An Experiential Learning Challenge for America’s
250th Anniversary and the Willey House Bicentennial
Inquiry Before Answers
This challenge begins with curiosity, not conclusions. Learners are invited to ask questions, explore evidence, and develop their own understanding.
Discovery Through Exploration
Contribution Matters
History becomes more meaningful when learners actively investigate rather than passively consume information. Discovery creates deeper connection.
Every generation has the opportunity to contribute new perspectives. The goal is not simply to learn history, but to add to the conversation.
THEN AND NOW
In 1826, the people of Crawford Notch experienced one of New Hampshire’s most significant historical events. The questions began almost immediately. ✶ What happened? ✶ Why did it happen? ✶ Could it have been prevented? ✶ What became of those who were lost? People investigated using the tools available to them at the time. ✶ They walked the landscape. ✶ They interviewed witnesses. ✶ They wrote letters. ✶ They published newspaper accounts. ✶ They sketched what they saw. ✶ They shared stories. Their efforts preserved important pieces of the historical record and helped future generations understand the tragedy. Yet every generation inherits both knowledge and unanswered questions. Today, we stand in a very different world. ✶ Modern investigators have access to tools and perspectives that would have been unimaginable in 1826. ✶ Historical documents can be accessed digitally. ✶ Maps can be layered and compared across time. ✶ Drone imagery can provide new views of the landscape. ✶ GIS technologies can help visualize geographic relationships. ✶ Artificial intelligence can assist in organizing and analyzing large collections of information. ✶ Photographs, satellite imagery, environmental data, and digital archives can be combined in ways that were impossible only a few decades ago. The question is not whether these tools can replace historical investigation. ✶ They cannot. ✶ The question is how these tools can help us ask better questions, discover new connections, and deepen our understanding of the past. The Lost Voices Challenge brings together the strengths of both worlds. ✶ The curiosity, determination, and careful observation of earlier generations. ✶ The technologies, collaboration, and opportunities available today. ✶ Different tools. ✶ Shared human curiosity. ✶ Different centuries. ✶ Shared questions. ✶ Different paths. ✶ Shared investigation. ✶ What might become possible when those worlds meet? MODERN TOOLS, NEW QUESTIONS ✶ Every generation inherits the stories, discoveries, and questions of those who came before. ✶ Every generation also gains access to new ways of investigating them. The Lost Voices Challenge is not about technology for its own sake. It is about how modern tools can help us see familiar questions through new lenses. Consider the landscape of Crawford Notch. People have walked it, studied it, painted it, photographed it, and written about it for nearly two centuries. Today, investigators can also explore it using technologies that earlier generations could never have imagined. ✶ A drone can provide perspectives once available only to birds. ✶ GIS can help reveal relationships between geography, weather, travel routes, landmarks, and historical events. ✶ Digital archives can connect documents separated by time and distance. ✶ Artificial intelligence can assist investigators in identifying patterns, organizing information, and exploring large collections of historical materials. ✶ Photogrammetry can help create detailed digital models. ✶ StoryMaps can combine geography, history, images, and narrative into interactive experiences. ✶ Environmental data can help us better understand the forces that shaped the landscape. ✶ Photography, film, and documentary production can help bring discoveries to wider audiences. Yet the most important tool remains unchanged. Human curiosity.✶ Technology can help us ask questions. ✶ Technology can help us gather information. ✶ Technology can help us share discoveries. ✶ But it is people who notice connections. ✶ People who ask meaningful questions. ✶ People who work together. ✶ People who contribute new understanding. The most exciting discoveries often occur when different perspectives meet. ✶ A historian may notice something a geographer does not. ✶ A storyteller may ask a question that changes an investigation. ✶ A drone operator may capture an image that sparks a new line of inquiry. ✶ A community member may share a memory that opens an unexpected door. ✶ Every tool offers possibilities. ✶ Every investigator brings strengths. ✶ Every contribution helps complete a picture that no individual could create alone. The question is not which technology is most important. The question is: What becomes possible when curious people work together with tools that previous generations never had the opportunity to use?
MANY PATHS, SHARED DISCOVERY
No single person can investigate every aspect of the Willey House story. That is one of its greatest strengths. The Lost Voices Challenge creates opportunities for learners with different interests, experiences, strengths, and perspectives to contribute together. ✶ Some may be drawn to historical investigation, exploring newspapers, journals, letters, maps, and archival records. ✶ Some may become landscape investigators, examining the geography of Crawford Notch and the forces that shaped it. ✶ Others may explore weather, environmental conditions, and the relationship between the natural world and human experience. ✶ Some may be storytellers, helping transform discoveries into articles, documentaries, podcasts, exhibits, or digital experiences. ✶ Others may become documentary producers, photographers, drone operators, GIS specialists, digital archivists, community interviewers, or public historians. ✶ Some may be fascinated by literature and investigate how writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne interpreted and shared the story. ✶ Others may focus on public memory, asking why certain stories remain widely known while others gradually fade from view. ✶ Many will discover roles that do not yet have names. ✶ That is part of the challenge. The most meaningful investigations often occur when people with different perspectives work together. ✶ A geographer may ask questions that help a historian. ✶ A storyteller may notice patterns others overlook. ✶ A community member may share knowledge unavailable in any archive. ✶ A mentor may help a team see a connection that changes an investigation. Each role matters. ✶ Each contribution matters. ✶ No one completes the picture alone. The goal is not for everyone to follow the same path. The goal is for people to bring their strengths, curiosity, and perspectives into a shared investigation. ✶ Different interests. ✶ Different strengths. ✶ Different paths. ✶ Shared discovery.
∞ ✶ ∞ Curiosity changes everything. Every generation has the opportunity to ask new questions. ✶ Inquiry ✶ Discovery ✶ Contribution ✶ ∞ ✶ ∞
In 1826, the people of Crawford Notch experienced one of New Hampshire’s most significant historical events. The questions began almost immediately. ✶ What happened? ✶ Why did it happen? ✶ Could it have been prevented? ✶ What became of those who were lost? People investigated using the tools available to them at the time. ✶ They walked the landscape. ✶ They interviewed witnesses. ✶ They wrote letters. ✶ They published newspaper accounts. ✶ They sketched what they saw. ✶ They shared stories. Their efforts preserved important pieces of the historical record and helped future generations understand the tragedy. Yet every generation inherits both knowledge and unanswered questions. Today, we stand in a very different world. ✶ Modern investigators have access to tools and perspectives that would have been unimaginable in 1826. ✶ Historical documents can be accessed digitally. ✶ Maps can be layered and compared across time. ✶ Drone imagery can provide new views of the landscape. ✶ GIS technologies can help visualize geographic relationships. ✶ Artificial intelligence can assist in organizing and analyzing large collections of information. ✶ Photographs, satellite imagery, environmental data, and digital archives can be combined in ways that were impossible only a few decades ago. The question is not whether these tools can replace historical investigation. ✶ They cannot. ✶ The question is how these tools can help us ask better questions, discover new connections, and deepen our understanding of the past. The Lost Voices Challenge brings together the strengths of both worlds. ✶ The curiosity, determination, and careful observation of earlier generations. ✶ The technologies, collaboration, and opportunities available today. ✶ Different tools. ✶ Shared human curiosity. ✶ Different centuries. ✶ Shared questions. ✶ Different paths. ✶ Shared investigation. ✶ What might become possible when those worlds meet? MODERN TOOLS, NEW QUESTIONS ✶ Every generation inherits the stories, discoveries, and questions of those who came before. ✶ Every generation also gains access to new ways of investigating them. The Lost Voices Challenge is not about technology for its own sake. It is about how modern tools can help us see familiar questions through new lenses. Consider the landscape of Crawford Notch. People have walked it, studied it, painted it, photographed it, and written about it for nearly two centuries. Today, investigators can also explore it using technologies that earlier generations could never have imagined. ✶ A drone can provide perspectives once available only to birds. ✶ GIS can help reveal relationships between geography, weather, travel routes, landmarks, and historical events. ✶ Digital archives can connect documents separated by time and distance. ✶ Artificial intelligence can assist investigators in identifying patterns, organizing information, and exploring large collections of historical materials. ✶ Photogrammetry can help create detailed digital models. ✶ StoryMaps can combine geography, history, images, and narrative into interactive experiences. ✶ Environmental data can help us better understand the forces that shaped the landscape. ✶ Photography, film, and documentary production can help bring discoveries to wider audiences. Yet the most important tool remains unchanged. Human curiosity.✶ Technology can help us ask questions. ✶ Technology can help us gather information. ✶ Technology can help us share discoveries. ✶ But it is people who notice connections. ✶ People who ask meaningful questions. ✶ People who work together. ✶ People who contribute new understanding. The most exciting discoveries often occur when different perspectives meet. ✶ A historian may notice something a geographer does not. ✶ A storyteller may ask a question that changes an investigation. ✶ A drone operator may capture an image that sparks a new line of inquiry. ✶ A community member may share a memory that opens an unexpected door. ✶ Every tool offers possibilities. ✶ Every investigator brings strengths. ✶ Every contribution helps complete a picture that no individual could create alone. The question is not which technology is most important. The question is: What becomes possible when curious people work together with tools that previous generations never had the opportunity to use?
MANY PATHS, SHARED DISCOVERY
No single person can investigate every aspect of the Willey House story. That is one of its greatest strengths. The Lost Voices Challenge creates opportunities for learners with different interests, experiences, strengths, and perspectives to contribute together. ✶ Some may be drawn to historical investigation, exploring newspapers, journals, letters, maps, and archival records. ✶ Some may become landscape investigators, examining the geography of Crawford Notch and the forces that shaped it. ✶ Others may explore weather, environmental conditions, and the relationship between the natural world and human experience. ✶ Some may be storytellers, helping transform discoveries into articles, documentaries, podcasts, exhibits, or digital experiences. ✶ Others may become documentary producers, photographers, drone operators, GIS specialists, digital archivists, community interviewers, or public historians. ✶ Some may be fascinated by literature and investigate how writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne interpreted and shared the story. ✶ Others may focus on public memory, asking why certain stories remain widely known while others gradually fade from view. ✶ Many will discover roles that do not yet have names. ✶ That is part of the challenge. The most meaningful investigations often occur when people with different perspectives work together. ✶ A geographer may ask questions that help a historian. ✶ A storyteller may notice patterns others overlook. ✶ A community member may share knowledge unavailable in any archive. ✶ A mentor may help a team see a connection that changes an investigation. Each role matters. ✶ Each contribution matters. ✶ No one completes the picture alone. The goal is not for everyone to follow the same path. The goal is for people to bring their strengths, curiosity, and perspectives into a shared investigation. ✶ Different interests. ✶ Different strengths. ✶ Different paths. ✶ Shared discovery.
∞ ✶ ∞ Curiosity changes everything. Every generation has the opportunity to ask new questions. ✶ Inquiry ✶ Discovery ✶ Contribution ✶ ∞ ✶ ∞
Follow the investigation
Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.