Nominate Someone for the Montana Heritage Keeper Award

Who are the Heritage Keepers in your community--the people who have worked tirelessly to preserve our shared history and culture? Consider nominating one of these special people for the 2015 Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees' Heritage Keeper Award. Details below.

The Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees is seeking nominations to honor those who have worked at local or statewide efforts making significant contributions to preserving the history and cultural heritage of Montana.

The Trustees' Heritage Keepers Awards will be presented at the 42nd Annual Montana History Conference that will be held this year in Bozeman Sept. 24-26. The awards can be for individuals or groups, and one award is given for the eastern half of the state and another for the western half.

“The important work of preserving Montana history begins at the local level,” MHS Trustee Janene Caywood  of Missoula said. “The people who care about, document and preserve their history are the backbone of the Montana Historical Society, It is the board’s honor to recognize this work, which contributes to understanding our history and cultural heritage.”

Nominations can be based on a variety of things from writing histories of local communities, to preserving and perpetuating traditional cultural practices, to preserving historic buildings and sites, to collection and preservation of artifacts, art, photos and archival material for the public.

Nominations must be received by March 15. and should include a short description of the work the nominee has accomplished, its impact on local and state history, a biographical sketch of the nominee, and supporting documentation such as newspaper clips, commendations, awards, and letters of support.

You can find the nomination form and instructions online here, Submit your nomination by email or by mail to Heritage Keepers Award, Montana Historical Society, PO Box 201201, Helena MT 59620-1201. For more information contact Susan Near at 406-444-4713 or snear@mt.gov.

Bozeman, Neihart, Fort Benton, and Great Falls Papers Added to Chronicling America

The Library of Congress surprised us by adding new Montana content to Chronicling America (a national project to digitize newspapers from 1836 to 1922) earlier than expected:

Brand new!
Cut Bank Pioneer Press, 1911-17
Dupuyer Acantha, 1894-1901
Ekalaka Eagle, 1909-16
Glasgow Courier, 1915-22
Madisonian, 1895-96 http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86091484/issues/

Added within two last months:
Bozeman Weekly Chronicle, 1887-88
Neihart Herald, 1891-1900
River Press (Fort Benton), 1905-14
Great Falls Daily Tribune, 1919-21 and 1921-22

Coming with the next update:
Fergus County Democrat, 1904-16
Wibaux Pioneer, 1907-14

These papers are in addition to material we've already placed on Chronicling America (including issues of the Anaconda Standard, the Missoulian, the Billings Gazette and the Yellowstone Monitor (Glendive) among many others. This map shows all digitized Montana newspapers (those for the NDNP project as well as others produced for Montana Memory Project), with links to their respective locations online. 

Want to know more about Chronicling America and ways to use it in the classroom? These earlier posts are good starting points: Chronicling America, Read All About It and Searching Chronicling America.

EdSITEment, the National Endowment for the Humanities' site for educators, also has great resources for using Chronicling America, including tutorials and lesson plans.

Hometown Humanities is accepting applications

Humanities Montana is now accepting online applications for2015 Hometown Humanities. The deadline for applications is February 27, 2015. Any Montana community with a population under 20,000 is eligible to apply. Previous Hometown Humanities locations include Miles City, Dillon, and Lincoln County.

Hometown Humanities brings a year’s worth of humanities-based programming to a single community—15 to 25 events all free of charge and open to the public, selected from Humanities Montana’s extensive program catalog. Humanities Montana staff works with the selected community to design a schedule that includes public speakers from its Speakers Bureau and Speakers in the Schools programs, community conversations on local issues, reading and discussion groups, and an array of other possibilities.

Hometown Humanities supports the particular cultural interests of a Montana community, and explores the capacity of the humanities to enrich lives, foster inquiry, and stimulate civil and informed conversations about the human experience. It gets people talking—sometimes about challenging and sensitive subjects—in ways that broaden perspectives and bring people together. For more information visit www.humanitiesmontana.org or call 406-243-6022.

Wouldn't this be a cool thing to bring to your community? Apply today: www.humanitiesmontana.org/programs/hometownhumanities/application.php. 

NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop: Following in Ancient Footsteps and Other Summer PD Opportunities

Summer may seem far away, but the March 2 deadline for applying for an NEH Summer Program is fast approaching. I've written before about these amazing FREE workshops, which range from 5-week seminars to 1-week workshops. Teachers accepted to a program are offered stipends of $1,200-$3,900 help cover expenses.You can find the full list of options here.

The list goes from most intensive (the longer seminars) to least intensive: Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for School Teachers. If you don't think you can swing 3-5 weeks away from home but still want an amazing experience, make sure to scroll to the bottom of the page to check out the one week seminars. I'm most intrigued with "Following Ancient Footsteps":

The Hopewell in Ohio The Creative Learning Factory at the Ohio History Connection is inviting applications for a grant funded workshop studying the ancient American Hopewell culture in Ohio. The workshop will be run twice, July 12-17 and July 19-24, 2015. From a home base in Columbus, Ohio, we will visit the World-Heritage nominated sites of the Hopewell culture: Fort Ancient, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, and the Newark Earthworks. Summer Scholars will experience these sites with expert scholars who will bring the sites to life; and learn about archaeological methodology and teaching historic sites from practicing archaeologists and site educators. The program is free for accepted applicants and includes a stipend to aid in covering travel and other expenses.For more information and application instructions, visit www.creativelearningfactoryhopewell.org

Not interested in archaeology? Consider spending a week studying the transcontinental railroad in California, the Lincoln Assasination at Ford's Theater, Gullah culture in Savannah, Georgia, or one of several other amazing-looking workshops. (Or apply to join us in Helena, Bannack, Virginia City, Butte, and Anaconda for an exploration of mining in the West.)

And don't forget--you can apply to two different workshops--so if you have multiple interests, it is good to hedge your bets in order to maximize your likelihood of acceptance. 

Consider applying for the Dave Walter Research Fellowship

Interested in coming to Helena to conduct your own research at the Montana Historical Society, using the fabulous resources of the library, archives and photo archives? This opportunity is for you!

The 2015 Dave Walter Research Fellowship will be awarded to two Montana residents involved in public history projects focused on exploring local Montana history. The award is intended to help Montanans conduct research on their towns, counties, and regions using resources at the Montana Historical Society. Research can be for any project related to local history, including exhibit development, walking tours, oral history projects, building history or preservation, county or town histories, archaeological research, and class projects. Awards of $1,250 each will be given to two researchers.

Recipients will be expected to:
 travel to the MHS to conduct research
 spend a minimum of the equivalent of one week in residence conducting research
 provide a copy of their final product or a report on their completed project to the MHS Research Center

Applications are evaluated on:
 suitability of the research to the Society's collections
 potential of the project to make a contribution to local history
 experience in conducting local history research

The application must include the following:
 project proposal, not to exceed 3 pages, describing the research including the specific MHS Research Center collections you intend to use
 cover letter
 1-2 page resume
 letter of recommendation

Applications must be sent as one PDF document to mhslibrary@mt.gov no later than March 15. Announcement of the award will be made in mid-April. Questions should be directed to Molly Kruckenberg at mkruckenberg@mt.gov.

Civics Education Resources

A few weeks ago, I put out a call for lesson plans/units or other material relating to the Montana legislature in response to a question from Roberts social studies teacher Clark Begger.

Almost immediately, I received copies of an email promoting a OPI's new Civic Education Resource (see below.)

Clark decided to have his students create a blog focused on student opinions about bills being debated. He's also posting his weekly assignments there. Assignment 1 sets the stage:

"Write a blog post that discusses the convening of the 64th Montana Legislature.  In your post, include:

• Opening Paragraph - Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• Which party is in control of the House?
• Which party is in control of the Senate?
• What are the main goals of the Democrats during the 64th session?...
• Your personal reaction to Democrat goals.
• What are the main goals of the Republicans during the 64th session? ...
• What are you personally interested in seeing lawmakers accomplish during the 64th session?
• Speak in terms of categorical confines:
• As a high school student, I'm interested in seeing legislators...
• As a rural Montana resident, I'm interested in seeing legislators..."

Etc.

Later assignments include how to track bills and responding to one of the early legislative controversies. I'm impressed with both his assignments and his students' responses. If you teach government, I'd encourage you to check it out as a model.

The resources created by OPI (in cooperation with the governor's office) also seem extremely useful.

Their new webpage devoted to civic education offers resources for students and educators, a 2015 Legislative Lesson Plan, and the link to the new civics app that students can download on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. (The app includes a fun quiz--with new ones posted in February and March).

Finally, the Montana State Library has created a 2015 Legislative Snapshot, which offers "a wide range of information on issues that affect Montanans." The online version is customizable to search by legislative district or county level where applicable. Topics include

• Economy
• Demographics
• Industries
• Crime
• Education
• Early Childhood
• Broadband
• Libraries
• Water
• Land
• Wildlife 

Apply to become a Montana Teacher Leader in the Arts

The Montana Arts Council and the Office of Public Instruction have teamed up to offer Montana Teacher Leaders in the Arts, a professional development initiative for K-12 educators across the state. Through this exciting new program, MAC and OPI seek to develop teacher leaders who can support other teachers statewide in integrating the arts into their classrooms.

  

The Initiative will include a 2015 on-site summer institute in arts learning, online professional learning opportunities throughout the 15-16 school year, and support for a field project in the teacher leader’s school or region. Topics will include arts integration strategies, brain theory, building creative classrooms, STEAM learning and cultural arts. 

K-12 arts specialists, classroom teachers with an arts background, administrators, retired teachers and professional teaching artists with significant K-12 experience are invited to apply in the Year One cohort.

More information about the program, and instructions to apply can be found by clicking here.  Direct all questions to Emily Kohring, Director of Arts Education, Montana Arts Council, (406) 444-6522 or ekohring@mt.gov.

  

The deadline to apply is February 16, 2015.