FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 21, 2026
Meghan Ward, Communications Specialist, [email protected]

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello announced the participants for its inaugural Educating for American Democracy: Cultivating Civic Imaginations Summit, which will take place November 11-12, 2026. Thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and an anonymous private donor, Monticello serves as host for Educating for American Democracy’s Community Learning Partners Network (EAD-CLP), a collaborative initiative of educators in museums, libraries, and historic sites across the country aiming to strengthen civic learning to foster informed and engaged citizens.

The summit is a two-day, hands-on gathering at Monticello convening a cohort of professionals from 68 sites of community learning, representing some of the nation’s most respected historical, educational, and civic institutions. Attendees will engage in workshops and talks around civic learning and imagination in preparation for developing their own civics-infused programs, resources, and exhibitions in their communities. Monticello’s Pursuits of Knowledge Series will cap the summit with a public program featuring leaders from four presidential sites discussing the theme of democracy and storytelling (tickets available here). The gathering marks the beginning of a year of work on these projects, anchored by monthly virtual meetings and culminating in a second summit in November 2027.

“Monticello is proud to serve as the hub of this important work, as well as an exemplar in our own right,” said Dr. Jane Kamensky, president and CEO of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. “Our commitment to civic renewal anchors what we do here on Jefferson’s mountaintop, and the work is urgent. Surveys show that trust in museums, libraries, and historic sites is growing while faith in other institutions continues to sag. It is a privilege to convene partners from across the country to strengthen the content, skills, and virtues that self-government demands.”

The projects being developed through the Cultivating Civic Imaginations Summit will provide innovative ways for learners to engage with the past and feel equipped to play a role in American democracy in the present and future. Select projects include:

National WWI Museum and Memorial | Civic Learning Studio—The studio will provide a platform for exploring complex questions about democracy using primary sources from the museum’s collection.
Historic Hudson Valley | Youth Voices, Historic Places: Co-Creating a New Field Trip Experience—Historic Hudson Valley’s youth advisory group will help develop a field trip program to one of its historic sites, Van Cortlandt Manor.
Chrysler Museum of Art | Art + Democracy Dialogue Deck—The card deck will feature artwork from the Chrysler Museum’s collection paired with democracy-focused reflection prompts. It will be available beyond the museum to spark discussion in local classrooms and “third spaces” like libraries, cafes, breweries, and community centers.
Veterans in Society Initiative at Virginia Tech | The Oath and the Ballot: Voting Rights for Veterans and Their Families—This civic learning experience invites veterans and their families to reflect on the oath to defend the Constitution and explore the ongoing significance of voting rights.

By convening participants at the summit and providing regular opportunities for check-ins and collaboration, Monticello and the EAD-CLP aim to foster a network of support and inspiration for the contributing institutions as they transform civic, cultural, and historical fields.

“With Monticello’s leadership and the grounding of the Educating for American Democracy roadmap, cultural institutions from across the country will be able to build civic programming that is meaningful to the people in their communities,” said Sarah Jencks, Monticello’s Civic Partnerships Fellow, who oversees the initiative. “Our impact when we work together is orders of magnitude greater.”

Summit participants and speakers (by state)

Arizona

Center for American Civics, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ | Liz Evans

California

Center for Revitalizing American Institutions, Hoover Institution, Palo Alto, CA | Tom Schnaubelt

Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA | Jim Herr

Colorado

Heritage Lakewood Belmar Park, Lakewood, CO | Stephen Luebke

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO | Rebecca Theobald

Connecticut

Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, West Hartford, CT | Peter Moran

Florida

Made By Us, Miami, FL | Caroline Klibanoff

Georgia

Historic Oakland Foundation, Atlanta, GA | Jessica VanLanduyt

Hawaii

Punahou School, Honolulu, HI | Pamela Rotner Sakamoto, PhD

Illinois

Civic Mission Schools Network, Roscoe, IL | Mary Ellen Daneels

Lincoln Presidential Foundation, Northbrook, IL | Erin Mast

Indiana

Indiana Humanities, Indianapolis, IN | Megan Telligman

Iowa

Living History Farms, Urbandale, IA | Ruth Haus

Kansas

Douglas County Historical Society/Watkins Museum, Lawrence, KS | Steven J. Nowak

Kentucky

Historic Locust Grove, Louisville, KY | Evelyn Woock

Maryland

Maryland Center for History and Culture, Baltimore, MD | Tyler Osborne

Maryland Civic Education Coalition, Boonsboro, MD | Genie Massey, EdD

Massachusetts

Adams Presidential Center, Quincy, MA | Sadie Troy

Democratic Knowledge Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA | Tina Blythe

Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, New Bedford, MA | Lauren Pothier

Michigan

Ruth Mott Foundation/Applewood, Flint, MI | Renee Saba

The Henry Ford, Dearborn, MI | Phil Grumm

Minnesota

National Council for History Education, White Bear Lake, MN | Jessica Ellison

Missouri

National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, MO | Nicole Dobronski

New Jersey

American Association for State and Local History, Princeton, NJ | Madeleine Rosenberg

Liberty Hall Museum and Arboretum, Union, NJ | Hannah M. Gaston

Morven Museum and Garden, Princeton, NJ | Greer Luce

New York

Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, NY | Nicole Wallace

Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island, NY | Gabriella Leone

Intrepid Museum, New York, NY | Gerrie Hall and Lynda Kennedy, PhD

King Manor, Queens, NY | Veronica Alt

Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY | Sarah Farmer

New York Public Library, New York, NY | Kaitlin Holt

Sing Sing Prison Museum, Ossining, NY | Emily Keating

** Funder: Andrew Carnegie Foundation, New York, NY | Connie Lafuente

North Carolina

Greensboro History Museum, Greensboro, NC | Catherine Johns

History Co:Lab, Winston-Salem, NC | Tess Benoit

Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte, NC | Val Brown

Ohio

Cincinnati Museum Center, Cincinnati, OH | Arynn McCandless

Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH | Morgan McQueen

Oregon

High Desert Museum, Bend, OR | Dana Whitelaw

University of Portland, Portland, OR | Anne Santiago

Pennsylvania

LancasterHistory, Lancaster, PA | Mabel Rosenheck, PhD

South Carolina

South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC | Ani Simmons

Tennessee

American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, TN | John Dichtl

Texas

Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, TX | Catherine Whited

Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Austin, TX | Peggy Price

Utah

Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, UT | Brandi Burns

Virginia

American Alliance of Museums, Arlington, VA | Elizabeth Merritt

Bill of Rights Institute, Arlington, VA | Rachel Davison Humphries

Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA | Drew Lusher

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, VA | Lindsey Horner and Heather Nice

Education Rights Institute, UVA Law School, Charlottesville, VA | Dr. Sarah Beach

George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, VA | Zerah Jakub

National Council for the Social Studies, Arlington, VA | Kelly McFarland Stratman

New American History, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA | Annie Evans

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville, VA | Multiple participants

Veterans in Society Initiative at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA | Jim Dubinsky

** Evaluator: Wilkening Consulting, Richmond, VA | Noël Koehn

Washington, D.C.

Democracy in Dialogue Virtual Exchange Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. | Ali McKersie

Ford’s Theatre Society, Washington, D.C. | Tricia Patrick

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. | Eileen J. Manchester

National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C. | Carrie Kotcho

National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. | Jocelyn Kho

President Lincoln’s Cottage, Washington, D.C. | Joan Cummins

Trust for the National Mall, Washington, D.C. | Jeremy Goldstein

Urban Libraries Council, Washington, D.C. | Shamichael Hallman

White House Historical Association, Washington, D.C. | Anna Kutter

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI | Jessica Schmitz

About the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. As a civic institution, Monticello seeks to increase knowledge and share the ideals Jefferson articulated in the Declaration of Independence through programming and scholarship built upon a foundation of rigorous research.

Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site, and a Site of Conscience. As a private, nonprofit organization, Monticello receives no ongoing local, state, or federal funding. Visitors and the generosity of donors make Monticello’s twofold mission of preservation and education possible. For information, visit monticello.org.