From the Westfield, Massachusetts Republican, we find a story of history teachers getting first-hand history from a World War II veteran. His story is perhaps a bit unusual because he is African American, and he told the story of the irony of defending freedom in Europe, then returning home to have to fight for his own freedom all over again.
These veterans are dying off — this fellow, Raymond Elliott, is 82. Such a presentation to classes brings back to life the events of World War II, and in this case also sets the stage for the civil rights struggles of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (Brown v. Board, Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Little Rock, the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr., Selma, the March on Washington, “I Have a Dream,” the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, etc., etc.).
The full story is below the fold — fair use copy. Do you have such veterans in your town? Do your classes get to meet with them? Are you such a veteran, and do the teachers in your area know you are available? Do you think many of these teachers got his name and address to invite him to their schools?
Teachers hear history first hand at WSC
Monday, July 17, 2006
By ALEX PESHKOV
apeshkov@repub.com
WESTFIELD – World War II veteran Raymond S. Elliott says he and the other members of his U.S. Army Air Forces Combat Engineer unit had two battles to fight.
“One was going to be against fascism, and the other against racism in America when we get back,” said Elliott, 82, an Amherst resident who served in the South Pacific.
His unit consisted of all black men, but the commanders were white.
“Even though we were fighting for freedom, we were denied our freedom to make choices. And that’s while serving in the Army. It’s almost a contradiction,” he said.
“Black soldiers were not respected in this country in many ways. We were not trusted to interact with whites. Wherever we were stationed, we were limited to that area. Everyplace we were sent for training or anything else, we were only allowed to socialize in the black community,” he said.
Elliott, now a Veteran Education Project volunteer, spoke on Friday to area teachers at “American Promises: A Teaching American History Program” run last week at Westfield State College.
The workshop, held in Scanlon Banquet Hall, was part of a 3-year initiative to improve history education, said Priscilla Miller, director of the college’s Center for Teacher Education and Research.
“We have eight seminars throughout the year and we also offer about 30 after-school workshops,” she said. Miller noted that 80 area K-12 teachers attended the program, which is funded by a nearly $1 million federal grant to the Westfield Public Schools in collaboration with the college, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association and five other area school districts.
Another program, “Teaching Science in Your Watershed,” co-sponsored by the college’s Westfield River Environmental Center, had 10 participants – also the area teachers – who spent half of the time in the field and half in the auditorium focusing on the local environmental issues, Miller said.
Other speakers at the history workshop included Laura Lovett and Max Page of the University of Massachusetts, Michael Konig of Westfield State, and Bruce Nelson of Dartmouth College.
Teachers from the Westfield, Chicopee, Gateway Regional, Hampshire Regional, Southwick-Tolland and Palmer school districts participated in the event, Miller said.
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