Seventy percent of the photos taken during the war were shot in 3D so they could be viewed in a device called a stereoscope. “And that’s something that blows most students’ minds,” Koik said.
[by CECELIA MASON West Virginia Public Broadcasting]
There’s renewed interest in the Civil War this year as the country marks the 150th anniversary, and an organization that preserves battlefields is offering a new curriculum designed to show the importance of preserving this slice of American history.
Since it began in 1987, the Civil War Trust has helped preserve more than 30,000 acres at 110 battlefields in 20 states, and the trust hopes to continue its work by offering teachers a two-week curriculum on the war.
“We’re really creating the next generation of historians,” said Mary Koik, deputy communications director. “We’re creating the next generation of history teachers and preservationists and people that are going to safeguard these places that our generation has worked to protect.”
Moorefield High School English teacher Jeremy Simmons plans to use some of the curriculum in a few weeks when his 11th-grade students read literature from the Civil War era.
“Just to let them know what’s going on, what issues are involved, why did these authors like Mary Chestnut, Frederick Douglas, Abe Lincoln, Steven Crane, Walt Whitman, what was going on in their lives that would make them write the things that they write,” Simmons said.
Simmons has been interested in the War since he was a child. He said learning more about the time period not only helps his students analyze the literature they’re reading, but it also helps them learn more about history.
“I’ve always said that the best way to study history is through the literature that was written during that time,” Simmons said. “It focuses less on dates and battles and things like that but more toward what the real people were really thinking and what was going on in society, the thoughts and actions of specific people and cultures.”
Simmons said his students particularly enjoy seeing 3D images taken during the Civil War that are available on the trust’s web site. Seventy percent of the photos taken during the war were shot in 3D so they could be viewed in a device called a stereoscope.
“And that’s something that blows most students’ minds,” Koik said. “They went and they saw ‘Avatar’ and they thought that was amazing. Well, in the 1860s, that’s how these pictures were designed to be viewed.”
Koik said the trust has been working with the Center for Civil War Photography to make the 3D pictures available online as slide shows.
“And we work with teachers to help them get 3D glasses so they can show these kids how sometimes the past isn’t all that different from the present,” Koik said.
The curriculum offers two weeks’ worth of lessons for students in elementary, middle and high school. It’s available online or schools can purchase a hard copy from the Civil War Trust.
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