Since 2020, the team at Our Local History has brought local stories of civic action to life through inquiry-based workshops with hundreds of schools, colleges, non-profits, community groups and businesses across New York State.
You’ll learn about people who have shaped the community you call home, but whose contributions have been overlooked or forgotten. Our engaging, action-oriented workshops are designed to bring these stories to life and then use them to move toward justice and equity today.
All of our workshops and materials are customized for individual partners and their specific needs. What they all have in common is a foundation in local history and a commitment to action in the present. As Rochester civil rights leader Dr. Walter Cooper said:
“You either are involved or you are not; there is no middle ground. I choose to be involved.”
of participants say they are likely to recommend our workshops
Our free lesson plans are inquiry driven, asset-based, culturally responsive and fully aligned with New York State Education Department’s Learning Standards, Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education framework, and the Portrait of a Graduate. Through customized professional learning experiences and coaching, we help educators in your school or district bring our inquiry lessons to life in a way that makes students feel safe, seen, meaningfully connected to the stories of their local history and empowered to take action.
Through professional development workshops in teacher education programs, we ensure that future generations of educators will enter the profession with the tools to create supportive and inspiring spaces for their students – and with background knowledge of the history of the civil rights struggle where they live.
Our workshops support employers in their efforts to create inclusive workspaces, both through Our Local History inquiries and through our series on fostering respectful communication.
These employee-centered sessions are customized to align with your company’s mission and core values. Participants are encouraged to engage across difference, continue learning, and create connections between employees and the communities they serve.
We offer workshops for medical and nursing students as well as departments and grand rounds, explaining the history of discriminatory practices at local hospitals so that those mistakes can be avoided today. Our workshops are fully customizable to meet the needs of instructors and students in any area of study and at any level.
Because of Our Local History’s work, I’ve become a better teacher, better parent, better friend, and truly a better citizen.”
Melissa Rich
Rochester City School District teacher
The curriculum is standards-based, culturally responsive, inquiry-based and completely student-centered. … The high level of rigor and relevance is exactly where we want our students engaged.”
Stephen Dunham
Superintendent, Westhill Central School District
If we can share this kind of critical information with people, we have the power to change perspectives, shift mindsets, and ultimately cultivate broader action within our community.”
Ajamu Kitwana
Senior Vice President and Director of Purpose and Community, ESL Federal Credit Union
Our Local History’s work has been indispensable in changing hearts and minds … Rather than fostering guilt or shame, their workshops invite both Black and white participants to see themselves as agents of repair, with a vital role to play in advancing equity today.”
Dr. Seanelle Hawkins
Former President and CEO, Urban League of Rochester