W. Dean Eastman

W. Dean Eastman was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts on February 22, 1948, the son of Weston D. and Harriet Eastman. Eastman attended the Andover, MA Public Schools and, while a student at Andover High School, was a member of the Latin Club, a library assistant, won third place in the science fair, and won 8 athletic letters in football, indoor track, and outdoor track. In his senior year, Andover High won the Massachusetts All-Class Track and Field Championship. Eastman placed in the 200-meter dash and was a member of the 800-meter relay team that placed second. His classmates at Andover High included Tonight Show host Jay Leno and Emmy-Award winning soap opera writer Lorraine Broderick.

Eastman attended Drake University from 1966-1970. He was a member of the Bulldog Track team as a freshman. Eastman graduated from Drake in 1970 with a BSE in Social Science.

He started teaching in the Beverly (MA) Public Schools immediately upon graduation from Drake, and retired from teaching in 2006.

The National Junior Chamber of Commerce selected Eastman as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America in 1982. In 1989 he was selected as the John F. Kennedy Presidential Award Winner, “Outstanding Teacher on the Theme of the American Presidency” and as the Massachusetts Christa McAuliffe Fellow in 1990. Eastman was featured in the book I Am a Teacher by David Marquis (Simon & Schuster). In 1991, he was selected by the Disney Channel as one of 36 teachers in the nation to receive the American Teacher Award. In 1991 Eastman was featured on NBC’s Today Show for his work with homeless students, and was introduced on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 1992 he helped develop, research, and host a ten-part series on immigration for Massachusetts Educational Television (MCET). In 1996, Eastman’s local history class was featured in an article “History Close to Home” in the fall 1996 issue of Teaching Tolerance, published by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In 2001 Eastman was featured in the PBS series “Only A Teacher: The History of Teaching in the United States”. In 2004 he was selected as the first annual Preserve America Massachusetts History Teacher of the Year. In 2005 the National Park Service awarded him the Prince Saunders Education Award for Exemplary Contribution in the Field of African-American Historical Research.

In 2005 Eastman appeared as a contestant on ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as part of a special tribute to America’s teachers.

In addition to his BSE degree from Drake, Eastman received an MSE and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study at Springfield College (1976, 1977). In 2000 he received an ALM degree with a concentration in Government from Harvard University. His thesis topic was “The Impact of Immigration on the Development of Civic Education in the United States from 1880-1925”. Eastman is a recipient of Harvard University’s Derek Bok Prize for Public Service. He is an elected fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and is one of eight members of the Adams’ Family Papers Administrative Committee.

In addition to teaching, Eastman was a successful track coach. From 1970-1981 he coached at Beverly High School, Springfield College and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. From 1975 to 1980 he coached eight Division II NCAA Track and Field All-Americans. From 1980-1983 Eastman served as Goodwill Ambassador for the United States Department of State, coaching Track and Field in Mexico.

Eastman is the recipient of the Drake University Alumni Achievement Award in 1991, and Drake’s School of Education’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 1994. He was a visiting professor of education at Drake from 1994-1995, and was a guest lecturer in 2005 and 2010. He was profiled in Drake Blue (Winter 2005). He was been selected for both Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who in America.

Eastman is the director of the W. Dean Eastman Charitable Foundation and co-creator of primaryresearch.org, which was founded in 1999 to highlight and benefit the endeavor of local history study among public school students.

Publications

"Nathan Dane." Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law. Roger K. Newman, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

"Encouraging Civic Virtues: A Collaborative Model Developed by a Teacher-Librarian and a Classroom Teacher." School Libraries in Action: Civic Engagement, Social Justice and Equity (Best of Knowledge Quest, volume 3) American Library Association, Fall 2009.

Present - Book in progress: Hometown Handbook: a Researchers Guide to Local History. The book includes chapters on archaeology, architecture, primary documents and ethnicity.

"Sagas in Stone: Students Recreate New England History." Common-place. July, 2006.

Review of "Archive of Americana" in The History Teacher Quarterly, May 2006

"Encouraging Civic Virtues: A Collaborative Model Developed by a Teacher-Librarian and a Classroom Teacher." Knowledge Quest 34:4 March-April 2006.

"These Names Had Life and Meaning: High School Students Immortalize the Civic Engagement of African-Americans." Common-place. April, 2005.

"Portals to the Past." Common-place. January, 2003

"Tiptoeing Through the Tombstones." Common-place. January, 2002.

"Local History through Primary Research," Local History Magazine, January/February, 2000.

"A Primary Research Approach to Local Civics." The Civic Perspective: the newsletter of the Institute on Writing, Reading and Civic Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Winter of 1989.

"Alternative Careers for Physical Educators," Journal of Physical Education and Recreation, January, 1977.

"The Physiology of the Female Athlete," Track Technique, September, 1976.

"Development of the High School Shot-putter," Scholastic Coach Magazine, September, 1975.

"Promotion and Organization of the High School Track Program," Scholastic Coach Magazine. February, 1973.

Served as editor/reviewer for Glencoe World History: Modern Times (World History Textbook), 2001.