Chris Lese, a teacher at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently worked with Ford’s Theatre to bring his students into local archives and upload responses to the Lincoln assassination to the Remembering Lincoln Digital Collection.

This week, Oratory Fellow Darrin Comstock explains a visit his students shared with former Congressman Hal Daub. Read how their meeting encouraged the students to consider the importance of effective public speaking.

In this post, eighth-grade teacher and Ford’s Oratory Fellow Giani Clarkson shares his experiences teaching the art of oratory to his students in Washington, D.C. 

Ford’s Theatre recently received generous grant funding through the Institute of Museum and Library Services to host summer professional development institutes for Grades 3-12 teachers for the next two years. 

At the our recent Teacher Preview Workshop, we discussed how teachers employ historical fiction texts in their classroom. Is historical fiction dangerous? Or, does historical fiction bring students closer to history? What is to be gained by dramatizing the past?

For the last several years, I’ve worked as a Ford’s Theatre Teaching Artist, teaching Lincoln’s speeches and oratory skills to area middle school students. 

For the third year, our National Oratory Fellows journeyed to Washington in early September for a two-day planning meeting to kick off their school years. Here are some things they wanted to share about their favorite moments of the Pretreat and being a part of Ford’s National Oratory Fellows.

Remembering Lincoln brings a range of primary sources that show how people in 1865 responded to the first-ever presidential assassination and death of Abraham Lincoln. 

When young learners visit the Ford’s Theatre campus, the focus isn’t on the Lincoln assassination, but instead on why we learn about and honor the memory of Abraham Lincoln today.

This July, 72 teachers from around the United States came to Washington for the first ever Ford’s Theatre Seat of War and Peace summer teacher workshop.