Marquette University awarded $1.2M grant for history and civic engagement project

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- An interdisciplinary faculty team from Marquette University's College of Education and Klingler College of Arts and Sciences has secured a grant worth $1.27 million from the U.S. Department of Education.

The grant is intended to fund the "MKE Roots: The Democratizing Local History Project."

Dr. Melissa Gibson, the project's leader, said in a Wednesday, Oct. 11 press release that the funds will help develop an educational environment centered on teaching the history and civic involvement of Milwaukee's communities, particularly its communities of color.

The MKE Roots initiative, spanning three years, aims to bolster the quality of history and civics instruction in the Milwaukee region. This will be achieved by involving students from Milwaukee Public Schools, Vel Philips Juvenile Justice Center School, St. Joan Antida High School and further collaboration with America’s Black Holocaust Museum.

Additionally, the project will provide place-based professional development for local educators through the MKE Roots Summer Institute, and curate freely accessible local history materials for all schools in the area.