Journey Through Hallowed Ground
ABOUT
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area (NHA) is a non-profit, four-state partnership, established by an act of Congress and closely affiliated with National Park Service. The region runs from Gettysburg in the north through Maryland and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to Jefferson's Monticello in the south. The NHA is bisected by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Scenic Byway which roughly follows the historic Old Carolina Road and originally was a primary north-south route of Native Americans before European settlement.
The area is administered by the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the history within the Gettysburg-Monticello corridor. Its mission is to promote and support civic engagement through history education and the preservation of cultural landscapes in one of our nation’s most important historic regions.
Partners include over 350 municipal, business, and non-profit organizations spanning fifteen counties in four states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia). This amazing American gem contains World Heritage sites, over 10,000 places on the National Register of Historic Places, forty-nine National Historic districts, nine Presidential homes and sites, and thirteen National Park Units.
HISTORY
The first National Heritage Area (NHA), the Illinois and Michigan Canal, was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Since then, the list of these wonderful American treasures has grown to over sixty locations. They range from North Dakota’s Northern Plains NHA to Mississippi’s Gulf Coast NHA and from California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin NHA to Maine’s Downeast Maine NHA.
The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area was established on May 8, 2008, by an act of Congress to promote and interpret the area's cultural and historic character within the region, which includes iconic historic sites like Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, James Monroe's Highland, James Madison's Montpelier, Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Antietam and Gettysburg.
In the summer of 2018, ten years after its founding, Journey Through Hallowed Ground launched a new program called the National History Academy. Its mission is to inspire students to better understand the foundations of American democracy and the responsibilities of citizenship.
GRANT PROJECT
The National History Academy is a four-week residential summer program for top high school students across America. The first of its kind, the National History Academy was founded to address the current crisis in American civic and historical literacy.
During the four-week course, students study the history of our great country from the creation of the Constitution to the political divisions leading to the Civil War. Taught by master teachers and college-aged teaching assistants, this college prep curriculum alternates time between classrooms and the historic sites they are studying that are within or near the Journey Through Hallowed Ground NHA. Students also engage in a parliamentary debate program that encourages meaningful civil discourse with those who have differing political opinions.
The Americana Corner Preserving America Grant issued to the National History Academy provides scholarship funding for those students who otherwise could not afford to attend.
Americana Corner is proud to be a part of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground family and to help others to grow their love of country.
