Students gain an appreciation for history after learning there’s more to the story

Columbus discovered America. Pilgrims were loyal friends to Native Americans. The relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas was a love story with a happy ending.

Like many of us, 16-year-old Tori Blakeney accepted those accounts as truths.

At the Capital City Public Charter High School in the District, where she is an 11th-grader, such “truths” have given way to a new reality. Students are getting to see history from the perspective of people and groups who are often left out of the traditional American narrative — African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and women, among others.