Get to Know the 2017 History Teachers of the Year: Elizabeth Doughty, Washington

In 2017, the Gilder Lehrman Institute recognized 52 State History Teachers of the Year for their tireless and innovative efforts to make history come alive for their students.

But who are they, really? We asked these talented teachers to answer a few questions about themselves and to reflect on the challenges and joys of teaching. We will feature a state winner every Tuesday and Thursday, so keep checking back to learn more about these outstanding educators!

This week, meet Elizabeth Doughty:

Elizabeth Doughty, Battle Ground School District
2017 Washington History Teacher of the Year

State one fun historical fact about the town you live in or grew up in.
I teach in Battle Ground, Washington, a small rural city just north of Vancouver, Washington, across the river from Portland, Oregon. Ironically, Battle Ground is named after a battle that never occurred. In 1855 there were increasing tensions between the continually increasing numbers of white settlers along the Oregon Trail and the Native American tribes, which led to the Yakama Indian War that started in October 1855. In reaction to this situation, the US Army at Fort Vancouver had ordered a band of Indians to move closer to the fort, and originally, they complied, but fearing for their safety and afraid that they might be attacked by uneasy white settlers, Chief Umtuch, led a group of Chinook/Klickitat Indians northeast toward the Cascade Mountains (toward modern-day Mt. St. Helens). Capt. William Strong, who was stationed at Fort Vancouver, pursued them and it was assumed that there would be a battle when Strong caught up to Umtuch and his followers. Strong was able to negotiate with Umtuch and his band, and they agreed to leave their encampment near modern-day Battle Ground Lake and return to Fort Vancouver. That night, Chief Umtuch was shot and killed under mysterious circumstances, and when Capt. Strong agreed to take his troops and return to the fort to allow the Indians to have time to honor and bury the fallen chief, Strong was mocked for the folly of his actions by the fearful residents of the fort. They referred to the death site as Strong’s Battle Ground, which was eventually shortened to Battle Ground. The followers of Umtuch kept their word, and returned to the fort, to the chagrin of those who mocked Strong. Today, I teach at Chief Umtuch Middle School, and our feeder elementary school, located adjacent to our building, is named Capt. Strong Primary. Both are a few hundred yards from Battle Ground High School.

What is the last great history book you read?
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard. This book tells the incredible presidential history of James Garfield, a man who worked hard to overcome abject poverty, gaining an education that ultimately led him from janitor to assistant professor to college president to lawyer to congressman, and ultimately to the US presidency. Garfield’s astounding rise to success was quickly quashed by a delusional assassin who took umbrage at a perceived slight from Garfield, and after stalking him, shot the President. What follows is a tortuous description of gross medical incompetence as Garfield’s abdominal wound was repeatedly probed until Garfield died weeks later from a horrific pus-filled infection that wracked his body. Interrelated to this story is Alexander Graham Bell, who worked to try to create an instrument that could locate the bullet that was lodged in the president’s body, which made this story even more intriguing. After reading this book, I couldn’t help but wonder how different history could’ve been if this little-known president has been able to fulfill his promise.

What is your favorite historical site or museum?
This is a very hard one to answer! It’s a close tie between Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and James Madison’s Montpelier, which I think is fitting, since these men were close associates and influenced each other for so much of their lives. I appreciate the architecture ingenuity and innovations of Monticello and the more introspective nature and respite that Montpelier offers.

Some of the most important historical experiences in my life have occurred at these two places. I remember exploring the grounds of Monticello when I was a 7th grader on a Washington DC spring break trip and falling in love with exploring historical sites far from my home state of California. In 2009 I received the Barringer Fellowship to study the duality of Thomas Jefferson through the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, Monticello, and spent two glorious weeks there studying Jefferson, exploring the mansion and grounds, and attending a magical after-hours event on the back lawn where an author did a reading and signing of his book, while lightning bugs twinkled in the surrounding bushes.

However, I think I must choose Montpelier: Over spring break 2006, I attended the Constitutional Connections Institute–Montpelier Seminar: “What is it? A ‘Constitution’/A ‘Bill of Rights.’” Here is where I was first able to attend the lectures of Professor Will Harris, where he lit the fires of my interest in the Founding Era—specifically in understanding the Federalist and Anti-Federalist perspectives, and the struggles in conceiving and implementing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This was the first time that I had stayed on-site at a historical location for a teaching institute, and it was through this experience that I really understood how transformative it is for a teacher to be able to stay on-site and remain immersed in historical thought with like-minded peers. It entirely shifted my mind-set and helped me better understand how to guide my students through close readings of primary source documents.

If you could travel back in time and meet any historical figure, who would it be and why?
Thomas Jefferson! I agree with John F. Kennedy when he said at his remarks at a dinner honoring Nobel Prize Winners of the Western Hemisphere on April 29, 1962: “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone. Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the minuet.”

Who is your favorite historian?
This summer I spent the first two weeks of July at the USS Midway Institute for Teachers learning about the Cold War, Korean War, and Vietnam War. I guess that I am a little fickle because if asked this question before the institute, I would have said Gordon Wood and Will Harris—both of these men have helped me deepen my understanding of the Founding Era.

Yet, post-USS Midway Institute for Teachers, I would have to say it is a tie between Robert Dallek and Pierre Asselin. Dallek is a thoroughly engaging presidential historian who uses anecdotes including decades of first-hand accounts with famous historical figures and extensive primary and secondary source research to flesh out the actions and motives of Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, and Reagan, and really helped me tie together their parts in the Cold War, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Pierre Asselin is an extremely energetic historian who makes each person in the room feel that he is lecturing primarily toward them. He embodies the verve and coherency of a truly gifted professor who compels his students to listen attentively, actively engage with history, and seek understanding beyond what has just been presented. After his lectures, I felt that I had a much deeper understanding of the Vietnam War that I had not learned before.

So, I ended up giving you four favorite historians, but the truth is, that I’d probably give you more names if asked this again in a month! I am always learning more and reading more, and get excited when I find a new historian who can add a new spin or another layer to my historical knowledge!

What is your favorite historical film or series?
Hands down, HBO’s mini-series John Adams. I adore everything about this series! The acting is superb, the dialogue is mesmerizing and insightful, and the costuming and sets absolutely transport the viewers back into time. I love how they age the actors (tooth decay and all), and use natural lighting to show how dim interiors were during this time. The realism and tiny details really make me lose myself in this time period. I frequently play it in the background at the end of a tiring day of teaching while I prep new lessons and clean up the classroom. It never fails to reinvigorate me, and draw me back in to why I love history so much.

I have shown excerpts to my students and it really helped bring that time period to life for them, in a way that is impossible through just using the textbook. After the students see John Adams, Abigail Adams, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Hancock, Dickinson, Rutledge, Samuel Adams, and other founding fathers engage with each other and debate, I am better able to hook them into recognizing these historical figures as human beings with real struggles—not just remote historical names. I then find it even easier to have my students delve into primary sources by these people and others from this time period and dissect the documents with greater insight.

Do you have a favorite historical topic or era?
Since my favorite historical sites are Monticello and Montpelier, and my favorite historical series is John Adams, it’s probably not difficult to guess that my favorite historical topic/era is the Founding Era.

The stories of the people who came together to unite in an improbable victory over the strongest military power at that time, and then create an entirely new governmental system devised by one of the greatest documents ever written, the US Constitution, is simply a riveting tale. It makes me think of the line from “My Shot” from Hamilton: “What are the odds the gods would put us all in one spot?&rdquot; Seriously, the people involved in the founding of America are beyond fascinating! Individually, just one or two of them could be enough to spend a lifetime studying and teaching about, but when you start looking at their interconnectedness during their lifetimes, as well as how they were influenced by ancient philosophers and European history, and how their actions in creating the Constitution (with its checks and balances, and flaws) still resonate with our national and world politics today—the Founding Era has it all.

The Founding Era drives my teaching. I strive to make it come alive for my students and share my excitement with them about these flawed, vigorous, yet also fragile figures. I want my students to see how vital a strong civics education is, and understand how important this era is to their present lives. When these men are still quoted today, and often incorrectly, it is important that my students understand the original intent and beliefs of the founders so these students can form their own opinions or be able to refute false claims (fake news!).

Do your students have a favorite historical topic or era?
Each year I have each of my students create a National History Day project for competition (though they get to choose if they actually wish to compete or not), and year after year, they choose historical topics and eras that are extremely varied and wide-ranging. There has been little continuity to their choices. I always provide them with a list that contains some topics that they might be interested in, but most go in their own directions, which makes it daunting for me to help them in their analysis of primary source documents! For example, I have had students self-select the following topics: Galileo Galilei, Ronald Reagan, Vietnam War protest music, the History of Jazz Music, Walt Disney, the Whitman Massacre, Audrey Hepburn, Space Exploration, 1970s video gaming systems, Jackie Robinson, Admiral Grace Hopper and the COBOL computer system, the Battle of Little Big Horn. . . .

Yet though I support them all in deeply researching a historical topic that is individually important and interesting to them, I am very fortunate that I am able to loop with my students for two school years as the 7th and 8th grade magnet gifted history and language arts teacher for my district, so I am able to really get to know my students very well over this time with them. By the end of their second year, I think it would be safe to say that I have infected more than a few of them with my deep interests in and enthusiasm for the Founding Era, Civics, and the Civil War.