Statewide Coordinators
 Jennifer C. CoreJennifer C. Core brings classroom and curriculum expertise to her role as state coordinator for Tennessee History Day. She holds a master’s in education from the University of Tennessee and a master’s in folklore from Indiana University. She comes from a long line of teachers; at one time Jennifer, her father, her mother, and her aunt were all employed by Knox County Schools. Ms. Core has also taught in Morgan and Roane counties and at Pellissippi State Community College (Magnolia Campus) and the University of Phoenix (Nashville Campus). She has led teacher training workshops across the state and administered education grants. Her previous areas of research have included Tennessee needlework samplers, Tennessee outsider and folk art, Middle Tennessee baskets, and West Tennessee Choctaw crafts. Ms. Core is a native of Knoxville, a ten-year resident of Nashville, and a proud Volunteer. In addition to administering Tennessee History Day, Jennifer will serve as Director of Membership and Programs. Contact Ms. Core at (615) 741-8934 or historyday@tennesseehistory.org.  Mary E. MeyersMary E. Meyers will assist state coordinator Jennifer Core with all aspects of the competition for the 2012 season. Ms. Meyers was a program associate with the Minnesota Historical Society, where her primary responsibility was planning Minnesota History Day events, collaborating with teachers and staff on curriculum integration, and assisting students with research and project development. Ms. Meyers’s love for History Day began in middle school, when she competed in the exhibit category. Ms. Meyers holds a master’s in museum studies from George Washington University and a bachelor’s in anthropology from Loyola University. Ms. Meyers previously worked at the Field Museum in Chicago and the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institute) in Washington, DC. Ms. Meyers is a passionate database manager, a proficient Spanish speaker, and dedicated bus rider. Contact Ms. Meyers at (615) 741-8934 or historyday@tennesseehistory.org. |
Northeast District Coordinator
 Darlene McCleishDarlene McCleish was a three time winner of the Greene County Teacher of the year Award for grades K-4, a presenter for the LRE for Life Project (now called Ed Excellence) based at UT, and a leader at Chuckey Elementary School in School Wide Positive Behavior support. She has co-written a Teacher's Guide to the Battle of Blue Springs and served as the education day coordinator of this Civil War reenactment for three years. She has also co-written a reading activities guide blending the multiple intelligences with cooperative learning structures to improve reading comprehension. After thirty years of teaching elementary school in Greene County, Ms. McCleish has retired to take on new challenges. Ms. McCleish now serves as the resource coordinator for National History Day in the Northeast district of Tennessee. This is a part time position based at Tusculum College in Greeneville, TN, and funded by The Andrew Johnson Heritage Association and The Niswonger Foundation. She travels to area schools to conduct workshops and to encourage and assist teachers and students as they develop NHD projects. Ms. McCleish also sings with "JB and the Honey Beans," weaves baskets, and creates jewelry. She has a passion for pets, yoga, and teaching! Contact Ms. McCleish at mccleishd@gmail.com. |
East District Coordinators
 William HardyWilliam E. Hardy, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, serves as the co-coordinator for East Tennessee History Day. In the capacity he coordinates the district competition held each March at the University of Tennessee, provides varying levels of NHD workshops for both teachers and students, and visits numerous schools throughout East Tennessee on a year round basis to share the NHD program with thousands of students. An employee of the East Tennessee Historical Society, Mr. Hardy serves as Academic Facilitator for Enduring Visions, a Teaching American History Grant offered by the United States Department of Education to provide professional development for both primary and secondary American history teachers. He also serves as the book review editor for the Journal of East Tennessee History, Tennessee's premier and longest-running scholarly journal. Mr. Hardy received both his B.A. (2001) and his M.A. (2004) in history from the University of Louisville. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Tennessee, where he specializes in nineteenth century American history, particularly the Civil War era. Mr. Hardy is currently writing his dissertation, entitled Farewell to all Radicals: Redeeming Tennessee, 1869-70. He is also the author of nearly a dozen scholarly publications, including Historic Photos of Knoxville (2007) and Remembering Knoxville (2010). In his spare time, Mr. Hardy enjoys golf, basketball (especially watching University of Kentucky basketball), and spending time with his wife and son. Mr. Hardy may be contacted at hardy@easttnhistory.org.  Lisa OakleyMs. Oakley is Curator of Education with the East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS). In this capacity, Ms. Oakley is responsible for all aspects of student and teacher programming offered through the ETHS. Responsibilities include development, promotion, and supervision of education programs, such as interactive exhibit activities for students and award winning teacher workshops and institutes. Ms. Oakley serves as project director for a number of grant projects, including the 2010 Enduring Visions: Teaching American History Grant project funded through the US Department of Education (in partnership with the University of Tennessee Department of History and Anderson, Sevier, and Union county schools). Ms. Oakley also serves as co-coordinator for the East Tennessee district competition of the Tennessee History Day program (the state affiliate of National History Day). She received her B.A. in history from the University of Tennessee and holds an M.A. in History with an emphasis in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. Contact Ms. Oakley at oakley@easttnhistory.org. |
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Southeast Tennessee District Coordinators
Dr. M.A. McCoy Dr. M.A. McCoy teaches in the School of Education at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. Contact Dr. McCoy at merwin-mccoy@utc.edu. Dr. Valerie Rutledge Dr. Valerie Rutledge is the director of the School of Education at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. |
North Middle District Coordinators
 Dr. Kristofer RayDr. Kristofer Ray is Assistant Professor of early American history at Austin Peay State University, where his research focuses on the local—a re-imagining of Tennessee history in the 18th century—in order to understand the trans-Appalachian South’s place in North America and the Atlantic World. Dr. Ray is the senior editor of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly. Contact Dr. Ray at rayk@apsu.edu.
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Middle Tennessee District Coordinator
 Dr. Rebecca McIntyreDr. Rebecca McIntyre is associate professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University and has been director of the Middle Tennessee History Day competition since 2010. In 2004, she earned her doctorate in history from The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and specializes in the history of the US South. In 2011, the University Press of Florida published her book, Souvenirs of the Old South: Northern Tourism and Southern Mythology. She has also published several articles including a recent essay on women in Middle Tennessee State University: A Centennial Legacy (2011), a book that documents the many facets of the last hundred years of the University. She resides in Murfreesboro with her husband and three daughters. This year, Dr. McIntyre will be assisted by graduate students Lauren Baud, Jenn Kickliter, Amanda Schaffer. Dr. McIntyre and the Middle Tennessee History Day staff can be contacted at histday@mtsu.edu. |
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West Tennessee District Coordinator
Susan O’Donovan serves as the coordinator for West Tennessee History Day. An associate professor of history at The University of Memphis, she is a former editor at the Freedmen and Southern Society Project and before coming to Memphis, was on the faculty at Harvard University. Dr. O'Donovan is the author of the prize-winning history of emancipation, Becoming Free in the Cotton South, and is currently researching and writing a political history of slaves in antebellum America. Dr. O'Donovan is a long-time supporter of National History Day. She has directed two summer teachers’ institutes and participated in a number of others. She has conducted teachers’ workshops throughout the country, judged at national and state contests, and developed a wide range of teaching materials, including an issue on antebellum slavery for the OAH Magazine of History and a forthcoming volume of essays titled Teaching the Civil War in the Twenty-first Century that is being published jointly by National History Day and The History Channel. In her spare time, Dr. O'Donovan can be found in her garden, riding her horse George, or taking long runs with her beloved chocolate lab, Theda. In the 2012 History Day season, Dr. O'Donovan will be assisted by graduate student Caroline Mitchell. Contact Dr. O'Donovan at odonovan@memphis.edu and Ms. Mitchell at ctmtchl1@memphis.edu.
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We would like to acknowledge the following supporters of the History Day program:
