Warmest greetings.
I'm Anthea Hartig, the Elizabeth MacMillan director of the National Museum
of American History in Washington, DC, of the Smithsonian Institution.
I'd like to first gratefully acknowledge the precedence of the Piscataway
peoples on whose land this museum sits.
They shared this greater Washington DC
area with the Nacostine and the Pamunkey tribes.
Wherever we are today, let us acknowledge and give our respect and gratitude
for the opportunity to work and live in their territories.
I am delighted to remind you
all that September 17th is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day!
This holiday commemorates the signing of the United States
Constitution in Philadelphia on a warm September day,
on the 17th, to be exact, in 1787.
It also honors and brings forth an awareness
of the responsibilities of being a citizen of these United States.
According to the most recent data
from the United States Education Department, the typical third grader today
spends about 10 hours a week on English, 6 hours
a week on math, but less than 3 hours on the combined social studies.
At the federal level,
we spend approximately $50 per student on STEM fields,
but about $0.05 per student per year on civics.
So the Smithsonian is deeply pleased
to support teachers and students for Constitution Day this this year
and every year with digital curricula, online
exhibits, classroom activities, teacher trainings and much more.
The National Museum
of African American History and Culture, The National Museum of American History,
The National Museum of the American Indian, The National Portrait Gallery,
and the Office of Educational Technology provide numerous opportunities
for audiences to engage and learn more about civic education.
Here at your National Museum of American History,
our mission is to empower people to create a just and compassionate future
by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexities of our past.
Our online learning events, such as the National Youth Summit
centers, youth voices, and connecting them with scholars and teachers
and policy experts and activists in national conversation
about the important events in America's past that have deep and lasting
relevance to our present day and to our future.
As well, we develop supportive curricular materials that help teachers
dive deeply into inclusive and culturally responsive
history content that may not be available via textbooks.
For instance, Becoming US is a digital curriculum for high school
students and teachers that expands the narrative migration and immigration
to include original inhabitants of the land
that is the United States today, people who were captured
and forced to migrate, people who migrated voluntarily,
and people who never migrated but became a part of the United States
as its borders expanded and crossed them.
These are just a few examples of our many resources
and experiences that provide incredible opportunities for learning.
We also stand in solidarity and know how hard it is
sometimes to teach history and to teach civics,
and that the Smithsonian understands that
and is here for you with resources and support.
So, as you commemorate this Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,
I encourage you to utilize the online resources available
on our website,
www.americanhistory.si.edu
to learn more about your rights,
your responsibilities, also while practicing good citizenship.