Who she is: Lesley Herrmann is the executive director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, and has been at the helm since 1994 when the organization was founded. Previously, she has held a variety of development and planning positions with not-for-profit and educational organizations in New York City, including the Municipal Art Society, Asphalt Green, The New School for Social Research, and Pace University.
What she does: Lesley prides herself on promoting the Institute’s efforts to promote the study of American history and improve the quality of history education. With her dedication and leadership, the Institute has created seminar programs for elementary, middle, and high school teachers and the Affiliate Schools Program, a growing network of history-focused schools across the United States.
Why she does it: “We’re thrilled about the future of the Gilder Lehrman Institute and look forward to continuing to grow and expand the programs we offer,” she explains, noting that Gilder Lehrman’s primary source-based K-12 professional development program has expanded in recent years to include Chicago Public Schools, Milwaukee Public Schools, and the Catholic Schools of New York City and Newark, NJ. “We look forward to expanding our student-friendly content, such as the video series launched this spring that offered Last Minute Prep for taking the AP US History test.”
Founded in 1994 by New York City business leaders Richard Gilder and Lewis E. Lehrman, The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization devoted to the improvement of history education.
The Institute has developed an array of programs for schools, teachers, and students that now operate in all 52 states, including a website that features more than 60,000 unique historical documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection.
Each year the Institute offers support and resources to tens of thousands of teachers, and through them enhances the education of more than a million students. The value of the Institute’s programs has been recognized through awards from the White House, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Organization of American Historians.
On Thursday, May 22, more than 300 guests gathered at The Pierre, a New York City hotel, for The Gilder Lehrman Institute’s 3rd Annual Gala.
The evening’s honored guest was Mrs. Laura Bush, who received Gilder Lehrman’s “Champion of History” award in tribute to her decades as a leading voice and passionate advocate for literacy and education in schools and libraries. Click here to watch the video of Bush’s speech.
In addition to raising funds for the organization, the gala featured the students who benefit from the work that the Institute does year-round.
To learn more, scroll down for our Q&A with Lesley Herrmann, the organization’s executive director.
The Art of Teaching History
Be Inkandescent: You have more than 65,000 original, primary source documents in your collection—including one from an exhibit called “Seeds of Discord: The Politics of Slavery.” Tell us about the collection, and why you think it’s so important that students learn from primary sources?
Lesley S. Herrmann, Gilder Lehrman Institute: The Gilder Lehrman Collection contains more than 65,000 letters, diaries, maps, photographs, books, and more. These documents—which date back to 1493 and include manuscripts from George Washington, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln—help teachers move history out of the textbooks and let their students see them through the eyes of the people directly responsible for shaping American history.
In addition, to make sure teachers have every tool they need to bring these documents to life, we created “History by Era,” a section on our website that brings 10 different eras in American history to life with primary sources, essays from scholars, lesson plans, and videos with historians. These features have made it the most popular section on our site, receiving thousands of visits from teachers every day.
Be Inkandescent: Teachers are obviously a key part of the Institute. In fact, you give out the National History Teacher of the Year award. Tell us about this program and others that you offer to teachers around the country.
Lesley S. Herrmann, Gilder Lehrman Institute: Because teachers are at the core of our mission to expand the teaching and learning of American history, we are delighted and proud to honor a National History Teacher of the Year at our annual fall ceremony. Each year we also bestow a State Teacher of the Year award to a particularly outstanding history teacher in all 50 states.
Gilder Lehrman’s Teacher Seminars are arguably our most popular offering. They allow teachers the chance to attend free, week-long courses that dive deep into major topics in American history. Courses are led by top historians and take place at prestigious universities and historic sites throughout the United States and abroad. These selective programs—we offer around 40 a year—have proven so popular that our single largest day of web traffic happens every year on the day we announce acceptance notices.
Be Inkandescent: You also have an Affiliate School Program network that a year ago, on June 25, 2013, officially reached 3,000 schools across the country. How does this program work?
Lesley S. Herrmann, Gilder Lehrman Institute: Our Affiliate School Program, developed with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, offers exclusive resources to teachers and participating schools, including eligibility for our Teacher Seminars, free lesson plans, scholarships and discounts for online courses, and discounts on purchases of Gilder Lehrman materials in our History Shop. In addition, schools can display one of our traveling exhibitions free of charge, and their students are eligible to participate in the “Civil War Essay Contest” and “Dear George Washington Contest.”
The program continues to expand rapidly and we’ve added more than 2,000 schools in the last year, bringing the total number of Gilder Lehrman Affiliate Schools over 5,000. Schools are encouraged to register for free on our website.
Be Inkandescent: We understand you also offer an online master’s degree program to teachers, who otherwise might not be able to get an MA. How does this program work? How long does it take to complete? And what is the cost?
Lesley S. Herrmann, Gilder Lehrman Institute: Our new online MA program, which officially launches in July and will be offered in partnership with Adams State University, will offer people the chance to receive their MA in American History directly through Gilder Lehrman’s online graduate courses. Our online courses are led by top scholars and blend a traditional liberal arts environment with features that can only be found online, combining small class sizes with virtual field trips and interactive discussions.
Once the program is underway, enrollees can take as long as they need to complete the program. Even better, at an average cost of $600 per course, they can earn their MA in American History for under $6,000!
Be Inkandescent: With so many projects going on, you have clearly accomplished quite a lot in the last 20 years. What are your plans for the rest of 2014 and beyond?
Lesley S. Herrmann, Gilder Lehrman Institute: We’re thrilled about the future of the Gilder Lehrman Institute and look forward to continuing to grow and expand the programs we offer. For example, Teaching Literacy through History, our new, primary source-based K-12 professional development program, has expanded to include Chicago Public Schools, Milwaukee Public Schools, and the Catholic Schools of New York City and Newark, NJ.
We also want to continue expanding student-friendly content, such as the video series launched this spring that offered “Last Minute Prep” for taking the AP US History test, which drove record numbers of new visitors to our site.
To learn more about the Gilder Lehrman Institute, visit gilderlehrman.org.
Lesley S. Herrmann has been executive director of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History since its founding in 1994. She has spearheaded the Institute’s efforts to promote the study of American history and improve the quality of history education. Under Herrmann’s direction, the Institute has created seminar programs for elementary, middle, and high school teachers and the Affiliate Schools Program, a growing network of history-focused schools across the United States; and produced dozens of American history publications, digital resources, and traveling exhibitions for students and teachers.
Herrmann has also held a variety of development and planning positions with not-for-profit and educational organizations in New York City, including the Municipal Art Society, Asphalt Green, The New School for Social Research, and Pace University. She holds a master’s degree in Russian Area Studies from Harvard University and a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literature from Columbia University, and she has taught Russian literature at The New School for Social Research and Manhattan College.
Herrmann serves on the board of the National Coalition for History and has served on the boards of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the National Council for History Education. She has contributed to the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives and the Claremont Review of Books