The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area is a federally designated

National Heritage Area In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some ...

in portions of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia.

History and background

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area was established on May 8, 2008 by Public Law 110-229, the

Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (; CNRA) was an act passed in the 110th United States Congress and enacted on May 8, 2008. Legislative history The bill was introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, a Democrat and the ch ...

. The designation provides a framework for the promotion and interpretation of the area's cultural and historic character, with particular emphasis on the region's role in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, and the preservation of the natural and built environment. The National Heritage Area extends from Gettysburg in the north to

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

in the south. It is managed by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, which encompasses the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway. The heritage area roughly follows the route of the Old Carolina Road. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the awareness of the history within the Gettysburg-Monticello corridor. Its mission is to promote and support civic engagement through history education, economic development through heritage tourism, and the preservation of cultural landscapes in one of the nation’s most important historic regions. Partners include over 350 municipal, business, and non-profit organizations, including many elected bodies within the four-state region. All related entities are collectively referred to as the Journey Through Hallowed Ground. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area denotes the region that Congress designated as a Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area in 2008, in a program affiliated with the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. There are 15 counties in the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, spanning those four states. With 400 years of European, American, and African-American heritage, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is a National Heritage Area with a

National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...

running through it. It contains World Heritage sites, over 10,000 sites on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, 49 National Historic districts, nine Presidential homes & sites, 13 National Park Units, hundreds of African-American and Native American heritage sites, 30 Historic Main Street communities, sites from the Revolutionary War,

French-Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the st ...

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, and the largest single collection of Civil War sites in the nation. The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area comprises Adams County in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

and Carroll counties and the eastern part of Washington county in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, the area around

Harpers Ferry Harpers Ferry is a historic town in Jefferson County, West Virginia. It is located in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The population was 285 at the 2020 census. Situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, where the U.S. stat ...

Jefferson County, West Virginia Jefferson County is located in the Shenandoah Valley in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. It is the easternmost county of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,701. Its county seat is Charles Town ...

, and

Loudoun Loudoun ( gd, Lughdan) is a parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland and lies between five and ten miles east of Kilmarnock. The parish roughly encompasses the northern half of the Upper-Irvine Valley and borders Galston Parish (which encompasses the ...

, Fauquier, Culpeper,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, Albemarle,

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

and Rappahannock counties and parts of Fairfax,

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...

and Spotsylvania counties in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

National Scenic Byway

The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway refers to the 180-mile road that intersects the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. Once known as Old

Carolina Road The Carolina Road or the "Old Carolina Road" are names for various sections of the Great Wagon Road and other routes in colonial America. "The 'Old Carolina Road', extending from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to the Yadkin Valley, was one of the most h ...

, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway runs 180 miles through three states and includes portions of US Rt. 15, VA 231, VA 20, and VA 53, running through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The JTHG National Scenic Byway is one of 150 scenic byways nationwide designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.

National History Academy

In the summer of 2018, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground launched National History Academy, an innovative five-week residential summer program for top high school students from throughout the country. The Academy teaches the foundations of American democracy through place-based education. National History Academy’s mission is to inspire students to understand the foundations of American democracy and the responsibilities of citizenship. The first of its kind, the Academy was founded to address the current crisis in American civic and historical literacy. During the five-week course, students study American history, from the Native American settlement era through the civil-rights movement, with an emphasis on significant events and figures between 1765 and 1865. The group alternates between classroom studies and visits to historic sites within and near the  Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area. National History Academy’s motto, “Historia Est Magistra Vitae,” is taken from

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

’s

De Oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator''; not to be confused with ''Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, du ...

and means “history is the teacher of life.”

Admissions and student life

The Academy has capacity for ninety rising 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students each summer. In 2018, 233 students applied, and 89 students from 28 states enrolled. Courses are taught by six master teachers. Students are also overseen by twelve college counselors. National History Academy is hosted at the Foxcroft School in

Middleburg, Virginia Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County. Middleburg is known as the "Nation's Horse ...

, a private secondary school. The campus is located 45 miles from

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and within a three-hour drive of all the historic sites that the students visit. Filmmaker

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary film, documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle United States, American History of the United States, history and Culture of the ...

is featured in the Academy’s promotional video.

Curriculum

The curriculum is built around four components: (1) history cases; (2) parliamentary debates; (3) a speaker series; and (4) visits to the defining sites of American history.

History cases

The Academy uses the case-based History of American Democracy curriculum developed by

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

Professor

David A. Moss The list of Harvard University people includes notable graduates, professors, and administrators affiliated with Harvard University. For a list of notable non-graduates of Harvard, see notable non-graduate alumni of Harvard. For a list of Harva ...

. The cases provide an interdisciplinary and contextual examination of key historic events, permitting students to consider multiple viewpoints and to place themselves in the role of decision makers. In 2018, Professor Moss taught the first case on the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

’s Montpelier.

Better Angels debates

The Academy offers a parliamentary debate program in partnership with the Better Angels and its founder,

David Blankenhorn David Blankenhorn (born 1955 in Jackson, Mississippi) is the founder and president of the Institute for American Values and its initiative Braver Angels. He is also co-director of The Marriage Opportunity Council and the author of ''Fatherless Amer ...

. The

College Board The College Board is an American nonprofit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an association of colleges, it runs a ...

provided the initial funding for this partnership. The debates are designed to encourage civil discourse across the partisan divide in an open and respectful environment. This formal style of parliamentary debate allows students to explore challenging contemporary issues in contrast to the historical debates studied in the cases.

Guest speakers

The Academy invites more than 20 nationally recognized guest speakers to supplement classroom activities. Among the 2018 guest speakers were

David Rubenstein David Mark Rubenstein (born August 11, 1949) is an American billionaire businessman. A former government official and lawyer, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group,Ernest Green Ernest Gideon Green (born September 22, 1941) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Gre ...

, Margaret Richardson, Brent Glass,

Jon Parrish Peede Jon Parrish Peede is an American book editor and literary review publisher, who served as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2018 to 2021. Early life Jon Parrish Peede was born in Mississippi, and he grew up in Brandon ...

Trevor Potter Trevor Potter (born October 24, 1955) is a lawyer, former commissioner and chairman of the United States Federal Election Commission. He is the Founder and President of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization which works in the areas ...

Douglas Owsley Douglas W. Owsley, Ph.D. (born July 21, 1951) is an American anthropologist who is the current Head of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He is widely regarded as one of the most prominent and in ...

, Ron Maxwell and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

Site visits and unique experiences

The Academy alternates classroom work with visits to the defining historic sites in the region, from Gettysburg to

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

and

Colonial Williamsburg Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has 7300 employees at this location and ...

. Students experience iconic National Parks, museums, presidential homes, battlefields, and Civil Rights sites.

References

External links