In 1986, the Challenger space shuttle broke apart, claiming the lives of seven crew members. Among them was Concord High School teacher Christa McAuliffe.
One year later, Laurie MacKenzie Gordon began teaching at Concord High. One of her courses was American Women’s History, which was originally developed and taught by McAuliffe.
“It wasn’t revolutionary, but [in] the late '70s and early '80s, having a woman’s history class was unusual,” MacKenzie Gordon said. “She was a pioneer.”
As part of NHPR’s series Remembering Christa, MacKenzie Gordon reflected on teaching that class, and on the lessons we can learn from McAuliffe today.
“Seeing the extraordinary and the ordinary, to me, that’s a big piece of Christa’s mission,” MacKenzie Gordon said. “She was a feminist, empowering women and girls… and she did that through the study of history.”
McAuliffe built the course around primary documents, including diaries and journals from women throughout American history. MacKenzie Gordon said she would take her students to the Concord Birthing Center each year.
“That was one of the field trips that I took that Christa was sort of famous for,” MacKenzie Gordon said. “And we talked about giving birth, which again is so ordinary and yet profoundly extraordinary.”
McAuliffe planned to keep a journal of her time in space, and MacKenzie Gordon said she often wonders what that journal would’ve said.
“I think it’s worth thinking about,” MacKenzie Gordon said. “She became bigger than she was, but then I think that would be her point. We have to find the extraordinary in the everyday.”
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