Community college faculty from 20 different states travel to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont Ohio to learn how 19th-century political cartoons can be used to help students understand the social, political, and economic issues that faced Gilded Age Americans. A total of 50 educators are to participate in two workshops taking place this week through Friday and June 1-6.
Titled Illustrating the Gilded Age: Political Cartoons and the Press in American Politics and Culture, 1877-1901, the enrichment sessions are funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ We the People initiative. Humanities and social studies faculty from community colleges anywhere in the country were eligible to apply. Twenty-five applicants were accepted for each of the two sessions.
Refresher on President Hayes: He was elected President by one electoral vote after the highly disputed election of 1876. Losing the popular vote to his opponent, Samuel Tilden (Dem-NY), Hayes was the only president whose election was decided by a congressional commission, (but not the only president NOT decided upon by the electorate).
The Presidential Center offers a link to this website, The Opper Project, that advises teachers about using political cartoons to teach history.
News-Messenger has the story.
Recent Comments