ALBION – Linda Vitale’s sixth-graders at Albion Elementary School discovered a hometown hero when their new history project began this month.

Elijah Parish Lovejoy was an Albion native who died a martyr in 1837 in Alton, Ill., defending freedom of the press and promoting the abolition of slavery. His death is sometimes called the first conflict of the Civil War.

Lovejoy’s death is not mentioned in most history books, and few Maine residents know his story. The preacher-publisher is remembered annually at his alma mater, Colby College in Waterville, with the Lovejoy Awards recognizing outstanding journalists.

Until now, however, Maine schools have lacked the resources to learn about the Maine native and how he came to die for his beliefs.

Social Justice and Truth in History, a group dedicated to correcting oversights in history, plans to change that. The fledgling group focuses on ethnic and racial minorities, women and working-class people who have not been recognized for their contributions to history.

The Albion school’s focus on Lovejoy is part of that effort.

“I’ve learned that sometimes history can be pretty tragic,” sixth-grader Lee Alexander said recently, talking about Lovejoy’s short life. “I probably would have been pro-slavery back then, but I would know better now. I’ve learned you have to investigate things yourself to learn the truth.”

Those are lessons that are not taught in history books, and that is something London Mitchell of Pittsfield wants to change. Mitchell is the founder and president of Social Justice and Truth in History (SJ&TH).

Mitchell grew up in Louisiana believing that African-Americans made few, if any, contributions to history. He was an adult serving in the U.S. Army in Massachusetts when his service buddies first introduced him to his heritage in black history.

“From that point on, I collected history books,” said Mitchell, now retired from the military and as a pipefitter at Bath Iron Works. “I’ve had a dream for 50 years of getting this information into the hands of students. The history I was taught was a myth.”

Mitchell believes American history has been colored by the influence of rich white men, and women, at the expense of working-class people and minorities.

“We want to teach history as it really happened,” he said of his group. “Teachers aren’t responsible for what they have been given to teach.”

Beginning the group’s work with the life of Lovejoy is fitting, according to Mitchell and SJ&TH coordinator Karen Marysdaughter of Monroe. Lovejoy is a role model for Maine children, a demonstration of how one person can make an impact on history.

“He never wavered in his beliefs,” said Marysdaughter. “It’s ironic that they know him better in Illinois than here in Maine.”

Lovejoy lived 22 years in Maine before traveling west. He was a schoolteacher and a newspaper publisher before returning to New England to study for the ministry. He returned to St. Louis, Mo., and the newspaper business with strong religious beliefs, demonstrating a strong dislike for Catholic doctrine and slavery. His presses were damaged and his life was threatened repeatedly in St. Louis.

Moving his newspaper across the Mississippi River to Alton, Ill., from a slave state to a free state, did little to change the attitude towards his abolitionist writing. When a mob threatened to destroy a newly arrived press, Lovejoy was shot in the melee trying to defend the warehouse where it was located.

“History is very interesting when you analyze it,” Mitchell said of his passion for truth in history. “We have a troubling, but beautiful history.

“Lovejoy believed in telling the truth, and he paid the ultimate price,” Mitchell added.

“Having grown up in Albion, I always enjoy teaching about the history here,” said Vitale recently as she watched her pupils prepare a timeline on Lovejoy’s life.

The timeline integrates Lovejoy’s life with Maine and U.S. history. The display will be part of the class’s presentation on their studies at an academic fair planned for Tuesday, Feb. 13.

The work of the SJ&TH enabled Vitale to incorporate Lovejoy’s life into her lesson plan. Educational packets were compiled providing data from primary documents, such as letters and copies of Lovejoy’s editorials, many of which are available at Colby College. Activities were designed that included visits to his birthplace on Lovejoy Pond in Albion. Children also wrote articles and produced a radio show about Lovejoy for broadcast on WERU. The SJ&TH group was awarded a $1,000 grant from the New Century Community Program to prepare the information packets on Lovejoy’s life.

The New Century Community Program is a collaborative initiative of seven state cultural organizations providing matching grants and technical assistance to Maine communities to develop cultural and educational resources.

“I never would have been able to do this project without their help,” Vitale said of SJ&TH educational material. “I put in 28 hours of my own time on this project as it is.”

Vitale is one of four teachers participating in the introduction of the Lovejoy project. Teachers at Lawrence middle and high schools in Fairfield, where older Albion children attend school, also are participating.

The group’s educational material will be available to other schools after this pilot year, according to Marysdaughter. The group’s work will not end with the Lovejoy project. Research has begun on women in Maine history.

“I would like to see this idea [truth in history] mushroom, not just in Maine, but everywhere,” Mitchell said.