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A Tribute to a Founding Father: David Van Tassel and National History Day
Cathy Gorn
National History Day
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ON JUNE 3, 2000, the National History Day (NHD) community was saddened by the sudden loss of David Van Tassel, NHD's founder. Although we mourn his loss, we also celebrate his life and legacy. I cannot think of anything more powerful or exciting than to have an effect on a young person, to change a life in some positive way–to watch the light bulb go on and to feel that you had something to do with that. David Van Tassel did that for millions of young people through National History Day. His influence extends to the barrios of Los Angeles, to inner-city Houston, to Navajo and Lakota Indian reservations, to small, rural mid-western towns and to wealthy and middle class suburbs. Through National History Day, David created a vehicle to reinvigorate the teaching and learning of history. But more important than that, what he produced was something that truly changes lives. |
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It all began in 1974 when, concerned about the devalued nature of history in the nation's elementary and secondary schools, David Van Tassel, professor of history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, sought to bring the past to life for students and teachers. His idea was a competition through which middle and high school students present historical research in papers, table-top exhibits, dramatic performances, and multi-media documentaries. These products would be entered into contests and evaluated by professional historians and educators. Although just a simple thought a quarter century ago--a local program to excite Cleveland area teachers and students about history--he idea grew into National History Day. Today it is the nation's leading history education program, reaching more than 700,000 children every year and providing 40,000 teachers with a vehicle to enhance teaching in classrooms around the country. |
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National History Day is more than a contest. It is a rigorous program that requires young people to conduct extensive primary and secondary research, interpret information and draw conclusions about the meaning of the past. In the process, students examine topics within historical context, learning important content as well as valuable research, critical thinking, and communication skills. The program has had a dramatic impact on the way in which teachers teach, inspiring educators to incorporate research techniques and primary source analysis into their regular classroom work. But even more than that, the program that David created has been an extraordinary experience for all those it has touched. Through National History Day, David has kept students from dropping out of school, he has made it possible for young people to enter college, and he has brought families together around the dinner table to discuss the history of their families and communities. He began a revolution in classrooms nationwide. |
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National History Day was not David's only project; his reach extended beyond NHD because he worked every day to make a record of the past and to teach others to find the future. David was an accomplished and published historian in his own right. But always a visionary, David's greatest works were those that brought history to the broadest possible audiences, including National History Day and the highly acclaimed Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, or those that broke new ground such as his pioneering work on the history of aging. However, for all his training as an academic, David was best at making things happen. A strong, yet quiet man, he knew how to ask for help, and whom to ask, to maximize the results. Thus the real secret of NHD is not that it is a program dependent on one individual but a movement leaning on tens of thousands of volunteers across forty-seven states and the District of Columbia. Inspired by one man's vision, National History Day is now an army of students, teachers, parents, public and academic historians and volunteers dedicated to bringing a meaningful study of the past to life in classrooms nationwide. |
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The best praise of David's creation comes from those whom he influenced the most, those who for the most part he never met. Annually, we receive letters and notes from students, teachers, parents, judges, and others who have felt the power of NHD. Their words express what so many of us feel, how powerful and empowering National History Day--David's legacy--is: |
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I have been a teacher for twenty years, and all twenty years I have been involved with National History Day.... I've listened to a boy from somewhere in the south sing "Old Man River" at the end of his presentation that first made me cry and then rise to my feet with the rest of the audience. I've had students win the national title two years in a row, and witnessed one of the winners, whom I had always considered self-centered, give his medal to our social studies teacher, because she was the one that changed his life. I've seen kids go from barely being able to talk above a whisper in public to confidently giving a performance in front of a hundred people on stage. Former students who are in college come back and judge, help me with organizing students, and say "This project prepared me for the rigors of college. I know how to research and I can organize my time." The year two of my eighth graders tied for state individual media category, with one using History Day as her focus after the death of her mother earlier in the year, was about as good as it gets. I spend hundreds of hours after school with kids and helping to organize our district History Day because it meets the needs of kids who are hungry for learning. |
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--Kathy Paul, Teacher, Johnston Middle School, Johnston, Iowa |
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As a family we have traveled to such places as the Baseball
Hall of Fame and the National Archives. Places we may never
have visited without the children's participation in History
Day. The family has also met many very interesting individuals
whom the children have interviewed as primary sources. These
included former Negro League Baseball players, World War II
espionage agents, former prisoners of war who were held by
the Japanese during World War II, and an attorney who has
been directly involved in every major civil rights case argued
before the Supreme Court since the early 1950s.... We no longer
think of history as a series of static events, but as an ever
changing, interesting part of our lives. A. Webb, Parent,
McMurray, Pennsylvania
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--Elaine A. Webb, Parent, McMurry, Pennsylvnia |
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Perhaps the greatest impact of National History Day--and David--was on the historical profession itself. I truly believe that never have so many historians enjoyed engaging in the pursuit of history outside their offices, their regular classrooms, and their academic research as have the thousands who have participated in National History Day as teachers, mentors, consultants and judges over more than two decades. Every year he helped us remember why we do what we do. |
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--Arnita A. Jones, Executive Director, American Historical Association |
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History Day inspires kids to expect a great deal from themselves, to get over fears (of calling up a complete stranger and asking to meet with them, for example), to realize that every story has multiple layers and many dimensions. It requires a great deal of time, energy, and thought, so that when the project is finished, there is a tremendous sense of accomplishment and pride. One of the things I have gained is the ability to form opinions and take action based upon thorough research. Because I know how to question, I believe I am a better citizen of this country. No blind faith or cynicism for me! History has made me see a strong connection between our past and our future. Most of all, History Day is FUN--shaving cream fights in the dorm rooms, parading around the award ceremony stadium...and sitting in an empty bathtub eating oatmeal cookies with your two best friends while you try to write a script! |
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--Mattie Weis, First Place, Senior Individual Exhibit, 1997 |
My experience with National History Day began in 1989 with
my first NHD. It was our school's first experience in NHD
and we were just learning the ropes. By chance, several of
us qualified for the national contest and it has since changed
our school and the lives of hundreds of students from that
small town in Southeast Kansas. The next year I was back with
a partner and an awe-inspiring topic that taught me how much
fun history could really be. It was then that I really learned
what history was all about. That year changed my life. I dropped
my plans to pursue international business and focused instead
on history and secondary education in college. I wanted to
affect lives as much as my own NHD teacher had affected mine.
It was the best, most fulfilling decision of my life. Doing
NHD as a participant is inspiring, but it doesn't compare
to watching your own student discover history. As a student
teacher, I had the good fortune to work with one of my AP
students as she developed her first NHD project, a performance
on the Amistad Incident.... To watch the audience as she told
the story...to know that I had played some small part
in her accomplishment.... To watch her come back to NHD as
an intern and volunteer with the national staff has meant
more to me than I thought possible.
Now it seems we have come full
circle. While sitting at the Santa Fe Café one evening
at National History Day 2000, David's influence was pretty
obvious and heart-warming. A new generation of NHD leaders
filled several large tables with the energy, enthusiasm, and
memories that are David's legacy-nearly all of us past NHD
participants who can't seem to get enough of History Day.
As usual, the conversation came back to the same question
"When did you do NHD? What was your topic?" Three
of us--Mark (now a member of the national staff), Wilson (the
first NHD summer intern, now back as a volunteer), and me
(now the state coordinator for Iowa)-realized that we all
three had been together as National History Day finalists
in 1990. We probably even traded the buttons of our respective
states that year in College Park. Who knew then that when
we would meet again a decade later, we would be the ones with
the responsibility of making sure that the next generation
of NHD participants had the life-changing experience that
we had in 1990? Wow.
Looking around the table, it's
obvious that David had touched the others as much as he had
the three of us. The table is like a big extended family brought
together by our mutual love of NHD and history. So many of
us who fell in love with NHD as students that are now back
to make our own small contributions to the program. What a
tribute to what David accomplished!
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--Crystal Johnson Bailey, State History Day Coordinator,
Iowa
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Cathy Gorn is Executive Director of National History Day. David Van Tassel was her mentor and dissertation advisor.
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