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National Archives Seeking Applicants for Summer Institutes

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently announced its annual institutes for educators in the summer of 2012. Primarily Teaching: Original Documents and Classroom Strategies will be held at seven of the agency’s locations.

  • The National Archives at Chicago, Chicago, IL, June 18–22, 2012
  • The National Archives at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, June 25–29, 2012
  • The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, KS, July 16–20, 2012
  • The National Archives Building, Washington, DC, July 23–27, 2012
  • The Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, TX, July 23–27, 2012
  • The National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA, July 23–27, 2012
  • The National Archives at Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, July 23–27, 2012

Primarily Teaching is designed to provide access to the rich resources of the National Archives for educators at the upper elementary, secondary, and college levels. Participants will learn how to research historical records, create classroom materials based on the records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students’ skills and enthusiasm for history, government, and the other humanities.

Each participant will search the holdings of the National Archives for documents suitable for classroom use and develop strategies for using these documents in the classroom or design professional development activities to help classroom teachers use primary source documents effectively.

The National Archives preserves and makes available to the public the permanently valuable records of the United States government. Although the best known of these are the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, there are billions of textual documents, maps, drawings, photographs, films, sound recordings, and computer tapes in the National Archives holdings that record the American experience of government from 1774 to the present.

  • The cost of the institute is $100, including all materials.
  • Graduate credit for most sessions is available for a fee.
  • Participation in each session is limited to 10 members; 15 at the Washington, DC, location.
  • Classes will be filled on a first come first served basis.
  • Participants will receive a stipend upon successful completion of the course and submission of a project.

An application for the institute is available online [http://www.archives.gov/education/primarily-teaching].

For more information about the institute, contact:

  • Primarily Teaching
    Education Team (NWE)
    National Archives and Records Administration
    700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
    Room G-9
    Washington, DC 20408 education@nara.gov
  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    National Archives at Kansas City
    400 West Pershing Road
    Kansas City, MO 64108 mickey.ebert@nara.gov

  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    National Archives at Chicago
    7358 S. Pulaski Road
    Chicago, IL 60629 kristina.maldre@nara.gov

  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum
    200 Southeast Fourth Street
    Abilene, KS 67410 kim.barbieri@nara.gov

  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
    2313 Red River Street
    Austin, TX 78705 marsha.sharp@nara.gov

  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    National Archives at Boston
    380 Trapelo Road
    Waltham, MA 02452 annie.davis@nara.gov

  • Primarily Teaching Staff
    The National Archives at Fort Worth
    Montgomery Plaza
    2600 West 7th Street, Suite 162
    Fort Worth, TX, 76107 jenny.sweeney@nara.gov

Read entire article at Lee White for the National Coalition for History