Archive for the ‘Educational Video/DVD’ Category

Through dedication and determination, George Washington accomplished the impossible by leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War. On Thursday, October 29th at 1:00 p.m., our panel of historians, including Caroline Cox, William Fowler, Ed Lengel, and Andrew O’Shaughnessy, will explore how Washington’s leadership was instrumental in securing American independence via the distance learning broadcast First in War: George Washington and the American Revolution. Discussion topics on the broadcast will include Washington’s relationship with his generals as well as the common soldier, the British perspective of the war, the turning point at Valley Forge, and the quelling of a rebellion at Newburgh. This program will be broadcast across the nation and available for free by DVD. Check out the Fairfax Network webpage for information about registering or requesting a DVD copy.

Finally, the world is starting to acknowledge what we at Mount Vernon have realized all along- Martha rocked! She was intelligent (she ran her first husband’s very large estate after his death), generous (she graciously hosted hundreds of visitors to Mount Vernon every year), compassionate (she raised money for wounded Revolutionary War veterans’ hospitals), and brave (she risked her life during the war to spend winters in her husband’s camp). And yes, she was beautiful! For the official record, Martha Washington was not born fat, wrinkled, and white-haired. Shocking!

If you are wondering why we have stepped on the Martha soapbox today, it is to let you know that the Washington Post has written a wonderful article announcing Martha Washington’s greatness to the world. Spurred by her “sassy” purple wedding shoes (featured in a previous GWW post), the article is titled, “Fresh Look at Martha Washington: Less First Frump, More Foxy Lady,” which sums it up pretty well. The television show, “Inside Edition” has also latched onto this breaking news and will be broadcasting a feature tonight on the First Lady’s image.

To bring Martha Washington to your classroom, get a free DVD copy of Mount Vernon’s production, “The Real Martha Washington,” featuring historians Cokie Roberts and Rosemary Zagarri. Request it now to receive in time for Women’s History Month in March!

The Mount Vernon Education Dept. knows how important teaching with primary documents is to teachers- after all, what better source is there than the original. For this reason, we provide a link on our website to the digital edition of the Papers of George Washington, as well as a number of lesson plans that use primary documents. We have also decided to focus our next distance learning program on these important teaching tools, which will air across the nation on Jan. 8, 2009 from 4:00-4:45 pm. The program, Primarily George, will feature educators from Mount Vernon, the National Archives, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and the Papers of George Washington. These educators will highlight online primary source documents, in their respective collections, that can be used to teach students about various aspects of George Washington and the founding and also give brief overviews of the online collections that can be used to access the sources. As always, if you miss the program when it airs, educators can request a free DVD of the program from the Fairfax Network.

On October 14, 2008, the Mount Vernon Education Department and the Fairfax Network will tape a distance learning broadcast called Shaping the Presidency, which will look back at the profound impact George Washington had on defining the office of the president. The panelists will also discuss how campaigning, the election process and the role of the media affected early presidential candidacies, and how those influences have evolved.

The panelists will include Joseph J. Ellis, the Ford Foundation Professor of History at Mount Holyoke College and award-winning author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award winner for American Sphinx. He is joined by Cokie Roberts, author of the best-selling book Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation and Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation, and John P. Riley, former historian at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estates and Gardens and present director of education and scholarship programs at the White House Historical Association.

In addition to the distance learning broadcast, the Mount Vernon Education Department has compiled a Shaping the Presidency Teaching Unit, which focuses on Washington’s remarkable accomplishments as first president. Through a compilation of lesson plans based on primary documents and the distance learning broadcast, Shaping the Presidency is designed to enrich your students’ understanding of Washington’s impact on the founding of our nation and his insight into world affairs.

You can register for the broadcast, which will air on October 23rd, or request a complimentary DVD, by contacting the Fairfax Network. If your students would like to have a question asked on air, leave a comment below with their question, student name, teacher name, grade, state and school name.