The Space Age on the Space Coast

FAIN: BH-308043-26

National Council for History Education, Inc. (University Heights, OH 44118-3204)
Kathleen Barker (Project Director: February 2025 to present)
Kristy Brugar (Co Project Director: December 2025 to present)

Two week-long residential workshops for cohorts of 30 K-12 educators on the historical, cultural, and educational relevance of Florida’s Space Coast. 

The National Council for History Education will continue its partnership with the Astronauts Memorial Foundation to offer an NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop, The Space Age on the Space Coast. Beginning in the 1950s, politics, science, and culture collided in this unique geographical area as a result of the Cold War; they continue to intersect there in profound ways today. These two 2026 workshops, each with 30 educators, will use AMF as a “home base” from which to investigate landmarks associated with the American origins of space exploration, including the Space Shuttle Atlantis, the Vehicle Assembly Building and launchpads at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station launch sites and museums, and multiple exhibitions at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center. Participants will engage with historians, educators, astronauts, and NASA personnel to explore how America's scientific achievements are deeply intertwined with the human experience.