Focus on the Fellows

Christy Marella, '03 (NJ)

Since becoming the New Jersey Fellow for 2003, I have come to realize that the James Madison Foundation does more than just award money to teachers-- it gives the true gift of scholarship.  There are not enough words in the dictionary to explain this gift-but I'll try.

My school is organized into learning communities, and although my students think of this structure as simply a housing system, I see it as a way for students to step pass the confines of the four classroom walls and take learning to a new level.  When I started pursing my Masters in American History, my students benefited as well.

My students were the true James Madison Fellows because they were the ones who directly benefited from my historical metamorphosis. They were the ones who began to see history not as a path to a destination but as an endlessly fascinating journey. They are no longer just students of history but, rather, young historians.  They have become a true community of learners-enlightened statesmen inheriting our legacy. 

The James Madison Fellowship set me on the adventure of a lifetime.  After graduating from Villanova University, I started a National History Day team at my school, began serving as an adjunct at the local college, and started providing in-service opportunities for teachers in our district.  Although my walls are now adorned with many medals and plaques from the journey I began once I received the fellowship, there is one memento I am most proud of--my James Madison pin.  It is a constant reminder of how the Foundation gave my students and me the gift of scholarship and helped me create a true family of learners.

Let us hear what you have been up to since receiving your Fellowship.  Submit a brief article (150-200 words) along with a high-resolution photo to cgriffin@jamesmadison.com for possible inclusion in future newsletters.

Constitution Corner 

Dr. Eric Chaput,  '03 (RI)

Since its publication in 1971, Ralph Ketcham's magisterial work on the life of James Madison has served as the definitive biography of the Father of the Constitution. Ketcham's most recent work is an engaging study of James and Dolley Madison's final days at their plantation in Virginia. The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple (University of Virginia Press, 2009) covers the period from the end of Madison's second term in the White House to Dolley Madison's death (1817-1849). Ketcham details daily life at Montpelier by examining long-neglected chronicles and sketches by visitors. Particular attention is paid to the loving relationship between James and Dolley, as well as Dolley's tragic loss of Montpelier in 1844.

Ketcham is at his best when discussing the intractable problem of chattel slavery. Madison supported the American Colonization Society, an organization dedicated to transporting freed slaves to Africa. He eventually became president of the society, leaving $2000 to the organization upon his death. However, his financial plight, exacerbated by the spendthrift ways of his stepson, prevented him from freeing his own slaves. He held 38 slaves when he died in 1836.

Fellows will enjoy Ketcham's deft handling of Madison's constitutional ideology, especially his reaction to the use of his 1798 Virginia Resolutions and his Report of 1800 by supporters of the doctrine of nullification. Avoiding the pitfalls of adulation and denunciation, Ketcham has given us a subtly nuanced James and Dolley Madison. The Madisons at Montpellier is indispensable for all James Madison Fellows.

Ashland University (OH)

offers a variety of professional development opportunities for teachers throughout the year and during the summer.

The Bill of Rights Institute offers seminars, webinars, and summer programs.

Let us know about professional opportunities that would be of interest to Fellows.  We plan to include 3-4 timely notifications in each edition of the newsletter.  Information can be sent to cgriffin@jamesmadison.com