Curated OER
Seeing/Reading Photographs Lesson Plan: An Interactive History Discussion
Students analyze and read historic photographs. In this historic photographs lesson, students explore history and writing by looking at photographs. Students discuss the photographs and produce a written record of the historical photograph.
Curated OER
Coney Island
Students examine the use of historic and archival photos and films while they study the history of Coney Island. They participate in critical viewing activities and discuss what they see to make decisions based on historic visuals.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Touring Turn of the Century America
This collection contains thousands of photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company and gives viewers the opportunity to explore America from the period of 1880 to 1920. Images include rural America, city life, men and women at work,...
Library of Congress
Loc: Prints and Photographs: About the Civil War Photographs
Collection of digitized prints of the library's holding of Civil War photographs. Includes information on how the photographs were taken, as well as an interesting look at photo manipulation.
Education Development Center
Center for Children and Technology: Picturing Modern America
Collection of visual resources designed to engage learners in historical thinking; that is, learning to think like historians. Activities and visuals focus on a forty-year period in American history, from 1880 to 1920, making relevant a...
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Taking the Long View, 1851 1991
A large collection of panoramic photographs covering many subjects from the Library of Congress.
Other
Annenberg Center: The Re Districting Game
Could mapmakers truly hold the fate of elections in their hands when it comes to shaping voting districts? This interactive site is designed to educate and allow users to become a virtual district mapmaker.
Other
Milwaukee Public Television: The Making of Milwaukee: Newspaper Exercise
In this interactive activity, students choose an historical photograph and write a news article about it. The photos are from Milwaukee's history but the activity could be easily modified to relate to early American history for many...
Other
Milwaukee Public Television: The Making of Milwaukee: Scrapbook Page Exercise
In this interactive activity, students select historic photographs of Milwaukee and create a scrapbook page. It is advised that they work in a wordprocessor while they compose their text, as the article is not saved online.
Library of Congress
Loc: Prints and Photographs: Glimpses of Soldiers' Lives
A collection of nineteen original photographs of soldiers who served during the Civil War. Each photograph is accompanied by a short essay that includes biographical information about their Civil War experiences and, where possible,...
Other
Smithsonian Institution: North American Indian Photography of Edward Curtis
A collection of 22 historical photographs showing Native Americans taken by renowned photographer Edward Curtis. The images show how Native Americans lived and dressed in scenes such as a wedding party, a ritual dance, gathering food, etc.
PBS
Pbs News Hour Extra: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
A lesson where students examine documentary photographs, the events that were taking place when they were taken, and where they fit into American history. They will also look at the effect a photograph can have on people's emotions, and...
PBS
Pbs: Ken Burns America
Find assets by location and call up specific item information including films, connected themes and related classroom resources. A wealth of primary source images from events in American history.
Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center
Yad Vashem: Using Photographs to Teach About the Holocaust
Photographs are an excellent way to teach about the horrors of the Holocaust. Using the information on this site, teachers can effectively plan lessons around historic photographs. Included is a video on how to teach using photos from...
Other
Mc Clung Museum of Natural History & Culture: Early Photographs of Egypt
A collection of 231 historical photographs of Egypt from the 19th century to the early part of the 20th century. They depict both ancient and modern Egypt and are organized into different periods of Egypt's history going back to the Old...
Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Museum of History and Culture: Teaching With Photographs
"Teaching with Photographs" includes images from the Virginia Historical Society's collection. The images are organized into several themes which allows this source to be used by younger and older grades. Resources for teachers are...
Other
Kid Citizen: Snap a Photo: Agent of Change
How did photographers help convince Congress to pass child labor laws? This module explores some of Lewis Hine's photographs that exposed children's working conditions and advocated for child labor laws to protect them. In this tutorial,...
Library of Congress
Loc: Bound for Glory
A fascinating look at American life from 1939 to 1943 through photographs. The buildings, cars, clothing, and stores are very different from today. This is an excellent way to get a feel for the turn of the decade -- from the Depression...
Curated OER
History Matters: Making Sense of Documentary Photography
A great guide to making sense of documentary photography. Learn ways to distinguish between early and modern photos, where the photo was taken, and how the photo was presented.
Library of Congress
Loc: When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective
A Library of Congress Exhibition launching the book, "When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood from the Library of Congress". Very famous and thoughtful photographs with prose by Robert Coles.
Library of Congress
Loc: George Grantham Bain Collection
This digital collection represents the photographic files of one of America's earliest news picture agencies. The collection richly documents sports events, theater, celebrities, crime, strikes, disasters, political activities including...
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Civil War Photographs: The Mathew Brady Bunch
Learners browse a collection of over one thousand Civil War photos, and then choose one to examine in-depth. The resulting assignment is a news article based on the photo's events and subject matter.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Memory: Selected Civil War Photographs
The Selected Civil War Photographs Collection from the Library of Congress is a comprehensive collection of photographs. "The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men."...
University of Oxford (UK)
University of Oxford: First World War Digital Archive: Photographic Collection
This photographic archive contains images captured by official, press, and amateur photographers during the First World War. Search the archive or use the suggested keywords to view the images.