The Hudson River in the 19th Century and the Modernization of America

FAIN: BH-50395-10

Ramapo College of New Jersey (Mahwah, NJ 07430-1623)
Stephen P. Rice (Project Director: March 2010 to June 2012)
Meredith Davis (Co Project Director: March 2010 to June 2012)

Funding details:
Original grant (2010) $167,282.00
Supplement (2011) $7,832.00

Two one-week Landmarks workshops for eighty teachers that will use the Hudson River as a focus for the study of nineteenth-century intersections of art, culture, commerce, and nature.

The Hudson River is an American landmark of immeasurable historical depth and significance, and has aptly been called "America's River." The workshops we propose will explore American history and culture of the 19th century by focusing on the Hudson River as a site where art, culture, commerce, and nature collide. On one hand, the River is "conquered" in the 19th century by steam power, the Erie Canal, industrialization, and population growth. On the other, painters such as Thomas Cole and writers such as Washington Irving endowed the River with romantic, transformational power, the power to overcome human force. Each day of our program will include a lecture by a renowned scholar, a site visit, and a workshop with a Master Teacher where participants will work in small groups to develop lesson plans related to their teaching area. The workshops will be appropriate for middle and high school teachers of social studies, history, English, humanities, and environmental studies.