History in Action: Juliet R. ’27 Explores, Learns, and Leads

Over the summer, history student and enthusiast Juliet R. ’27 had the incredible opportunity to not just learn about American history, but to experience it firsthand! The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the National History Academy partnered to provide twenty scholarships to students attending schools involved in their Affiliate School Program. Juliet was one of the fortunate scholarship winners! Our Marianapolis community is so proud of her achievement, and we are thrilled she participated in this enriching leadership, civics, and history program. What an honor! In her own words below, Juliet shares highlights from her experience, including memorable learning moments, historical sites, and landmarks that she visited, and the impact this transformative journey had on her life.

 

“During my time at the National History Academy (NHA), we visited several extraordinary museums and historical sights, including some of my favorites: Monticello, Montpelier, Mount Vernon, Frederick Douglass House, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, and the Virginia Holocaust Museum. Not only were there many specially preserved artifacts that sparked my interest in archeology, but they also helped me understand a deeper meaning behind such artifacts. I understood that history isn’t just black and white; it consists of a whole palette of colors and perspectives that paint the colorful scheme of our history as Americans. Our founding fathers were not perfect, but neither were any other humans in their or our era. I learned to understand the faults of our past to create a deeper opinion and view on the American nation that surrounds me.

 

“Furthermore, NHA helped me gain more confidence in expressing my opinions while also understanding the opinions of others. Through class time, intriguing case studies, discussions, debates, and inspiring guest speakers, we all learned to not only form a better understanding of the nation around us, but also of the people around us and how we could work to improve our divided nation through the understanding of history.