This photograph was purchased from an antique store in Columbus, Ohio, and was identified as coming from southern Ohio. From before the Civil War, Ohio was a refuge for many African Americans escaping from slavery, especially via the Underground Railroad.
It is high enough resolution so that if you have access to a Smart Board, you can zoom in on details. However, you can also print it out on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. To access the high resolution image for printing or projection, right click on the image. Click “View Image” (or on a Mac “Open image in new tab”). To print, click “print.” In the print preview, click “Page Setup.” Choose “Landscape” for the orientation. Set all headers and footers to “blank.” Set margins to “0.” Then print.
This is a very good starter primary source for students in the lower grades. Look to the Seven Strategies for help in generating questions for your classroom. Possible questions include these:
- Strategy 1: What is this? A drawing, a photograph, a cartoon?
- Strategy 2: Why did someone take this picture? Who do you think took it? Who looked at the picture?
- Strategy 4: What do notice about the children in the picture? What do they look like? What do you notice about their clothes? What do you notice about their hair.
(There are two black children. They are the only girls on the back row. All of the other children have perfectly straight hair, except the blonde girl in the front. The girl on the third row, third in from the right has something wrong with her eye. The boy in the middle has something wrong with his nose and mouth. Most of them have pretty nice clothes. The girls are all wearing dresses. Most of the shoes we can see are “Mary Janes.” The boy at the left in the front has torn pants and socks that look too big for him. The boy in the middle is wearing a sports coat and tie. - Strategy 6: What do you think some of these children are like? Point to children whose expressions or postures interest you.
From this picture, how do you think these children are like the children in our town (school)? How do you think they’re different?
Extension Activity
With younger children, you will need to simply tell them when the photograph was taken and explain how you know it, although they may be able to identify it as an old photograph. With older students, you could challenge them to figure out when the photograph was taken.
(Judging from the dutch boy haircuts on all the girls and the teacher’s dress, as well as the knickers on the boys, it was taken in the 1920s.)