Amy Dolan with her family in front of the London Bridge.
This summer, Ridgefield Academy Upper School history teacher Amy Dolan traveled to England through Ridgefield Academy’s Professional Growth and Enrichment Grant, pursuing her project Reimagining Leadership: The Role of Diverse Voices in British Political and Social Movements and Their Impact on American History. Her goal was to explore how leadership and historical change emerge not only from well-known figures, but also from the individuals and communities whose contributions have often been overlooked.
Throughout her travels, Amy focused on how museums, artifacts, performances, and public history sites bring these lesser-known stories to life—inviting curiosity and deeper understanding. One of the most memorable moments of her journey was a mudlarking tour along the Thames River, where she and her family joined an archaeologist to uncover centuries-old artifacts. Historically, “mudlarkers” were impoverished women and children in the 18th and 19th centuries who scavenged along the riverbank for valuable items to sell. While Amy’s family hoped to find Roman or Viking relics, their discoveries instead included fragments of Georgian and Victorian pottery, clay pipes, and animal bones. “Holding these objects where they were once used,” Amy reflected, “was a powerful reminder that history is built from the lives and labor of ordinary people.”
“[This experience] was a powerful reminder that history is built from the lives and labor of ordinary people.”
At the Museum of London Docklands and the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, Amy explored Britain’s complex role in the Atlantic slave trade and the movement toward abolition. Exhibits honoring figures such as Olaudah Equiano, whose autobiography helped galvanize the abolitionist movement, illustrated how personal stories can reshape public understanding and inspire collective action.
Her journey also included several powerful encounters with history through art and place. In London, Amy attended a performance of War Horse, which vividly portrayed courage and resilience during World War I. In Bristol, she toured a World War II air raid shelter that revealed the realities of civilian life during the Blitz—when over 50 air raids destroyed neighborhoods and claimed 1,200 lives. A recently discovered shelter beneath the city’s Corn Exchange offered a moving reminder of how communities supported one another through crisis.
In Bath, Amy visited the No. 1 Royal Crescent Museum, an immersive 18th-century townhouse that tells the story of Georgian high society—while also acknowledging how wealth from Caribbean plantations and the slave trade financed much of that luxury. The museum also highlights the Bluestocking movement, a circle of educated women who challenged traditional gender roles by promoting education, literature, and cultural engagement.
Amy’s travels concluded in Cornwall, where she explored an 18th-century tin mine, St. Michael’s Mount, and Tintagel Castle, discovering how labor, legend, and landscape intertwine to preserve cultural memory.
Each stop along the way deepened her understanding of how leadership can take many forms—through activism, art, perseverance, and storytelling—and how these histories echo in America’s ongoing pursuit of justice and equality.
“I’m deeply grateful to Ridgefield Academy for supporting this incredible opportunity to experience history in such a vivid and meaningful way! I returned inspired to help my students see that history is not just about great events or famous figures,” Amy shared, “but about the people, choices, and voices that continue to shape our world today.”
Ridgefield Academy is proud to support faculty like Amy through its Professional Growth and Enrichment Grant, which encourages teachers to explore, learn, and bring fresh inspiration into their classrooms.