FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Gilder Lehrman Home for History Website
Provides Innovative Approach to American History Education
Provides Innovative Approach to American History Education
New York, NY (April 12, 2012)—The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is proud to announce the launch of the Gilder Lehrman Home For History at www.gilderlehrman.org, a comprehensive and interactive destination for American history online. An online curriculum and resource center but not a textbook, Gilder Lehrman’s new site presents a chronological and thematic look at American history through a range of different voices, with fifty original essays by renowned historians, including six Pulitzer Prize winners.
Featuring an intuitive layout and design, community and social tools, and primary sources with cross-referenced content, Gilder Lehrman’s new website will be essential for teachers, students, and American history enthusiasts.
Central to the Gilder Lehrman Home for History is “History by Era,” the Institute’s innovative approach to the American history curriculum with a focus on literacy. Through podcasts, interactive features, online exhibitions, timelines and terms, primary sources, teaching tools, and content spanning all of American history, “History by Era” offers a wide range of views of the important people, places, and politics in American history.
Other highlights of the launch will include a special double issue of the quarterly journal History Now on military history; and Gilder Lehrman’s first online course for graduate credit, “Civil War and Reconstruction.” The new site also offers improved search capabilities and more transcripts and digital images than ever for the catalog of the Gilder Lehrman Collection, a holding of more than 60,000 historical documents.“Our aim is to support history education in every classroom in America,” declared Gilder Lehrman President James G. Basker. “We’re bringing the past to life while stepping into the future.”
“We’ve combined rich resources with advanced digital technology to create a framework that’s both easy to use and designed for growth,” said Executive Director Lesley Herrmann. “Created by a team of master teachers, renowned historians, education professionals, and technical consultants, Gilder Lehrman’s new site is great for teachers, students, and lovers of American history.”
Gilder Lehrman’s Home for History at gilderlehrman.org will officially launch on April 12, 2012, and users will enjoy a free preview of the new site until July 1, 2012. After that date, K–12 teachers and students who register with Gilder Lehrman will continue to receive free access to the site. Others will be able to subscribe for a modest fee to continue accessing Gilder Lehrman’s vast collection of digital content and resources.
Founded in 1994 by Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education. The Institute has developed an array of programs for schools, teachers, and students that now operate in all fifty states, including a website that features the 60,000 unique historical documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection, www.gilderlehrman.org. Each year the Institute offers support and resources to tens of thousands of teachers, and through them enhances the education of more than a million students. The Institute’s programs have been recognized by awards from the White House, the National Endowment of the Humanities, and the Organization of American Historians.