Janet Reno’s   “Song of America”

Like many U.S. History teachers I have been waiting for the Song of America project that was highly touted and received lots of national press coverage.  Janet Reno went to the Grammy’s and announced that she had a plan to use music to teach history and it would be a great tool to interest kids etc  (project sounds  kind of cool with a folk/rock theme with Ed Pettersen and David Macias at the helm. I am just curious to see if they consulted with people who actually work with kids on a daily basis to see what the students would like to hear?).   At the time of Reno's announcement I had just finished the two year process of making the Professor Presley CD to use in my classroom so I sent the CD to some of the writers and editors of the news agencies that had covered that story.  I eagerly awaited the calls from reporters wanting to get the word out.  I got no response (ok my hometown newspaper wrote a nice story).  In the meantime, slowly but surely teachers and students started to find Professor Presley History Rocks on the web and through word of mouth.  We now have had over 200 downloads of “The War of 1812” song alone.

Well it has now been two years and we are still waiting for the “Song of America” project to be completed, meanwhile Professor Presley has been kicking ass and TEACHING NAMES! 

Here is a list of the historical figures mentioned in the 9 songs on the History Rocks CD. 

The Pilgrims

James Madison

John Locke

Baron de Montesquieu

Alexander Hamilton

Thomas Jefferson

George Washington

The Whiskey Boys

John Adams

The War Hawks

Oliver Hazard Perry

Francis Scott Key

Andrew Jackson

Stephen Austin

General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

William Barrett Travis  

Sam Houston

Henry Clay

James K. Polk  

Zachary Taylor  

Abraham Lincoln

The Niños Heroes

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Lucretia Mott

Susan B. Anthony 

Frederick Douglass  

Horace Mann

Dorothea Dix  

Nat  Turner

Senator Charles Sumner   

Dred Scott  

Sen. Stephen Douglas

John Brown  

Jefferson Davis

General Robert E. Lee

Abraham Lincoln

Gen. Ulysses S. Grant

John Wilkes Booth  

Andrew Johnson  

Radical Republicans  

Scalawags, 

Rutherford B. Hayes,               

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If any big celebrities out there want to promote my project at the GRAMMY’S or any other red carpet occasion please feel free to drop me a line. 

sales at professorpresley.com

P.S.  I plan on getting the "Song of America" material as soon as it comes out.  Any tool to help teach U.S. History is welcome.