NC Museum of History
I loved this museum for a number of reasons. First of all, I grew up around museums and history, as my dad was the head curator at Colonial Williamsburg. So, I was surrounded by history from age 7 until I graduated from college (and moved away). I also have been to lots of museums, as every family vacation included a trip to at least one museum: usually the art museum, but sometimes other living museums like Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts. This was an unusual way to grow up (none of my friends ever went to museums on family vacations) but it gave me a huge connection to how historical facts affect us today, and a desire to teach that history does affect us today. The “slogan” of Colonial Williamsburg is “So that the Future may learn from the Past”. History does repeat itself, both on large and small scales, but in order to know this, you have to know history.

The NC Museum of History has some great exhibits that really got me thinking about how I could integrate them into lesson plans for my future students. I am a big believer in cross curricular activities, and so many of the exhibits that I saw today could be used with different subjects. I thought the Thomas Day exhibit could be used to discuss racism and Civil rights, settlement, manufacturing and distribution, and the sociological impact of a free “man of color” owning his own slaves.

The New Deal exhibit really sparked my interest, as so many have compared our current economic distress to the Great Depression. Today’s students no longer have a direct connection to the people who suffered through and survived the Depression. The Depression, while devastating to so many, taught many valuable lessons (ingenuity, hardwork, sacrifice) and it ushered in a whole new philosophy of government involvement and assistance. It also started crop rotation, or smart farming (to avoid situations like the Dust Bowl). There are so many great fictional books about the Great Depression, that could be read to integrate Language Arts. These would help make the facts personal.

The Call to Arms exhibit could be used for younger students studying community, as it describes how different communities have stood up for what they thought was right. For example, the women protesting in the Revolutionary War (the tea parties, which have relevance today), and the Tuskegee airmen, which helped break racial barriers. It also showed how things we have in our everyday life started as military items, which could be integrated with scientific inventions.

I am excited for the George Washington exhibit, as I think he is such a great model for showing respect and decency. One of my favorite quotes of his is:
“Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.”
I think this is such a great one for kids, especially older kids who are faced with peer pressure. I also really want to express to my students what an extraordinary circumstance it was that the United States came to be. To have all those brilliant people (B. Franklin, T. Jefferson, J. Adams, A. Hamilton, G Washington, LaFayette, T. Paine, S. Adams) alive and in the same place at the same time is quite unusual.

One thing that struck me in the Jewish Life exhibit is that learning is so important, and that Jews often responded to questions by asking questions, which spurs more learning. I think that learning history often causes people to ask more questions like “why?” or “how come?” or “what happened?”. If I can engage my students with history to the point where they ask these questions, I feel I will have succeeded in helping them become lifelong learners.