March is Women’s History Month, a celebration of women’s contributions to events in history, science, and society. The United States has observed it annually since 1987. 

The National Women’s History Alliance celebrates National Women’s History Month with the 2024 theme, “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.” During 2024, the Alliance recognizes the example of women committed to embracing everyone and excluding no one in our common quest for freedom and opportunity. 

America 250: America’s Field Trip

In 2026, the United States will mark our Semiquincentennial: the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Today’s young people are the leaders, innovators, and thinkers who will shape the next 250 years — and it’s important their voices are heard as we commemorate this historic milestone.

America’s Field Trip is a new contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them — and earning the opportunity to participate in unforgettable field trip experiences at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks.

Students may submit artwork, videos, or essays in response to the contest’s prompt: “What does America mean to you?”

LEARN MORE AND SHARE THE APPLICATION

What is My Impact Challenge?

My Impact Challenge is a civic engagement contest hosted by the Bill of Rights Institute. Submission is open to US citizens and US-based young people who are between the ages of 13 and 19 and enrolled in middle or high school on January 1, 2024.

Submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 19, 2024.

SHARE THE APPLICATION NOW!

Nominate a Teacher for Gilder Lehrman's Oregon State History Teacher of the Year 2024

The Gilder Lehrman’s Institute of History is seeking nominations for an outstanding Oregon K-12 Social Studies educator. This award will go to any full-time educator of grades K–12 who teaches American history (including state and local history). American history may be taught as an individual subject or as part of other subjects, such as social studies, reading, or language arts.

• The nominated teacher must have at least three years of classroom teaching experience and must be planning to teach for at least one year following the award year.
• National winners chosen from among state winners receive a $10,000 prize presented at an award ceremony in their honor in New York City.
• State winners receive a $1,000 prize, an archive of classroom resources, and recognition at a ceremony in their state.

Deadline for 2024 nominations: April 30, 2024Click to edit this placeholder text.

Fundamentals: The OER Project Conference for Social Studies 2024

March 23, 2024 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. PT

The OER Project Conference for Social Studies returns with Fundamentals 2024, a new single-day Saturday webinar. Whether you’re a new teacher or a classroom veteran, we’ve got tools, lesson plans, ideas, examples, and instructional resources to help build your teaching practice. 

Register

Visit the conference home page

Questions? Email OER at events@oerproject.com. 

League of Women Voters of Oregon Student Mock Election 

The League of Women Voters of Oregon (LWVOR) is hosting the Oregon Student Mock Election (OSME) for both the May Primary and November General  Elections in 2024. The League provides nonpartisan information and materials to give students a greater understanding of the Oregon electorate now and in the future. Almost 3,000 student voters have already registered from Vale, Pine Eagle, Redmond, Glendale, McMinnville, Roseburg, Sutherlin, North Bend, and Hood River. Some educators register a single class, while others include a whole grade level or school. Mark your calendars with the May 2024 Primary Election dates and deadlines:

• Now to May 5 – OSME registration is open on www.lwvor.org/mock-election
• Tuesday, April 30 – Last day to register to vote in the Oregon Primary Election
• Tuesday, May 5-10 – Student Mock Election Week
• Friday, May 17 – OSME results released to the public 
• Tuesday, May 21 – Oregon Primary Election Day 

OSME and the free, year-round, and award-winning Civics Education Curriculum are endorsed by Oregon Secretary of State, Lavonne Griffin-Valade. The lessons include several suggestions for classroom activities, many links to resources, and information about how to administer the mock election and report results. Contact OSME Coordinator Mimi Alkire with questions at mockelection@lwvor.org

Celebrate Civics

Civic Learning Week (CLW) is hosted annually by iCivics and seeks to highlight the importance of civic education in sustaining and strengthening constitutional democracy in the United States.

By highlighting the civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions that provide the foundation for an informed and engaged populace, CLW seeks to further energize the movement to prioritize civic education across the nation.

CLW offers resources and toolkits to enliven and enrich civics lessons for the classroom including planning resources, sample social media posts, graphic assets, and more.

Educator & Student Discounts to the Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series

The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History

Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) is a professor of history and American Studies at Yale University and was on the faculty from 1999 to 2009 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A graduate of McGill University, he holds graduate degrees in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Washington and is the author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West, a study of the American Great Basin that garnered half a dozen professional prizes, including the Frederick Jackson Turner Prize from the Organization of American Historians.

In his recent book, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History, Ned Blackhawk provides an Indigenous perspective on questions of citizenship and the literal and figurative shaping of what America is today. Blackhawk’s retelling of U.S. history acknowledges the enduring power, agency, and survival of Indigenous peoples, yielding a truer account of the United States, and revealing anew the varied meanings of America.

In addition to serving in professional associations and on the editorial boards of American Quarterly and Ethnohistory, Blackhawk has led the establishment of two fellowships, one for American Indian Students to attend the Western History Association’s annual conference, and the other for doctoral students working on American Indian Studies dissertations at Yale, named after Henry Roe Cloud (Winnebago, class of 1910).

The Hatfield Lecture Series is just one of many events hosted by the Oregon Historical Society.