Maranacook Community High School teacher Shane Gower researched the life and service of Corporal Millard W. Corson as part of Memorializing the Fallen — a teacher professional development program from National History Day®. In honor of Veterans Day, Mr. Gower’s eulogy and profile of Corporal Millard W. Corson will be published at NHDSilentHeroes.org. In addition, a lesson plan inspired by the Silent Hero, The Ethics of Shell Shock Treatment: A Socratic Seminar in History and Psychology, is on the World War I page of National History Day’s website and will be featured in the upcoming publication, Great War, Flawed Peace, and the Lasting Legacy of World War I.
Sponsored by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library, the Memorializing the Fallen program takes educators on the journey of a lifetime to rediscover the history of World War I and invigorate its teaching in America’s classrooms. By researching the story of a Silent Hero®, an American service member who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I, program participants can be the voice of these Americans who died a century ago.
In July 2018, Gower joined nine other extraordinary educators as they traveled through Europe, walking in the footsteps of history. Using their research, teachers created lesson plans, Silent Hero profiles, and eulogies now published on NHDSilentHeroes.org.
Designed to reinvigorate the study of World War I in American classrooms, the lesson plans are multi-disciplinary. Using primary and secondary sources, videos, and hands-on activities, students are transported into the past to examine the war and its legacies, which transformed the history of twentieth century.
“This partnership with the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library has allowed us to take extraordinary educators to battlefields and memorials of Europe,” said National History Day Executive Director Dr. Cathy Gorn. “Their unique experiences will now help teachers bring history to life with the materials they produced for use in classrooms around the world.”
Each lesson plan is based on solid scholarship, integrated with Common Core Standards, and makes use of interpretive materials. They are accompanied by research about Silent Heroes of World War I who are honored at cemeteries in Europe.
About National History Day®:
NHD is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, which seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. The National History Day Contest was established in 1974 and currently engages more than half a million students every year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest. Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the National Contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by, HISTORY®, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Park Service, Southwest Airlines, the Crown Family Foundation, The Better Angels Society, and the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation. For more information, visit nhd.org.
About National History Day in Maine:
NHD in ME is based in Skowhegan and affiliated with the University of Maine and the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation. This year’s regional contests will be in Lewiston (March 6) and Bangor (March 28). The state contest will be at the University of Maine on (May 2). For more information visit www.mcslibrary.org/national-history-day-in-maine/ or contact State Coordinator John Taylor at john.m.taylor@maine.edu or 207-474-7133.
This story was provided by National History Day® and submitted by Shane Gower, Maranacook Community High School Teacher.