On January 8, 2026, Dr. Betsy Wood, history professor at BHSEC-Newark, led a History teacher training for C-SPAN on Child Labor in the Industrial Revolution for a series of webinars related to the 250-year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The recorded webinar was a 1-hour presentation with live Q&A from an audience of educators from around the country. Dr. Wood's presentation explored how the promises of the Declaration of Independence were not fulfilled for child laborers in the Industrial Revolution, examining both the achievements and limitations of the movement to abolish child labor in the U.S.

Dr. Wood was one of nine historians selected by C-SPAN to participate in the series. The project is a collaboration between C-SPAN Classroom and the Lou Frey Institute providing live webinar recordings from content experts related to nine key topics of American history.

Dr. Wood teaches History at Bard Early College in Newark, NJ and is the author of the widely acclaimed book, "Upon the Altar of Work: Child Labor & the Rise of a New American Sectionalism," published by University of Illinois Press in 2020.