MCLA Blog

The Shaping Role of Place

“connecting local African American History and Culture to the American story”

Shaping Role of Place Home | NEH Curriculum Project

---

By Donna DrewHistory intrigues me: not the history of wars and governments most often found in school texts, but the social history and family history found at my doorstep. Some time ago I researched and wrote about Monument Mills in Housatonic, a small town textile industry that shaped the lives of wealthy owners and immigrant workers alike. I also enjoy accompanying my local historian/writer husband Bernie Drew, as he researches one theme after another: iron bridges, Civilian Conservation Corps state forests, diners, inventor William Stanley…the Housatonic River towns seem to he a bottomless well of stories of people of the past. Sometimes I use my own family history to inspire my own drawing, painting, writing or crafts. I look forward to giving my students the opportunity to learn more about their regionʼs past, and the opportunity to share their knowledge and thoughts with others through their art work.