Cana Academy presents History250, a film series that tells the founding of America to current events.
In celebration of America turning 250 next year, Andrew Zwerneman is devoted to telling America’s story one film at a time at history250.org.
History250 is a film project, presented by Cana Academy, that currently features 39 films – with more to come – that teach the history of America’s founding.
“It will be the best resource in America for teaching the history of America,” said Zwerneman, who serves as president and a master teacher of Cana Academy, which provides resources for teachers in humanities education. “There are no cartoons. There are no celebrities. There's no partisan politics. It's just good old-fashioned traditional history told well.”
The films, which are free for viewing and sharing, are told through maps, photographs, individual and group narratives, eyewitness accounts, and letters by people who were involved in events that shaped the founding of America.
“History250 is devoted to telling the story because it's our story and because we can't be a society without a shared history,” Zwerneman said. “We've been given an amazing life of freedom, but there's a cost and it's our turn to step up and pay it. Freedom is like a flame. You could blow it out, and it could be blown out. What we want to do at Cana Academy and History250 is to keep that flame protected.”
A Call to History Zwerneman’s love of American history and sense of civic responsibility was fostered by three teachers, one of which was his high school speech teacher Robert Gaines, a Marine and Korean War veteran of the Chosin Reservoir.
“I was one of the shyest kids in town, and my father, in his wisdom, required that I take speech class with Mr. Gaines,” Zwerneman said. “I was his worst student and then he mentored me and I became arguably his best student. He was a wonderful man.”
Gaines introduced Zwerneman to The American Legion’s Oratorical Contest, a speech contest on the U.S. Constitution, where he competed both his junior and senior year. That introduction then led him to participate in New Mexico American Legion Boys State in the summer of 1976, America's bicentennial birthday.
“The American Legion Oratorical Contest raised at an unprecedented level for me, a comprehension of the Constitution and the idea that freedom is not to be taken for granted, that it's true that we inherit our freedoms and the privileges of being Americans,” he said. “But as citizens, we're responsible for securing that freedom to govern ourselves as individuals and to participate in the governance of the Republic. And we owe that allegiance for the sake of others and that contest drilled in me that sense of responsibility. It also gave me skills that I've used my entire adult life. I learned how to speak in public. I learned how to do serious research on the law, on American history.”
Zwerneman also credits two other teachers for igniting his passion for American history and civic responsibility – fifth grade teacher Edna Constable who taught on the Civil War, and ninth-grade teacher Mrs. Blake who taught the history of New Mexico.
“(Constable’s teaching) was my first introduction at a serious level to the cruelties of slavery, the carnality of war, the cost that it took to preserve the union, to restore it,” Zwerneman said. “The human condition is mixed. That is, we are imperfect critters working our way through an imperfect world, trying to live better according to things that last, that are permanent, that are enduring. And we (at Cana Academy) think there are things that are lasting and enduring and they're evident in our founding.”
A Digital History Museum Through History250, Zwerneman is teaching the history of America as both a writer and narrator of the films. The goal is to create 250 films in celebration of America’s 250th birthday on July 6, 2026.
“There are tens of thousands of stories we could tell, but we spent a long time trying to identify 250 of the most interesting stories that we could tell about Americans, about their work, about their courage, and about their love,” Zwerneman said. “The most meaningful sources of our life under American history.”
History250 films begin with “the first Americans, that is the Eurasians who first arrived here over 20,000 years ago (as visible by the fossilized human footprints found in White Sands of New Mexico),” Zwerneman said. “Why did we start there? We’re in awe that human beings were here that long ago.”
From there, the series continues with films on Native Americans; Christopher Columbus; U.S. Constitution; Civil War and other prominent wars; slavery; America’s namesake; Ellis Island, Galveston and other entries for immigrants; the invention of football, basketball, baseball; film industry; birth of jazz, rock n roll, bluegrass and country western; founding of national parks and monuments; religions; Highway 66 and other known interstates; Golden Gate Bridge and Brooklyn Bridge; the Chicago fires and the development of the city after; and much more.
“In the wake of disaster, Americans have often created some of their greatest contributions and that's a great part of our history too,” Zwerneman emphasized.
In addition to the films, history250.org includes political, military, demographic, and economic maps in chronological order, as well as historical documents.
“We want our collection of stories, maps and documents to be something like a museum from beginning to end,” Zwerneman explained, “like when you're done with the hours and hours of taking it in, you'll have something like the experience of going to one of our best museums.”
The Flame of Freedom As the American Legion Oratorical Contest was a life changing experience for Zwerneman, his hope is that “History250 becomes a life changer for everybody who partakes of it,” he shared. “I'm really hopeful that there'll be some young people out there whose internal flame of freedom is kindled and fueled by hearing America's story one film at a time. And that they'll carry that vision into whatever they do as members of the service or as teachers, as family, men and women, as Americans who do whatever they do for the sake of others, not just for their own benefit.”
Visit history250.org to watch and share the films, view maps and documents, and learn how to support the continuation of the films. And for teacher guides on America’s founding documents, visit canaacademy.org under Shop.
- USA250