Facing History and Ourselves celebrates the addition of the word "upstander" to the Oxford English Dictionary. Students in Facing History classrooms learn about the power of individual choices to shape history and explore how each of us can participate as citizens to create a more humane, just and compassionate world. With the readings and resources collected below, we invite you and your students to discover what it means to be an Upstander.
Get inspired by the untold story of American upstanders who risked their lives to help desperate refugees. Our three lesson plans use excerpts from the film, personal letters, photographs, and thought-provoking questions to explore what motivated the Sharps, the dilemmas they faced, and the impact of their actions.
Hear a how a teacher and her students rallied together to plan a commemoration in the Czech Republic for a Jewish family and the town that saved them during the Holocaust.
Students in Memphis reconcile their community's past by creating a memorial for Ell Persons, who was lynched after being accused of murder in 1917.
2016 Student Contest Winner Cicada Scott shares more about what it's like to be a non-binary gender teenager in this Q & A.
Facing History and Ourselves celebrates upstanders of all kinds: those who stand up to injustice, those who seek to make positive change in the world, and those who spread messages of tolerance, empathy, and knowledge. During Women’s History Month, we are cheering on young women who are doing just that.
Here are three inspiring stories of young women who we have no doubt will be history-makers of the future. How do we know? Read about how they are already upstanders in their communities.
