sites and another at the National Archives Regional Depository.

Past Events

Focus Workshops:

Friday - Saturday, February 17-18, 2006. 2nd Annual Teaching American History Symposium at the Newberry Library, Chicago. This symposium included keynotes by historians Gary Nash and Nancy MacLean, as well as several presentations by AHTC teachers.

Saturday, January 21, 2006. AHTC Focus Workshop at the Early American History Museum: The Atomic Bomb and Los Alamos. Dr. Lillian Hoddeson from the University of Illinois spoke on the history of the atomic bomb and Los Alamos, Carol Inskeep shared books on the history of the atomic bomb, and AHTC teachers presented their summer institute and fellowship lesson plans.

Thursday - Friday, December 1-2, 2005. Illinois History Symposium, "Religion and Society," sponsored by the Illinois State Historical Society; presentations include one by the AHTC project staff.

Thursday - Friday, October 27-28, 2005. Conference on Illinois History sponsored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. AHTC teachers invited to attend.

Saturday, April 9th, 2005 (8:00—4:30): Focus workshop on the Great Depression and economics history at The Urbana Free Library, hosted by the Champaign County Archives.

February 26, 2005: Conference on Teaching American History: A Teaching American History Grant Symposium. 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM, Chateau Hotel, Blooomington. Featuring Gordon Wood, author of The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin and teacher presentations.

January 29, 2005: Teaching: Then and Now. 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Early American Museum, Mahomet. Featuring teachers presenting summer institute and fellowship lesson plans, and other distinguished speakers.

Saturday, October 23rd, 2004 (8:00—4:30): Focus workshop on the history of Champaign-Urbana at the Champaign County Historical Museum at the Cattle Bank.

Saturday, May 8, 2004: Civil Rights: Historic Struggle and Hope for the Future. Featuring Vernon Burton, award-winning University of Illinois Professor of History and Sociology. All attending teachers will receive several outstanding resources including Beyond Heroes and Holidays, a 463-page book filled with K-12 lesson plans and readings.

Saturday, March 13, 2004: Traveling Through Time: Transportation and Local History. Featuring Dannel McCollum, Alice B. McGinty, Carol Inskeep, Champaign-Urbana MTD representatives, and Don Owen. Topics will include: the development of roads and railroads in central Illinois; using story elements to pique your students' interest in history; interesting facts and books about transportaion history; information and materials about local transportation history; and, web based resources for transportation history. Materials and lunch will be provided. Transportation Resources.

Saturday, January 31, 2004: A Focus Workshop Featuring James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbooks Got Wrong. The day will consist of a tour of the Early American Museum, a keynote presentation by James Loewen, lunch, and two afternoon workshops on teaching African American History.

Book Discussion Groups:

Thursday, Febuary 23, 2006. (6:30-9PM): Book Discussion about Isaac's Storm, by Erik Larson. Dr. Daniel Schneider, aquatic ecologist and environmental historian, shared a short presentation about natural disasters in American society.

Thursday, October 20, 2005 (6:30PM-9PM): Book Discussion about Flu: The story of the great influenza pandemic of 1918 and the search for the virus that caused it. By Gina Kolata (1999). Held at Ned Kelly's Steakhouse. Leslie Reagan gave a short presentation on the 1918 pandemic, and teachers had time to discuss the book in groups.

Tuesday, October 12th and Thursday, October 14th, 2003 (6:30—9:00, pick the night that is best for you): Book discussion of Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson, at Ned Kelly’s Steakhouse. Educators attending the discussion receive dinner off of the menu, a short presentation by historian Kristin Hoganson, resources about the World’s Fair, and a copy of Fair Weather, a young adult novel by award-winning author Richard Peck.

April 13, 2004: Divided We Stand: Teaching About Conflict in U.S. History. (Percoco, 2001). 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Tuesday, April 13, 2004, Longhorn Smokehouse, 1706 N. Cunningham, Urbana.

February 24, 2004: Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbooks Got Wrong. (Loewen, 1995). 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Tuesday, February 24th, 2004, Monical’s Pizza, lower level, 103 W. Kirby Avenue, Champaign.

Summer Institute:

July 25 - 29, 2005: Tools and Medicine: The History of Science and Technology in American Daily Life. 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM each day, Champaign County Historical Museum at the Cattle Bank and Urbana Middle School. Many materials and some lunches will be provided. Priority given to Illinois or U.S. History teachers.

July 26 - 30, 2004: Immigration and Immigrant Life. 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM each day, Early American Museum, Lake of the Woods, Mahomet. Many materials and some lunches will be provided. Priority given to Illinois or U.S. History teachers.

Summer 2004 Participants.