The Cemetery Project: A Model for Teaching Historical Understanding and Public History in an Age of Teaching to the Test

Abstract

This study explores the history of the Cemetery Project, a research-based initiative facilitated by Julia Reynolds Masterman Preparatory and Demonstration School (Masterman) teachers since 1990 at The Woodlands, both in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As understood here, the Cemetery Project has the potential to change the ways in which public history institutions like archives, libraries, and historical institutions engage with classrooms. Situated within the context and history of social science education reform and policy, the Cemetery Project shows the pertinence of primary sources use with the goal of teaching historical thinking in high school history educational contexts.