Two children choose to join a photo taken on the porch of a brothel in Aberdeen, Washington, in the early twentieth century.
INovember 1940, migrantt cotton picker holding her baby Buckeye, Maricopa County, Arizona> Photo by Dorothea Lange.
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Most of us have an internal visual history that resembles a kind of jumbled slide show. Say “American Revolution” and we see in our minds “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” From old text books and PBS specials, we have images for “The Dust Bowl,” and “World War II” and “The Civil Rights Movement.” They’re not always clear, but they’re effective. They make us believe we know what America once was and what it has been through.
However, the slide show of our past is distorted. Many specific faces were left out–the faces of children, women, people of color and many others. We believe that changing that slide show of history is one of the most powerful ways we have of changing our sense of who we are in this country.
OneHistory presentations have been successful with audiences from the Library of Congress and the National Archives to colleges and universities around the country and even--in modified versions--with elementary school children. All are designed to address issues of diversity in this country.
The narration of these presentations is informal. In keeping with the photographs, it's sometimes simply informative, sometimes powerfully serious, and sometimes funny. Each of these presentations is flexible in length. We have versions of the slide shows that range from 20 to 45 minutes. We introduce them, narrate them, and then have a question and answer period afterwards. The presentations are free of charge to public schools, K-12, in Chicago. For all other groups, there is a fee that varies from $150 to $250. |
Family snapshot, ca. 1960. Austin/Thompson Collection
na, 1940. Photo by Dorothea Lange. National Archives.
Tintype, ca. 1930.
Austin/Thompson Collection. |
Our Most Popular Presentation
Telling Images
Garnering remarkable responses from students and adults, these images
reveal that the events and eras they have learned about look much
different from the images in their history books. People of all ages
find this new access to American history challenges their
preconceptions.
Other Presentations Visual Literacy
This
presentation teaches students how to approach an image and deal with it
as a primary document, a visual statement by an author or artist, and
an aesthetic object. Images range from stunning FSA documentary
photographs by Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to casta paintings created by Spanish artists during their initial occupation of South and Central America.
America's Children
Images of children give a new perspective on America's past, present,
and future in terms of its children. This is, let us stress, not a
presentation for young children, although it can be modified, like the
others, for that audience.
Belles, Mammies and Heroines
Images of stereotypes and real women of the American South make this
presentation a revelation for both young people and adults.
Black Women in History
These images come from archives all over the country, as well as family
albums and dresser drawers. They tell an inspiring and challenging
history with which most Americans are unfamiliar.
Children of the Depression
Primarily FSA photographs, the images in the presentation were created
by some of America's greatest photographers--Dorothea Lange, Gordon
Parks, Walker Evans, et. al. They bring home the realities of the Great
Depression to young people because of they elicit feelings of empathy
and identification.
Blues Queens to Hip Hop Divas
Through
images and lyrics, this presentation explores the line of cultural
resistance among Black women from "Ma" Rainey to Queen Latifah and her
hip hop cohort.
Trying It On
From
young women who passed as men to fight in the Civil War to girls
clowning around to workers in mines and fields, there have been women
who tried on male clothing. What did the act represent to them, and
what does it mean to us today?
The New Teachers Training Workshop
Teaching in the Visual Realm
Approaching a photograph, drawing, sheet music cover or political cartoon as a primary document can be an exciting experience for your students, as they gain information and insight. Do you know how to make the most of visual materials with your students? Click the title above for more information.
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