Teacher William Anderson of Michigan earns fame as an expert on author and pioneer Laura Ingalls Wilder and the history of the American frontier.
Many fine classroom teachers earn fame in other professions. One of these is William Anderson, an English teacher from Michigan who has gained recognition as a specialist in the subject of author and pioneer Laura Ingalls Wilder and the history of the American frontier.
William, born in 1952, first became interested in Laura Ingalls Wilder when his third grade teacher introduced her class to the pioneer’s book Little House on the Prairie. “Hearing the Little House books read in elementary school transformed me into an avid reader, fascinated with all things historical,” William described. “I became a history teacher, a researcher, and writer, all because of the introduction to many great books read aloud by my teachers,” he said.
After high school, William enrolled at Albion College, a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. There he majored in English and history. While in college, he worked for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society in DeSmet, South Dakota, during his summer breaks. Later he served as the Director of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri.
William currently lives in southeast Michigan. Today, he teaches in the small town of Lapeer, Michigan. As an educator, he often laments that letter writing and reading aloud are lost arts. In the classroom, he asserts, it’s “almost taboo to read to children. It’s seen as a waste of time — it doesn’t impact test scores.”
But sharing the literature of Wilder is so valuable, William believes. “I think Laura provides us with a link to the past, to the pioneer days of American history,” he declares. “Children can feel and understand the past through her. I really think kids learn more about American History – especially about the way people lived day-to-day – from the Little House books than from any history textbook,” he continues.
For his work as a historian, William has garnered the Billington Award from the Western History Association, the Robinson Award from the South Dakota State Historical Society, and awards from the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In 2002, he was selected by former First Lady Laura Bush to speak about the frontier experience at her American Authors Symposia. He has also published articles for magazines such as Travel & Leisure, Highlights, The Christian Science Monitor, and the Saturday Evening Post. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences, libraries, schools, and historical events.
To learn more about William Anderson, see his website at williamandersonbooks.com.
