HIST SBBC Photograph Representation of the Great Depression Discussion

To a historian, everything you can see and touch is historical evidence. Your smartphone is evidence, along with your backpack and keys, your TAP card and shoes.

In this assignment, you will find one piece of visual evidence that links significantly to the material we are studying in this module, on the Great Depression in the U.S., and then you will present your finding to your fellow students. They in turn will learn from what you’ve discovered and respond to your work critically and questioningly.

How does a professional historian take apart a piece of visual evidence and explore its significance? Sit beside historian Frank Goodyear as he analyzes an 1858 daguerrotype of Niagara Falls (Links to an external site.). Then apply what you learn to the images you present.

THIS IS IMPORTANT!

The visual evidence you present must be a primary source; that is, it must have been created at the time we are studying in U.S. history and so reflect that time and its historical concerns in some significant way. Such evidence might be a newspaper cartoon, a quilt, coin, painting, or invention. It may be a piece of jewelry or furniture. Think outside the box and see what you find.

But how will you find your image? Luckily, the Internet is the largest treasury of images in human history.

You can access that storehouse with a few keystrokes. We live in a magical age.

Several websites will help you in your research, though what follows are only suggestions. Start your search at the Library of Congress (Links to an external site.), (https://www.loc.gov/ (Links to an external site.)). At the top of the LOC (Library of Congress) home page you will find a search box. Find the downward facing arrow in the “All Formats” box, click on it, and choose “photos, prints, and drawing” from the drop-down menu. Be sure to put in a search term — a topic that interests you.

Another resource is the Google Images page (Links to an external site.). It works just like the Google search page, but its results are images, not websites. If you find an image using Google Images, be sure to dig deeper and find the information you need to identify the image. That might mean going to the webpage on which the image resides, a link to which is supplied by Google. Also, be sure that information is correct by finding another source that can confirm it.

The New York Public Library (Links to an external site.) has a vast digital collection.

Finally, another resource is the Digital History website (Links to an external site.). On this page, images are organized by themes. Scroll down to skim them. The website can be searched by “eras” as well, with each era having its own stock of images. To find these, explore the site. It’s organization is simple.

(If you find other visual archives relevant to our history and the period we are studying, please make them known to me and your classmates.)

In choosing one piece of visual evidence, be guided by your curiosity and the desire to instruct others about what you have found.

When you’ve selected your piece of visual evidence, present it to the class by answering the following questions:

1. Presentation: Post a copy of your visual evidence — a cartoon, photo, painting, etc. — directly at the top of your answers, in the same post, so that others can examine it. (that is, upload the image to this forum) Embedding an image in a discussion post is easy (Links to an external site.). Go here: https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-10700-4212190965 (Links to an external site.)
2. Identification: Name your visual evidence and provide the year in which it was made. Also, provide its maker, if known. Finding and providing this information is called “sourcing the document.” All historians start here.
3. Description: Describe your piece of visual evidence in about 250 words. Slow down and actually see the image in all its detail. Seeing is a skill. Be careless of nothing and dissect the image so that another, unable to view the image, might form a clear and memorable mental image of it. Be the historian.
4. Analysis: Now provide the historical context for your visual evidence by drawing on the assigned reading. Answer these questions: 1. What does that context tell us about this image? 2. What does the image tell us about the time in which it was created? That is, why is your image historically significant? Be specific and do the image justice.
5. What larger themes does this image link to and illustrate? To answer this question, be sure to go here first.
6. Why This Image: Why did you choose this particular image? Tell us your own story here.