America's Forgotten Founders–NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop for K-12 Educators

Description

The American Philosophical Society (APS), through the generosity of the National Endowment for the Humanities will host the educator workshop “America’s Forgotten Founders: The Revolutionary City of Philadelphia.” This program consists of two new residential, site-based workshops scheduled during the summer of 2026. The program is designed for 5th to 12th grade teachers of multiple disciplines from around the country. The program's aim is to engage participants with a range of the city’s leading historical institutions. Each cohort will meet with historians, archivists, curators, and education specialists to examine the history of the United States' founding in the city where it all began, Philadelphia. Participants will reconsider what constitutes a “founding” document and who counts as “founder.” Two workshops of up to 36 participants each will be held on July 20-24, 2026 and August 3-7, 2026, on the very block that the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Participants will connect primary source materials (available online through The Revolutionary City: A Portal to the Nation’s Founding) to the streets, homes, and landmarks where they were created 250 years ago.

Landmarks of American History and Culture programs for K-12 educators situate the study of topics and themes in the humanities within sites, areas, or regions of historic and cultural significance to expand participants’ knowledge of and approaches to teaching diverse histories, cultures, and perspectives in the United States and its jurisdictions.  

Four themes guide “America’s Forgotten Founders” and ensure a robust and broad-ranging discussion–declaring independence, slavery and abolition, lived experience, and the economy–all ideas that expand teachers’ understanding of what was revolutionary about the close of the 18th century. These four workshop themes are chosen from the nine themes around which The Revolutionary City portal is organized. The Rev City’s themes were, in turn, created in collaboration with a stakeholder team of educators, archivists, community leaders, scholars, and public historians to create more accessible pathways through the digitized archival material in the portal to uncover otherwise hidden voices. Declaring independence, slavery and abolition, lived experience, and the economy are all critical to the story of independence and also help users explore a range of voices through a wide variety of documents. During the five-day workshop, participants will both engage with the original archival and printed materials digitized for the Rev City portal and visit several of the sites where the activities described in these documents took place. 

Important Dates: 

Pre-Workshop Virtual Orientation: Thursday, June 25, 2026, from 3:00-5:00PM EST

In-Residence Workshop Session 1: Monday, July 20, 2026 through Friday, July 24, 2026 

In-Residence Workshop Session 2: Monday, August 3, 2026 through Friday, August 7, 2026

Post-Workshop Virtual Follow-up: September 2026 (date and time tba)

Qualifications

Who can apply?

Full- or part-time K-12 educators in the United States who teach in public, charter, independent, and religiously affiliated schools, or as home schooling educators. Museum educators and other K-12 school personnel are also welcome to apply if they demonstrate that participation will advance project goals and enhance their own professional work.  We are reserving 20% of the available spaces for educators who are new to the profession (five years or fewer of teaching experience). 

Application Instructions

Please complete the application form and upload your CV or Resume and a 500-word Statement of Interest.  Your Statement of Interest must include why you would like to participate in “America’s Forgotten Founders,” your own teaching goals, and two to three clear objectives on how you will apply the workshop experience in your home classrooms. 

Applications will be evaluated based on two criteria. 1) Applicants’ alignment the the goals of the workshop, to reconsider on what constitutes a “founding” document and who counts as “founder,” to explore the experiences of everyday people living in Philadelphia during this founding moment, and to bring these perspectives into the classroom. 2) Clarity of applicants’ objectives on how to apply the workshop experience to their teaching.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The American Philosophical Society is an equal opportunity employer, dedicated to a policy of nondiscrimination in employment on any basis including race, creed, color, age, sex, gender, religion or national origin. The APS values diversity and inclusion and encourages diverse applicants to apply. Successful applicants will be asked