[493]LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND MTSU MAKE AMERICAN HISTORY LIVE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 27, 2008
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Dr. Stacey Graham, project coordinator, 615-494-8783

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AND MTSU MAKE AMERICAN HISTORY LIVE
$300,000 Grant to Fund Access to Original Historical Papers, Recordings, Pictures

(MURFREESBORO) – A grant of $300,000 to the Center for Historic Preservation will provide Tennessee educators with opportunities to access some of the most important historical documents of the American experience. The money comes from the Library of Congress through its Teaching with Primary Sources program.
Primary sources are original records from individuals or groups who were involved in or on-the-scene observers of actual events. Some of the primary sources available through the Library of Congress include the complete papers of Abraham Lincoln, the complete papers of Thomas Jefferson and the Continental Congress Broadside Collection, which contains material pertaining to the work of Congress from 1774 to 1788.
“The Teaching with Primary Sources project is an outstanding opportunity to work with one of the world’s greatest resources, the Library of Congress,” said Dr. Carroll Van West, director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation. “We plan to engage a wide array of partners from MTSU departments to leading educational and heritage institutions across Tennessee.”
The Age of Jackson, the Civil War and Reconstruction period, the Depression Decade and World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement will be the first four eras on which the center will focus, said Dr. Stacey Graham, research professor at the center and project coordinator.
“Those are points in Tennessee history that are also important in American history,” Graham said.
Graham said folklife, art, music and architecture will be pursued as areas of study later after receiving feedback on the project’s initial efforts.
Higher education will benefit from the project, as well as K-12, she noted.
“We’ll be helping teachers use these sources to enrich student learning experiences,” Graham said, noting that the use of primary sources aids students in developing higher order thinking skills.
“The primary sources found at the Library of Congress include published and unpublished documents and recordings like books, correspondence, newspapers, advertisements, maps, laws, pamphlets, memoirs, narratives, speeches, public records, and music; as well as visual arts items like photographs, paintings, cartoons and films. Approximately 10,500,000 of these are digitized and accessible by computer,” according to the library’s Web site, www.loc.gov.
“Our strategy is straight-forward: to work with our partners and with the experts at the Library of Congress to foster programs that will lead educators, from K-12 to higher education, to engage their students in the sense of discovery and inquiry that happens when you encounter the ‘real stuff’ of the past--in anthropology, architecture, art, environmental studies, geography, history, literature, music, and popular culture,” said West.
U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon all hailed the issuance of the grant in a joint press release issued through Alexander’s office.
“Learning history and civics is the best thing we can do to ensure that younger generations understand what it is to be American,” said Alexander, who is the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch. That panel has jurisdiction over Library of Congress funding.
“I appreciate the Library of Congress for committing these valuable resources to Tennessee to enhance the teaching of history in our schools,” said Corker. “I will continue working with my colleagues on ways to expand educational opportunities for Tennesseans.
“I’m happy MTSU has been chosen for this grant from the Library of Congress,” said Gordon. “The university’s Center for Historic Preservation has proven to be adept at interpreting our state’s history and providing the public with rewarding experiences at historic sites throughout Tennessee.”
For more information about the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation’s participation in the program, contact the center at 615-898-2947 or call Graham at 615-494-8783. To learn more about the Teaching with Primary Sources project, go to http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps.
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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a photo of Senators Alexander and Corker, Rep. Gordon, Dr. West, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, and Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress, contact Gina Logue at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.