{"id":770790,"date":"2026-01-16T15:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcwatch&p=770790"},"modified":"2026-01-16T15:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T23:42:08","slug":"gis-in-the-classroom-students-reconnect-a-community-with-its-roots","status":"publish","type":"arcwatch","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/gis-in-the-classroom-students-reconnect-a-community-with-its-roots","title":{"rendered":"GIS in the Classroom: Students Reconnect a Community with Its Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5342,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[477202],"tags":[338312,162592,1181,493329],"arcwatch_issues":[493319],"class_list":["post-770790","arcwatch","type-arcwatch","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arcgis-storymaps","tag-arcgis-story-maps","tag-education","tag-history","tag-lucyville","arcwatch_issues-january-2026","arcwatch_sections-the-geospatial-report"],"acf":{"short_description":"To explore the legacy of Lucyville, a once-thriving Virginia town, local middle schoolers used ArcGIS StoryMaps to delve into its history.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Deep in a densely wooded state forest in Virginia lies the ghost of a once-thriving community named Lucyville. For decades, Lucyville\u2019s story remained buried, known only from fragmented memories and scattered records. But thanks to the curiosity and dedication of a group of middle school students, Lucyville\u2019s legacy is being rediscovered and celebrated.\r\n\r\nPowered by ArcGIS StoryMaps, a history project on Lucyville has transformed a forgotten piece of the past into a living lesson in community and identity. The students at Cumberland Middle School in Cumberland, Virginia, created four ArcGIS StoryMaps stories to explore the community\u2019s legacy and piece together Lucyville\u2019s fragmented history and the lives of its residents.\r\n

A Forgotten Hub of Ambition<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nFounded around 1879 by Reverend Reuben Coleman\u2014a man born into slavery and freed before the Civil War\u2014the community was a testament to his entrepreneurial spirit. Named after his daughter, Lucyville became a bustling resort centered around mineral springs. In its 1890s heyday, it boasted a hotel, post office, bank, and even its own newspaper. It attracted Black and white residents as well as visitors from far and wide.\r\n\r\nThe community\u2019s significance ran deep. Coleman, a respected pastor and local political leader, actively challenged segregation. As development and logging activities in the area expanded, Lucyville faded away, eventually becoming incorporated into Cumberland State Forest. Its story was gradually lost to time."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":770791,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

A School Project Sparks a Renaissance<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe journey to rediscover Lucyville began a few miles away in an otherwise unlikely place: a middle school classroom. Lewis Longenecker, a history teacher at Cumberland Middle School, was looking for a way to engage his students beyond textbooks and standardized tests. An opportunity to connect students to history arose through a statewide Black History Month competition to propose new historical roadside markers honoring prominent Black figures.\r\n\r\nAlthough some of his students\u2019 initial proposals for figures connected to Lucyville weren\u2019t selected, several students secured approval for a marker honoring Samuel P. Bolling\u2014a politician, businessman, and formerly enslaved person who served in the Virginia House of Delegates. In a separate contest, another group got markers approved for Art Matsu, a football player and coach who was the first Asian American student at\u00a0the College of William & Mary, and Kim Kyu-sik, a Korean politician and academic.\r\n\r\nWhen state-sponsored competitions were discontinued, Longenecker, with the support of grants, decided to continue the work independently."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":770792,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"\u201cThere are a lot of historical figures here in Cumberland County who did a lot of really important things that should be recognized,\u201d Longenecker says. \u201cThose stories need to be told.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe project took on a life of its own. Students in Longenecker\u2019s classes dove into the research, and they weren\u2019t just completing an assignment\u2014they were becoming historians. They scoured census data and analyzed primary sources from local archives. Their hands-on approach fostered a sense of ownership and pride, transforming abstract historical concepts into personal discoveries."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":770793,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

The Power of Storytelling with GIS<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nAs students unearthed more information, they needed a way to synthesize and share their findings\u2014this is where Annie Evans and ArcGIS StoryMaps entered the picture. Evans, director of education and outreach for the New American History project<\/a> at the University of Richmond and a co-coordinator of the Virginia Geographic Alliance<\/a>, has long championed technology as a tool for making history engaging. Having met Longenecker through a separate educational collaboration, Evans introduced him to ArcGIS StoryMaps.\r\n\r\nDespite the challenges of working in a small, rural school district with limited resources\u2014such as sharing a single classroom laptop to create the ArcGIS StoryMaps<\/a> stories\u2014students embraced the technology. ArcGIS StoryMaps provided an intuitive and powerful way to weave together narrative text, historical documents, images, and geospatial data.\r\n\r\n\u201cI\u2019m not the greatest when it comes to technology,\u201d Longenecker admits, \u201cbut [ArcGIS] StoryMaps makes creating presentations so easy, and it\u2019s not that difficult for the students to learn.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe students made four ArcGIS StoryMaps stories that viewed Lucyville\u2019s history from several contexts, including the lives of key figures<\/a>, the community\u2019s layout, and its connections to other historical events<\/a>. These ArcGIS StoryMaps stories, which began as school projects, became op-ed pieces published in the Cardinal News<\/em><\/a>, a regional online news outlet. This helped bring the Lucyville story to a wide public audience.\r\n\r\nThe project was supported by Esri education experts and a variety of professional organizations dedicated to education and history. The Virginia Geographic Alliance, which promotes geo-literacy, provided mentorship and connected Longenecker with a GIS expert at Old Dominion University. The New American History organization, led by renowned historian Dr. Edward Ayers, provided a philosophical framework, championing the use of digital tools to empower students to become creators of history, not just consumers of it.\r\n

Reconnecting a Community <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe impact of the Lucyville project extended far beyond the classroom. As the students\u2019 research brought names and stories to light, they began to locate living descendants of the Lucyville community. Many of them were unaware of the full scope of their heritage, holding only small pieces of the puzzle\u2014a photo album, a half-remembered story, a family cemetery plot.\r\n\r\n\u201cUntil these middle school kids and their teacher put all these pieces together, they didn\u2019t really realize how they were all interconnected,\u201d says Evans.\r\n\r\nThese efforts culminated in the unveiling of a state historical marker for Lucyville in April 2024. The dedication ceremony was more than just a historical event; it was a massive reunion. More than 100 descendants of Lucyville residents returned to Cumberland County\u2014many meeting for the first time\u2014to celebrate their shared history. The students led site tours, sharing the stories they had found."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":770794,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Inspiring a Generation<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nFor the students, this project was a transformative experience. They developed critical skills in research, primary source analysis, and digital storytelling. They learned how to use GIS to visualize data and communicate complex narratives. More importantly, they discovered the power of their own voices and their ability to make a tangible impact on their community.\r\n\r\nThe Lucyville project is a reminder that history is more than a static collection of dates and facts; it\u2019s an ongoing narrative that shapes our world. The students at Cumberland Middle School didn\u2019t just learn about history\u2014they uncovered it.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf we can make history more interesting, engaging and personal, and local, kids will remember projects like this for the rest of their lives,\u201d Evans says.\r\n\r\nFor more information about educational resources from the New American History project and the Virginia Geographic Alliance, contact Annie Evans at annie.evans@richmond.edu.<\/em>\r\n\r\n\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nFor teachers looking to replicate the success of the Lucyville project, Esri offers a wealth of free resources designed to bring geography and data storytelling into the classroom, such as the ArcGIS for Schools Bundle<\/a>. To explore these tools and start bringing the power of GIS to pre-college classrooms, visit the Esri K\u201312 Education<\/a> web page."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nGIS in the Classroom: Students Reconnect a Community with Its Roots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To explore the legacy of Lucyville, a once-thriving Virginia town, local middle schoolers used ArcGIS StoryMaps to delve into its history.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcwatch\/gis-in-the-classroom-students-reconnect-a-community-with-its-roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GIS in the Classroom: Students Reconnect a Community with Its Roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To explore the legacy of 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