The Historian in the Classroom

A memorial erected by Union war veterans at Arlington.

When I first had the opportunity to do research and travel regarding World War II, I trusted that in some way the experience would work its way into my classroom. I was teaching economics only at the time, so how my historical odyssey would imprint my teaching seemed a little fuzzy. I had the privilege to travel overseas and do research again in 2018, that time for both the Korean War and World War II. And now I'm going for a third year in a row.

The imprint of these experiences is becoming clearer.

When preparing to teach a lesson on the Civil War era, a reference in the textbook caught my eye. It summarized how changes in embalming technology and the culture of grieving influenced Americans' responses to the massive death toll of that conflict. The reference gave me a chance to have some very meaningful conversations about loss and grief with my students. It also allowed me to share with them ways in which Arlington National Cemetery served as something of an additional battlefield for historical memory between veterans of the Union and Confederacy.

Later, my experiences gave me the chance to teach lessons on World War II that I have never risked teaching. There were film clips I had never employed before. There were ways of looking at posters that I had never considered. And the unscripted dialogue with my students went places I hadn't gone before (I'm grateful a girl asked about pressures to marry during the war years).

A screenshot from my lesson plan on the Home Front and World War II.

I've never had the chance to be this sophisticated with high school kids before regarding my favorite topic in all of history. Of course, the kids had a lot to do with it. My two U.S. History classes this year were remarkably talented and curious. It was something of a perfect storm.

The experiences are also helping me in my role as a teacher leader, something I find particularly gratifying as I reach the autumn of my career.* What I was doing helped a colleague reach out to me who was looking to do something with a introverted group of sophomores in regards to eulogizing World War I and II soldiers. Colleagues at a middle school reached out to me for guidance about a Civil War project. After years of being known as one who knew how to employ tech. gadgets and computers with economics, it's heartening to know I still have the ability to guide and lead on the subject about which I'm so passionate, too.

*I don't mean to be melodramatic. But the math of my profession came into focus this year. I began teaching in 1998-1999. My final year will likely be 2033-34. The children who enter kindergarten in 2021-22 will likely be the final cohort of students I see all the way through their educational years.

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Some Thoughts on Liberation

One of the markers placed by the French and Belgian governments to mark the path of the liberators. My greatest takeaway from this most recent trip involves some refined feelings about liberation. I'm writing this post in a time of high cynicism. And the were matters of which one could be cynical back in 1944, the year in which Charlie fought and died. This trip, however, left me with renewed appreciation for what our country did back in that war, helping me refocus on what I've had the chance to see and do the past few years. Christopher is the military historian who accompanied us on this voyage. In one of our webinars this spring, he made an offhand reference to a piece of scholarship about the Holocaust he said was worth reading. It's entitled Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. It's heavy. I can't say I read every chapter. But I read most of it on our bus rides this summer. And I'm glad I did. My unassigned reading. Saying that Bloo

Those whom we honored (the final eulogies)

The chapel interior at Luxembourg American Cemetery. Most of us on the trip completed research for soldiers buried at Luxembourg American Cemetery. It's situated right outside of Luxembourg City and it receives a good number of visitors every year. The fact that General George Patton is buried there has something to do with their high visitorship. In fact, the initial attempt to bury him along with the soldiers failed when the foot traffic to his grave wore out the grass. Patton's grave now sits by itself near the top of the hill at the cemetery, near the chapel and tablets of the missing. Suzy's soldier. Six of us delivered eulogies that day: five teachers and Kaat. When I had the chance to listen to students' eulogies back in 2017, I was struck by how something of each student's character worked itself into the story they told. I still get a bit of a sense of that with eulogies delivered by teachers. However, the element that works itself more powerfull

Eulogizing Charlie

By Charlie's graveside in Luxembourg. You may find the eulogy I wrote for Charlie interesting. I have it copied here. The marker by which we stand today identifies Staff Sergeant Charles F. Simcox, Jr., as a hero who gave his life in service to our nation. Before entering the service, his family knew him as Charlie. To this day they keep the memory of Charlie, or Uncle Charlie, alive. Many of the members of this closely-knit group still live near West Chester, Pennsylvania, where Simcox grew up. They have not grown apart in the decades of peace and prosperity that Simcox’s service and sacrifice made possible. Something that I wanted to convey, but that seemed very difficult to convey, was the joyous and warm sense of his family. When I reached out to them this winter, they were more than happy to meet with me. I felt like something of a guest of honor. And so many of them came out to meet me that I lost track of who was who. A warmly receptive family isn't a

Mr. Johnson in Normandy

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