The NEH Landmarks of American History and Culture Summer Workshop for School Teachers, "Crossroads of Empire: Cultural Contact and Imperial Rivalry at Old Fort Niagara," offers two one-week residential sessions at Old Fort Niagara and Niagara University.

The workshops investigate the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans in the struggle to control North America, both during the colonial era and the early years of American independence. Located twelve miles north of Niagara Falls on the shores of Lake Ontario.

Old Fort Niagara's six eighteenth-century buildings include the 1726 French Castle, a three-story stone fortification originally designed for trade with the Senecas.

Participants will study early French contact with the Iroquois Great League of Peace, warfare between France and Great Britain and the Iroquois caught in the middle, Patriot struggles against Loyalists and Indians during the American Revoltion, and key battles fought at the Fort during the War of 1812, which resulted in the eventual dispossession of the Iroquois after that conflict.

Directed by Dr. Thomas A. Chambers, History Department-Niagara University, the workshop features leading scholars from around the United States during the weeks of July 13-17 and July 20-24, 2009.

The lectures, site visits, and curriculum development sessions are designed to meet education standards in many states. We invite teachers and school personnel from around the country to apply for this stimulating workshop in a beautiful location.