The Journey Through Hallowed Ground

WATERFORD, VA, DECEMBER 8, 2011 -- On December 15, 8^th graders from E. Russell Hicks Middle School in Washington County, MD will begin the critical second phase in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s award-winning educational, service-learning program aptly named Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student™, where students create historic movies depicting national history found in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area.

Media are invited to Antietam National Battlefield Park on Thursday, December 15 at 9:30am (see details below) to get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the E. Russell Hicks students creating their groundbreaking movies that depict their interpretation of life on and off the battlefield during the bloodiest day in our nation’s history, the American Civil War Battle of Antietam.  With an unveiling at the JTHG Partnership annual conference on May 23, 2012 in Frederick, MD, the students’ movies will become part of the official interpretative material for Antietam National Battlefield Park, part of the Sesquicentennial Commemorations for Washington County, and seen by history lovers of all ages worldwide.

“This program bonds young people to the past in a way that enables them to walk in the footsteps of countrymen and women gone by, to understand critically important national events, and to appreciate the difficult choices past generations have made for future ones,” explained Cate Magennis Wyatt, president of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership.  “We are enormously grateful to each of our partners for recognizing the value of connecting middle-school students with this critically important American history -- history that has profoundly affected the cultural fabric and the ideals of our nation and countries worldwide for 150 years now.”

This is a multi-month project created and led by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, HISTORY [Channel], Richard S. Reynolds Foundation, Washington County Public Schools, E. Russell Hicks Middle School, Antietam National Battlefield Park, and Antietam Cable Television. 

The Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student™ program is being produced at key Civil War battlefield sites within the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area in cooperation with the National Park Service to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War.  The program was recently completed at Balls Bluff Regional Park and Manassas National Battlefield Park (First Battle of Manassas).  After Antietam, Next up are: C&O National Historical Park, Manassas National Battlefield Park (Second Battle of Manassas), Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Gettysburg National Military Park, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Appomattox Court House National Historic Park.

“ The Journey Through Hallowed Ground has created and built a tremendous program, one that we are honored to be a part of,” said Evelyn Williams, Supervisor of Secondary Social Studies for Washington County Public Schools. “The Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student program provides a wonderfully dynamic opportunity for our students to connect the past to the present and retell stories in their own voices while using their own vision and their own medium. We simply couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Over the past several months, the students have been immersed in history, where they worked on site with park rangers, historians, JTHG Partnership educators and researched historical source documents.  The students have learned about life in the 1860’s both on and off the battlefield, including from a soldier’s perspective; technology in the 1860s, including weaponry, transportation, communication and photography; the African-American perspective and the Emancipation Proclamation; life on the home front and the Mumma Family; and 19^th century medicine, nursing and Clara Barton.

On December 15, having chosen their topics (see below), written their scripts, created their costumes and selected acting and production roles, the 8^h graders will enter the video production phase at Antietam, when they will act, direct and shoot their Vodcasts.

Vodcast topics were selected by students include:

• Medicine at Antietam: A Story of Humanity and Compassion focuses on Clara Barton, nursing and medicine
• Antietam, The Big Picture: tells the story of Lee's Lost Order 191
• Emancipation Proclamation depicts the impact the decree had on the Battle of Antietam
• Battle Technology describes the role of Alexander Gardener and importance of the burgeoning technology had on the battle
• Home Front tells the stories of the Mumma and Roulette families during the battle
• A Soldier's Story tells the story of a 15-year-old bugler boy named Johnny Cook.  He was awarded the Medal of Honor at the age of 47.

Media interested in covering the Production Day, should RSVP to JTHG Partnership Director of Communications John Jones at John@JTHG.org or call him directly at (703) 999-7579. 

Media should register in advance and arrive at the Mumma Education Center at Antietam National Battlefield by 9:30am.  5831 Dunker Church Road, Sharpsburg, MD (301) 432-5124.

To see an overview video of the JTHG Partnership’s program, FAQs, past programs, and other details, go to: http://www.hallowedground.org/content/view/557/52

The E. Russell Hicks Vodcasts will be unveiled at the JTHG Partnership Annual Conference on May 23, 2012, held in Frederick, MD.  Award winning actor Richard Dreyfuss unveiled the student Vodcasts in 2010 while Chief Historian for the History Channel Libby O’Connell enjoyed the honor in 2011.  Other noted keynote speakers at the JTHG Partnership Annual Conference include Pulitzer-prize winner David McCullough, Harvard University President and Historian Drew Gilpin Faust and Advisory Counsel for Historic Preservation President Dick Moe.

The Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student™ service learning project was recognized by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent federal agency that advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy, and by the American Association for State and Local History.  AASLH honored the program with its Award of Merit, the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history plus the coveted WOW Award, which is given at the discretion of its Leadership in History Awards Committee to recognize the program’s highly inspirational, exceptional scholarship, and exceedingly entrepreneurial qualities.

The JTHG Partnership is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the unparalleled history within the swath of land from Monticello to Gettysburg.  Comprised of over 350 municipal, business and non-profit organizations, including every elected body within the four-state region, the JTHG Partnership has successfully created the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area and the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway, in addition to its award winning educational programs to engage students of every age in connecting our rich heritage with current and future generations.

With 400 years of European, American and African-American heritage, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a National Heritage Area with a National Scenic Byway running through it.  From Gettysburg to Monticello, it’s known as Where America Happened .  It contains more history than any other region in the nation and includes: World Heritage sites, over 10,000 sites on the National Register of Historic Places, 49 National Heritage districts, nine Presidential homes, 13 National Park units, hundreds of African American and Native American heritage sites, 30 Historic Main Street communities, sites from the Revolutionary War, French-Indian War, War of 1812 and the largest single collection of Civil War sites in the nation.