An Eastern student and professor are developing a curriculum to teach local history for secondary education schools. 

Undergraduate student Charles “Chuck” Clabaugh, a freshman interdisciplinary studies major, and Professor Jay Bickford, who has a doctorate in social studies education, are attempting to insert local history into the social studies curriculum, starting at Urbana High School. 

“I just want to give back and show the kids what happens when we don’t talk about [discrimination],” Clabaugh said. 

Clabaugh is a non-traditional student who is disabled and uses a wheelchair due to a stroke he had when he was 35. 

“I didn’t know what I was going to do when I came back to school,” Clabaugh said. “I just know that I kind of wanted to give back to the community that has taken care of me.” 

Now that he is 46 and has been in college for several months, Clabaugh has found something he wants to do. 

“I found out I don’t have to be a doctor to do good research,” Clabaugh said. 

The duo started investigating the lesser-known history of the Ku Klux Klan in Central Illinois. 

“We are implementing a curriculum to just teach the students about racism,” Clabaugh said. “The point of my project is to show that nostalgia is an illusion when you think about it.” 

Bickford said he hopes the youth start asking questions about times before them. 

“I want Urbana High School students to start thinking critically and historically about where they live and its place and time,” Bickford said. 

Bickford said that this information isn’t hard to dig up; all people must do is go to their local library. 

Clabaugh said he did most of his research through books he found and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Archive. 

Before Clabaugh had a stroke, he was a welder and worked with his hands. 

His life changed drastically after he had the stroke. 

“When it comes to the transition, I used to work with my hands in a blue-collar job,” Clabaugh said. “It was a hard transition, very frustrating, but you have to get over it and eventually do something good from it.” 

Clabaugh said during the first five months of his recovery, he couldn’t move any part of his body and could only open his eyes. 

Clabaugh said that when most people retire, their families know when their last day is. For him, it was sudden. 

“I went to bed and woke up as a guy who could build things and weld to someone who couldn’t pick my head up off the pillow,” Clabaugh said. 

Clabaugh lives independently, can drive a car and still hunt. 

Clabaugh’s stepmom, Polly Clabaugh, and dad, Gregg Clabaugh, said that at home, they sit around the dinner table and talk about his research. 

“The conversations around the kitchen table are getting more and more detailed,” Polly said. 

“He’s still living, virtually, a full life,” Polly said. “The idea of him going back to school was a great opportunity for him, and he was constantly researching his own interests; being able to do it in a more formal setting is just ideal for him.”

Rob Le Cates can be reached at 581-2812 or at rllecates@eiu.edu.