Home school, middle school, high school, and even college educators will find History By Hollywood an innovative and interesting method of teaching social studies using film as the text. This volume of History By Hollywood uses the films "Last of the Mohicans," "Davy Crockett-King of the Wild Frontier," "Glory," "I Will Fight No More Forever," and "The Wizard of Oz" to teach United States History through the Progressive Era using these films as the "text.". The premise of History by Hollywood is that most students learn, understand, and experience the passion of history best through film. This collection of teaching materials covers ten films for use in United States History spanning from the colonial period to the end of the Twentieth Century. Each film correlates with a goal of the National Standards for Social Studies. The materials consist of a Student's Guide, Teacher's Notes and Talking Points, a Research Lexicon, and a multiple-choice test for each film. The materials are helpful for using these films whether by a novice, experience, or substitute teacher. In 1915, United States President Woodrow Wilson said upon viewing D. W. Griffith's epic film Birth of a Nation ?It's like writing history with lightning.? He also said of the film that ?it's all too true.? President Wilson, who was a scholar and former President of Princeton University, had grown up in the post-Civil War South. He had read about the great conflict, and knew many of its participants. Now, because of that film he was able to visualize history. Today, through many films, we can see and hear and feel history as never before. We cannot go back in history but film brings us the next best thing. Whether by biography, saga, or analogy we can closely experience the sights, sounds, and emotions of the past. The premise of History by Hollywood is that most students learn, understand, and experience history more through film than any other media. Film also provides us a chance to examine the limits and biases of those who research and interpret history and also to better examine the lessons of history. History by Hollywood started as a course the author developed and taught as a public high school teacher. The author hopes that you will have as much success using History by Hollywood as he has. The impact on your students can be lasting and profound.
Charles Nelson Williams is a North Carolina native. He served with the First Marine Division in Vietnam in 1969-70. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington he has taught middle, high school, and community college level students in the areas of United States, European, and Non-Western history, literature and psychology. He has worked for the National Park Service developing educational programs for the general public, schools, and for the military He also served as an 18th Century Historic Weapons Supervisor. History by Hollywood is a course he developed and taught exclusively at the high school level.
