Here you can watch Gary Gallagher give a group of high school teachers from New Mexico a tour of the Antietam battlefield as part of the Teaching American History program.
Given the audience (high school teachers) and the function of the tour (to introduce those teachers to a battlefield as part of their continuing education program), how would you give the same tour? Where would you do what Gallagher does, and where might you choose to do something different?
I was a fairly busy fellow several years ago, when several of my professional identities converged. Between being a presidential historian and someone who knows something about Abraham Lincoln (recall that 2009 was the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth), I did a lot of talking and analyzing (and even a little blogging the following month).
This is one reason why I’m a little anxious about 2012. The sesquicentennial will be in high gear, and that in itself places demands on me (my calendar is already filling up). But it will also be an election year, and I do a great deal of talking about presidential elections in historical perspective as well as setting forth the changing process of nomination and election. Between that and a more regular teaching experience, be prepared for somewhat of a shift in emphasis in blog entries as I reflect on the total sum of my activities.
Crossroads 