Photographs and History

It's the art of the image!  As part of a study of the 2020 Presidential race, groups analyze an image of a candidate, first from an objective point of view and then subjectively. They then prepare a presentation detailing what they...

Prepare your class for analyzing Civil War photography with this activity. Have your class research online about Matthew Brady as well as view several of Alexander Gardner's Civil War photos and read critical analysis of his work. Class...

Even without captions, photographs can tell amazing, involved, and complex stories. Viewers analyze two photos, consider what the pictures reveal about the subjects' identity, and determine the social justice issues represented in the...

Build creative thinking and organization skills with a beautiful quilting project. Young photographers use a digital camera and computer to create photo transfers, which they will use to create a photo quilt square. They sew or embroider...

High schoolers analyze photographs as a development activity for their literacy skills. They will review the 6 Q's feature for analyzing photographs and analyze a variety of photographs and then write comments in the space around the...

View 21 panoramic photos from the National Archives collection that feature images of natural disaster sites, major construction projects, military units, and the like.

During the 1800s the United States was expanding westward; land was there for the taking.  Kids explore how some early photographers used their photography to influenced the US Congress to save areas like Mirror Lake. They...

In October 1862, a shocking and unique photo exhibition opened at Mathew B. Brady's Broadway gallery in New York City. A small placard at the door advertised "The Dead of Antietam," and, as The New York Times reported on October 20,...

Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...

Picture this. Class members follow in the footsteps of W. Eugene Smith, Dorothea Lange, James Nachtwey, and Lewis Hine by creating their own photo essay about a local event or issue.