Represent your state in the
Summer 2009
Presidential Academy.
Itinerary
The seventeen-day Presidential Academy for American History and Civics will take place from Sunday, July 12, 2009, through Wednesday, July 29, 2009. Participating teachers will spend five days in Philadelphia, six days in Gettysburg, and seven days in Washington, DC. Where the Academy participants reside in each city, where they dine, and the memorials they visit, are meant to remind them of the episodes and pivotal issues raised in these places. They will be surrounded by the fabric of our past, all the while thinking through the words penned in the documents, the choices made, and the meaning they hold for our common citizenship.
Theme: The Birth of American Self-Government
Primary Text: The Declaration of Independence
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…"
Sunday, July 12
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm: Omni at Independence Park Hotel check-in. The Omni Hotel at Independence Park Hotel is located in Philadelphia's historic district, one block away from Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Independence Visitor Center.
5:00 pm: Meet in hotel lobby to walk to City Tavern together
5:15 pm - 6:45 pm: Dinner (City Tavern). The City Tavern appears essentially as it did 200 years ago. Matters of momentous importance were discussed and decided in the tavern. It became the practice of the members of the Second Continental Congress to dine together each Saturday at the Tavern. Eight of the delegates, Randolph, Lee, Washington, Harrison of Virginia, Alsop of New York, Chase of Maryland, and Rodney and Read of Delaware chose to form a "table" and dine there daily.
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Presidential Academy overview with Dr. Peter W. Schramm (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center). The Independence Visitor Center is the primary point of orientation for Independence National Historical Park in the City of Philadelphia. The Independence Ballroom, located on the mezzanine level of the Visitor Center, overlooks the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: "Apple of Gold": The Centrality of the Declaration of Independence in American Political Life
Monday, July 13
7:00 am - 9:00 am: Breakfast (Omni at Independence Park Hotel, Restaurant)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Morel (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: Developing the American Mind: Part I (1689, 1721)
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: Developing the American Mind: Part II (1774-1780)
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Independence Ballroom)
2:00 pm: Tour National Constitution Center. The National Constitution Center is dedicated to increasing public understanding of, and appreciation for, the Constitution, its history, and its contemporary relevance, through an interactive interpretative facility within Independence National Historical Park.
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner (Patou)
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: Session –, Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Constitutional Convention, Part I – The Alternative Plans
Tuesday, July 14
7:00 am - 9:00 am: Breakfast (Omni at Independence Park Hotel, Restaurant)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Constitutional Convention, Part II – The Connecticut Compromise
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Constitutional Convention, Part III – The Committee of Detail Report
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Independence Ballroom)
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm: Session – Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Constitutional Convention Part IV – The End is in Sight
5:30 pm: Dinner (City Tavern)
7:15 pm - 9:00 pm: Walking Tour of Historic Philadelphia with Dr. Gordon Lloyd
Wednesday, July 15
7:00 am - 9:00 am: Breakfast (Omni at Independence Park Hotel, Restaurant)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Morel (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Proposed Constitution of 1787 and Its Defense in The Federalist Papers
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Federalist Papers – The Sum of Power and the Separation of Powers
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Independence Ballroom)
1:00 pm - 2:15 pm: Walking Tour of Historic Philadelphia with Dr. Gordon Lloyd
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm: Session – Professor Lloyd (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: Ratification, Anti-Federalists, and the Bill of Rights
5:15 pm - 7:15 pm: Dinner (Participants Choice)
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: The Federalist Papers – Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches
Thursday, July 16
7:00 am - 9:00 am: Breakfast (Omni at Independence Park Hotel, Restaurant)
9:00 am - 10:00 am: Lesson Planning Session – Master Teacher (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
10:15 am - Noon: Session – Guest Lecture by Dr. David Hackett Fischer (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
Topic: Samuel de Champlain and the Quest to Establish Freedom in North America
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Independence Ballroom in the Independence Visitor Center)
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Dinner and Philadelphia week-ending discussion (Patou)
Friday, July 17
7:00 am - 9:00 am: Breakfast (Omni at Independence Park Hotel, Restaurant)
9:00 am - 11:00 am: Tour of Independence Hall. From 1775 to 1783, Independence Hall was the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. In the Assembly room of this building, George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775, the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, the Articles of Confederation were adopted in 1781, and the United States Constitution was drafted in 1787.
12 noon: Travel via motorcoach to next site (Gettysburg). Boxed lunch en route.
Gettysburg
Theme: The Testing of American Self-Government
Primary Text: Abraham Lincoln, "Gettysburg Address"
"That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
3:00 pm: Gettysburg Hotel check-in. The Gettysburg Hotel dates to 1797. In the summer of 1863, the hotel played witness to one of the seminal events in American history as Union and Confederate troops swarmed over the small town of Gettysburg during a pivotal and bloody three-day battle. Abraham Lincoln honed the immortal words of his Gettysburg Address at the Wills House, just steps away from the hotel.
5:15 pm - 6:45 pm: Dinner – The Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern. The Dobbin House Tavern is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. "Four Score and Seven Years" before President Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address (1863 - 87 = 1776), Gettysburg's oldest and most historic building, the Dobbin House, was built. Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on a bluff a few hundred yards away at the National Cemetery.
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Session – Professors Morel and Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: Lincoln and 21st-Century America
8:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Reception (Gettysburg Hotel Atrium)
Saturday, July 18
7:45 am - 8:45 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Stevens Room)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Morel (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: The Rule of Law, Slavery, and the Future of Self-Government
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: Abolitionism and Constitutional Self-Government
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Gettysburg Stevens Room)
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Session – Professor Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: Lincoln Confronts Stephen Douglas's Popular Sovereignty
5:45 pm - 7:15 pm: Dinner (Participants Choice)
Sunday, July 19
7:00 am - 8:00 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Stevens Room)
11:30 am - 12:30 pm: Lunch (Gettysburg Hotel Stevens Room)
1:30 pm - 2:15 pm: Book Signing with Dr. Gary Gallagher (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
2:15 pm - 6:00 pm: Gettysburg Battlefield Bus Tour with Dr. Gary Gallagher. The Gettysburg National Military Park is preserved as a symbol of America's struggle to survive as a nation and as a lasting memorial to the armies and soldiers who served in the great conflict. The Battle of Gettysburg was a critical turning point in the Civil War, a conflict that determined the fate of the United States.
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Dinner (The Pub and Restaurant)
Monday, July 20
7:45 am - 8:45 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Atrium)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhower Room)
Topic: The Rights and Wrongs of Secession
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Gettysburg Hotel Atrium)
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Battlefield Tour with Dr. Gary Gallagher
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Dinner (The Historic Fairfield Inn) The Historic Fairfield Inn is one of America's oldest, continuously operated inns with origins dating to 1757. Built nineteen years before the Declaration of Independence, The Fairfield Inn was originally the Mansion House of Squire Miller, an original founder of the town. The Inn was used as an early colonial settler's meeting house, a stagecoach stop, Confederate Civil War hospital, and was part of the Underground Railroad.
Tuesday, July 21
7:45 am - 8:45 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Eisenhowr Room)
Topic: Lincoln's Election, Secession, and the Civil War
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Guelzo (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
Topic: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
Topic: Lincoln and Civil Liberties
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner (The Pub and Restaurant)
7:15 pm - 8:30 pm: Gettysburg National Cemetery interpretative walk with National Park Service guide. Gettysburg National Cemetery is the final resting place of those who sacrificed their lives for this country. It is also the site of President Abraham Lincoln's November 19, 1863 speech, the Gettysburg Address, dedicating the National Cemetery.
Wednesday, July 22
7:45 am - 8:45 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Morel (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
Topic: "A New Birth of Freedom" (Gettysburg Address) and Lincoln's Re-election (Second Inaugural Address)
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
Topic: Frederick Douglass – Reconstruction and the Future of Black Americans
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
1:45 pm - 2:45 pm: Lesson Planning Session with Master Teacher (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
5:45 pm - 7:30 pm: Dinner and Gettysburg week-ending discussion (Historic 1776 Dobbin House Tavern)
Thursday, July 23
7:30 am - 8:30 am: Breakfast (Gettysburg Hotel Ballroom)
11:00 am: Travel via motorcoach to next site (Washington, D.C.). Lunch en route.
While en route—a tour of Arlington, Iwo Jima, Northern Virginia, etc.
Washington, D.C.
Theme: The Fulfillment of America's Promise of Self-Government
Primary Text: Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"
"I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
3:00 pm: Sheraton Crystal City Check In
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm: Dinner (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
7:30 pm - 10:00 pm: Session – Guest Lecture by Juan Williams (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: President Obama – Culmination of the Civil Rights Movement?
Friday, July 24
7:30 am - 8:30 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
9:00 am - 10:50 am: Session – Professors Morel and Burkett (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: The Modern Era Confronts the American Founding
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topics: Booker T. Washington; W.E.B. Du Bois
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
2:00 pm - 5:00 pm: National Archives Tour
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Dinner (Capitol City Brewing Company)
Saturday, July 25
7:30 am - 8:30 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
9:00 am - 10:30 am: Session – Professor Burkett (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topics: The Progressive Reform and Self-Government
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topics: Marcus Garvey; Brown v. Board of Education
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm: Session – Professor Burkett (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Democratic Leadership
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner (Participants Choice)
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm: Washington After-Dark Tour
Sunday, July 26
7:00 am - 8:00 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
11:30 am - 12:30 pm: Lunch (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr., Non-Violent Resistance, and the American Dream
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the American Dream
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner (Capitol City Brewing Company)
Monday, July 27
7:30 am - 8:30 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
9:00 am - 10:30 pm: Session – Professor Morel (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: Malcolm X
10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session – Professor Burkett (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: The Reagan Era and the New Deal Legacy
12:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Lunch (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
1:45 pm - 3:15 pm: Session – Professor Burkett (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Topic: George W. Bush's Founding Faith and Barack Obama's Gospel of Hope
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Dinner (Johnny's Half Shell)
Tuesday, July 28
6:30 am - 7:30 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
7:30 am - 1:00 pm: Senate Tour
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch (Participants Choice)
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm: Free time in Washington, D.C. (e.g. the Library of Congress and Supreme Court are nearby)
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm: Dinner and Washington, D.C. week-ending discussion (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
Wednesday, July 29
7:30 am - 8:30 am: Breakfast (Sheraton Crystal City Room)
9:00 am: Travel via motorcoach to Philadelphia. Participant's choice lunch.
1:30 pm: Depart for home
