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Chuck Taft, 8th grade American history teacher at University School of Milwaukee, has been selected as one of 55 educators for the National History Day Researching Silent Heroes webinar series, in coordination with the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).
Educators selected for this cost-free learning opportunity receive hands-on training to research and create a profile for a Silent Hero—an individual who served in the United States military; died during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War; and is buried or memorialized in an American military cemetery cared for by the ABMC.
Taft will be researching the life and death of U.S. Army Private First Class Edward J. Bresler, who died during World War I and is buried at the Oise Aisne American Cemetery in Seringes-et-Nesles, France. “As a result of a generous grant from USM, I was fortunate to visit the ABMC cemeteries in France and Belgium, and the experience was both inspiring and humbling,” said Taft. “Telling the story of a young Milwaukeean who went “over there,” and placing his service and sacrifice within the broader history of Milwaukee and the Great War, is an honor. This experience brings together so many things that matter to me—military service, the Great War, Milwaukee history, and true historical research. I can’t wait to share Edward Bresler’s story with my young historians.”
Teachers meet monthly with both a historian and a research specialist to set their Silent Heroes into historical context and learn strategies to research their lives. They discuss how to deal with roadblocks that historical research creates, such as missing or incomplete records, alternate spellings, or reconciling memories with the historical record. When the teachers complete their research in April, they will write a profile for NHD’s Silent Heroes website for publication in late spring/summer 2025. This work will be shared with the ABMC for future use in their educational materials.
“National History Day’s Researching Silent Heroes program is essential to our work to improve the teaching and learning of history,” said Cathy Gorn, Ph.D., executive director of National History Day. “Thanks to ABMC, teachers across the country and around the world get to dive into primary source research about the lives of service members from 20th century conflicts. I can’t wait to read the impactful profiles the teachers will write about these fallen service members’ lives.”
The 55 teachers selected for this program represent 32 states and two Department of Defense (DoDEA) schools overseas. Their Silent Heroes are buried or memorialized at 17 ABMC Cemeteries.
Taft has led the National History Day program at USM for 20 years, and USM has a long tradition of sending students to the National History Day competitions at both the state and national levels. In 2019, Taft was one of just 114 teachers selected for a NHD program titled Legacies of World War I, and in 2020, he was one of two teachers nationwide to receive the NHD's Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award. In 2021, he was selected by NHD to join a cohort of 15 educators nationwide to write and test a series of five student guides to help students find, analyze, and integrate primary sources from the Library of Congress into their NHD projects.
In 2023, Taft was elected president-elect of the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies (WCSS). In addition, Taft was honored as State Outstanding Teacher of American History by the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and he was named the Gilder Lehrman Wisconsin History Teacher of the Year in June 2018.
About National History Day
National History Day (NHD) is a non-profit organization based in College Park, Maryland, that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of history. Established in 1974, NHD currently engages more than half a million students each year in conducting original research on historical topics of interest and supports teachers through professional development opportunities. Students present their research as a documentary, exhibit, paper, performance, or website. Projects compete first at the local and affiliate levels, where the top entries are invited to the annual national contest at the University of Maryland at College Park. NHD is sponsored in part by WEM Foundation, The Better Angels Society, Bezos Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Library of Congress, Dr. Scholl Foundation, Behring Global Educational Foundation, 400 Years of African American History Commission, and the National Park Service.