Putting History Education First
Let Your Students Tell Their Community’s Story
Learning about local history enhances our collective understanding of regional and global issues across time.
At the Pomeroy Foundation, we believe in the importance of access to public history education. That’s why we’re collaborating with educators so that students can learn about their communities and tell their stories through historical research. This initiative is about experiential learning with tangible outcomes.
To help engage younger generations with educational opportunities in public history, we have developed free lesson plans to help you connect local history with your curriculum. These student-learning experiences — which culminate in procuring a fully-funded historical marker from the Pomeroy Foundation — tailor assignments to local topics of interest, which makes learning about public history especially meaningful to your students.
As a result, the historical marker researched and obtained by your class will be an important point of engagement in your community, helping students and the public alike learn more about their community’s history.
Our Curriculum
Our specially tailored unit about historical markers includes three, week-long lessons in the following areas:
- Introduction to civic literacy, public history and power of place
- Historical research, primary sources and applying for a marker
- Submitting a grant application and planning a commemoration
Educators will receive the entire unit plan — at no cost — that they can adapt into their curriculum. The Pomeroy Foundation will work with you along the way, including in-person or virtual presentations to discuss primary source research and offer guidance about the historical marker application process.
This is an exciting opportunity for teachers and students to work together on a project that connects curriculum to real-life educational outcomes in their communities.
Interested in previewing the curriculum? Complete the form through the button below.
Request CurriculumHow to Become a Partner Organization
We want to work with you and your school district. Schedule a conversation about our Educational Outreach Program by emailing us at zach@wgpfoundation.org or calling (315) 913-4060. Contact us so we can work with you before starting your research and submitting an application.
“Our experience with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation was so easy, and it provided our school history club with an outstanding opportunity to research a local hero. Local history is such an important facet of history to be studied, and yet is not done so enough. This experience gave us a chance to spotlight one of our own, and honor her with a marker that will stand for years to come.” ~ Kevin Cline, Frankton Indiana History Club Advisor
Below are the outstanding organizations currently collaborating on student-learning projects.
Tiger Ventures
National History Club
Syracuse Schools
