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A Tribute to Gary Nash
Alli Jason-Fives
Beverly Hills High School, California
| I AM THRILLED to be a part of this fitting tribute to a brilliant scholar, an award-winning professor, a prolific writer, a true humanitarian, a revered historian. |
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My collegial relationship with Gary Nash goes back to the early 1990s, when I was chosen to be a teacher-associate with the newly established National Center for Teaching History in the Schools. Gary had a vision that a collaboration between university professors and K-12 school teachers could result in a renewed excitement and respect for teaching history. Through lectures, curriculum writing, and collaborative discussions, the first group of thirty teachers in Southern California had the unique opportunity of working with historians in world and U.S. history. Our goal was and still is to "make history come alive" in the classroom as a story well-told. |
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An old Chinese proverb goes like this:
I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.
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With that in mind, at my high school, we adopted Gary's textbook in the early 1990s for our regular and Advanced Placement U.S. history classes. The American People presented history differently from the dry textbooks of the past. This text was innovative and enjoyable to read. An interesting anecdote would begin a unit and a chapter—a quote, speech, photograph—would engage the students from the start. Dorothea Lange's photograph of the "Migrant Mother" introduced the chapter on the Great Depression. A photo is shown of a brave and courageous Elizabeth Eckford, one of the "Little Rock Nine," walking proudly to Central High. She is followed by taunting students on the first day of mandated school integration. This begins the chapter on Civil Rights. Case studies describe the background of the Cherokee Removal "Trail of Tears" or the concept of McCarthyism and the story of "The Hollywood Ten." |
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Gary's text has provided thousands of students with eyewitness accounts of dramatic events. Yet there was one dramatic event that did not make it into his textbook. It had to do with Lynne Cheney, the Vice-President's wife. While her husband Dick was out hunting friends—I mean hunting WITH friends, Lynne was busily counting how many times our Founding Fathers were mentioned in Gary's textbook. I guess she had a lot of time on her hands during Dick's hunting expeditions! |
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Lynne decided the textbook was not to her liking and used the press to create a lot of drama. Actually, her husband has tried to hide from the press during these last eight years—I wonder why. Anyway, I do not think his hunting trip will be in Lynne Cheney's new version of her public school textbook. |
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Seriously, I have worked with Gary off and on over fifteen years. I honor Gary today for his work with public school teachers. He has provided the educational support, encouragement, and motivation behind the importance of teaching history. |
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Personally, Gary has been my mentor in many ways—his intellect, knowledge, and humor shine through every presentation, lecture, and book. |
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He has dedicated his retirement from UCLA to working with teachers across the nation. His National Center has provided hundreds of teachers with curriculum units that cover significant moments in world and U.S. history. |
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Gary is a master teacher—his love of history is contagious. I can listen to him lecture for hours. His depth and breadth of historical knowledge is amazing. Yet his humble and modest demeanor underlies his collaboration with K-12 teachers nationwide. Gary connects and communicates so easily with people. He recognizes the worth of each individual and becomes a student as he honors the knowledge and expertise of others. This unique talent seems to be a recurring theme in many of his books—the role of the "common man or woman" in history. |
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Recently, Gary asked me to collaborate with three other teachers from around the nation to write curriculum units to accompany "Home Lands: How Women Helped Shape the American West." This artifact-filled exhibit will open at the Gene Autry Museum in 2010. We met last August to set our goals and begin brainstorming themes, dramatic events, and lessons to accompany the primary sources in the exhibit. We are now selecting specific artifacts that teachers can use in the classroom for their curriculum lessons. We all left the Autry weekend very excited and energized by the project. |
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Gary is still providing that incentive, motivation, and historical knowledge for another collaborative experience—using primary sources to make history come alive for the students! |
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In conclusion, Henry Adams must have been thinking of Gary when he said, "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." |
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Gary, you are that teacher. We all thank you! |
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