Archive for the Primary Source Highlights Category (66 posts)

Remembering Pearl Harbor with Ansel Adams’ Collection

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This is a guest post by Sarah Haro. Sarah is working with the education team at the Library of Congress as part of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Internship Program.

Mr. and Mrs. Henry J. Tsurutani and baby Bruce, Manzanar Relocation Center
Ansel Adams, photographer

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, changed the lives of Americans, but none more than Japanese Americans.  As we approach the 71st anniversary of this historic event, it is inevitable to think about the past, to ask questions, and to discuss what happened that day.  While it’s easy to look up summaries explaining the ordeal or read about how many ships were sunk and people murdered, it’s also important to take a moment to consider what those living at the time experienced.

To help learn about these experiences, the Library of Congress offers a selection of primary sources representing the events.

The blog entry Pearl Harbor: The Nation’s Immediate Response, by Danna Bell-Russel, highlights a collection of interviews done by the Radio Research Project throughout the country. By listening to the opinions and concerns of people from around the United States, we can travel back to the 1940s and experience what the attack meant and what some of the consequences were.

Manzanar street scene, winter, Manzanar Relocation Center
Ansel Adams, photographer

To learn about the experiences of the Japanese-Americans at the time, teachers can make use of the collection: Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar.  As an avid photographer of the Sierra Nevada,  “[Adams’] purpose for his work  was to show how these people, suffering under a great injustice, and loss of property, businesses and professions, had overcome the sense of defeat and dispair [sic] by building for themselves a vital community in an arid (but magnificent) environment…”   Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California’s Owens Valley, the Manzanar Relocation Center was one of many internment camps that held thousands of Japanese-Americans in custody after the attack. The photographs capture the daily lives of Japanese-Americans as they persevered despite great changes.

Oakland, Calif., Mar. 1942. A large sign reading “I am an American” placed in the window of a store, at 13th and Franklin streets, on December 8, the day after Pearl Harbor. The store was closed following orders to persons of Japanese descent to evacuate from certain West Coast areas.
Dorothea Lange, photographer

Learning about the experiences of the American people during this time of crisis is crucial to understand the event. From the collection of interviews by the Radio Research Project and the collection of photographs by Ansel Adams, students can discover for themselves how this event affected the course of history.

Teaching ideas:

  • Analyze the people in the photographs. Ask about their age, background, and occupations. What else can you learn from examining this image?  Refer to the Teacher’s Guide: Analyzing Photographs and Prints for more questions.
  • Students can make predictions about what will happen one hour after the scene shown in a picture, such as Burning leaves, Autumn dawn, and  explain the reasoning behind their predictions.
  • Read and analyze the text in the photographs.  For example, discuss how the message in Detail of work-offer board conveys the culture of the camp.
  • Compare and contrast prints from two or more photographers. For example, students can look at the photograph I am an American by Dorothea Lange and Pictures and mementoes by Ansel Adams.
  • Students can also describe what they see and discuss the physical environment to understand the photographer’s purpose.  Pay attention to the mountains and the land. How does the environment affect the lives of the internees? What clues are in the images, such as Farm, farm workers, Mt. Williamson in background?

Related Material:
For  more photographs by Ansel Adams and others, check out the Japanese American Internment primary source set.

Browse through the book Born Free and Equal by Ansel Adams to learn more about the photographs in the collection and read about the history and life in the Manzanar Internment Camp.

Introducing Primary Source Analysis to Students: Lessons from the Library of Congress Summer Teacher Institute

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This guest post was excerpted from e-mail correspondence from Eden Kuhlenschmidt, who works as a school librarian. Eden participated in a 2012 Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institute. She wrote to us about her experience taking what she learned back to the teachers and students in her school. Watch this blog for the 2013 Summer Teacher Institute application — coming next month.

The Civil War in Songs and Song Sheets

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As part of the continuing commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War, the Library of Congress just opened an exhibition The Civil War in America, displaying more than 200 items from the Library’s unmatched collections. Students may look at maps, letters, diaries, or photographs to learn about the experiences of those who fought in the war and those who were left behind to tend the homestead. While these sources are excellent, make sure to include music as a way to help students learn about life during the Civil War.

Edward S. Curtis and The North American Indian

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Photographs offer a snapshot of a particular time and place, telling a careful viewer as much about the photographer as about the subjects of the pictures. That’s often particularly true when the photographer isn’t a member of the group being photographed. One example from the Library of Congress’s collections is Edward S. Curtis, who dedicated most of his career to photographing Native American cultures and traditions to publish in a multi-volume book titled The North American Indian.

Sights and Sounds of the Omaha Indians: Documenting Native American Celebrations

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The Library of Congress American Folklife Center has worked to preserve the culture of America’s people. Through on-site recordings and unposed images we are able to experience the language, the songs, the stories and the performances of Native Americans in their communities or here at the Library of Congress.

Voting Rights for Women

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The original Constitution of the United States was nearly mute on voting rights, ceding them to the states to determine. This, the second of two posts exploring the struggles of two groups to gain full voting rights, will take a look at the long road toward the full enfranchisement of women.