Phase III: Our Living Past: Antebellum America, 1815 - 1850

We the PeopleThe Second Great Awakening and the Age of Reform, DeTocqueville Visit to the United States, Indian Removal, the Kansas Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas, and the Dred Scott Decision sections of this website were all created under a project entitled “Our Living Past: Antebellum America 1815- 1850.” This collaborative project between the Worcester Public Schools, (WPS), the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), Old Sturbridge Village (OSV), and Assumption College was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Our goal is twofold: to provide structured access to the abundance the web affords and to take full advantage of the flexibility it permits and which the study of history requires. The project partners have strived to provide choices, indicating diverse approaches to historical issues. Every teacher knows that no one approach works for every student. Every teacher would love to empower students to build upon their own strengths as learners. Structured access and flexibility makes this possible.

The project partners would like to thank the National Endowment for the Humanities for their generous support of this project.

Individual contributors to this website include:

  • Colleen Kelly, Project Director, History and Social Science Curriculum Liaison, Worcester Public Schools
  • Dr. John McClymer, Project Co-Director, Professor, Assumption College
  • James David Moran, Director of Outreach, American Antiquarian Society
  • Amy Sopcak-Joseph, Education Coordinator, American Antiquarian Society
  • Kathy Kime, Education Coordinator, Old Sturbridge Village
  • Troy Thompson, Daedal Creations
  • Dr. James A. Caradonio, Superintendent, Worcester Public Schools
  • Dr. Stephen E. Mills, Deputy Superintendent for Education, Research, and Development, Worcester Public Schools
  • Frances E. Arena, Manager of No Child Left Behind/Curriculum and Professional Development, Worcester Public Schools
  • Dr. Austin Allen, Professor, University of Houston-Downtown
  • Joanne Diaz, Teacher, St. John’s High School
  • Dr. Robert A. Gross, Draper Professor of Early American History, University of Connecticut
  • Bill Hatzberger, Education Coordinator, Old Sturbridge Village
  • Jack Larkin, Museum Scholar and Chief Historian, Old Sturbridge Village
  • Carolyn Lawes, Professor, Old Dominion University
  • Dawn Michaud, Outreach Coordinator, American Antiquarian Society
  • Dr. Steven Mintz, John and Rebecca Moore Professor of History, Director of the American Cultures Program, University of Houston
  • Michelle Renihan, Education Associate, American Antiquarian Society
  • Dr. Nancy Shoemaker, Professor, University of Connecticut
  • The following Worcester Public Schools teachers contributed to the creation of this site: Michael Belanger, Joseph Garcia, Olga Koulisis, Ronald Levine, David Mawson, Peter McMorrow, Jason O'Connell, and James Scanlon.