The GeoHistorian Project

After many revisions and lots of editing, the GeoHistorian curriculum is now available for download on the Curriculum page. This is a major milestone in our project, which is nearing completion. We’d like to thank everyone who helped us to get to this point, including:

• Thomas Hatch, Julie Kenworthy, Lorie Bednar, Sandy and Henry Halem, and Glennis Siegfried from the Kent Historical Society, for providing us with access to lots of great archival materials, contacting numerous community members for help, and helping us teach almost 100 fifth graders about Kent’s history.
• The five teachers (and their students) who spent long hours preparing for and teaching the GeoHistorian unit, including Robyn Elia and Christine Lowden at Walls Elementary School and Julie Cummings, Christine Goff, and Sean Mostov at Davey Elementary School.
• The City of Kent, especially its Maintenance Department, for supporting our project and helping us with the installation of several QR code markers.
• The Kent State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives for access to historical materials we could not get elsewhere.
• Several students from Kent State University’s Honors College, who assisted us in the initial stages of the project.
• The various citizens and business owners in Kent who provided us and participating students with access to their historic locations, old photographs, scrapbooks, and memories.
• And last but not least, the Office of Digital Humanities at the National Endowment for the Humanities, who believed in our project and helped to make it happen with their generous support.

We are not completely done yet though, as we still have several QR code markers to install and are finalizing a brochure that will help publicize the project and encourage citizens and visitors of Kent to explore its rich history. The last two markers will be installed on May 11, during a special dedication ceremony at Davey Elementary School. And of course, due to the success of the project, we hope to continue it in some shape or form next year.