Bring History to Life using Primary
Sources
GLMA Summer Camp 2006
By
Rebecca Amerson
Woodstock High School
Primary sources – such as photographs, maps, diaries,
letters, newspapers, documents, posters, advertisements, audio
and video recordings, interviews – can provide a wonderful
way to make history more real and much more personal to students
who tire easily of dates and wars from the pages of textbooks.
After attending the 2006 Educator’s Summer Institute at
the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, a new world of primary
sources was opened and the possibilities for their use seemed
endless. The digital age has made literally millions of resources
available to teachers and students. This workshop was designed
to suggest resources and share examples of the integration of
primary sources that can bring history to life.
As educators, we have access to the extensive digital collections
of the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records
Administration that will serve to highlight American history
from its beginnings. The British Library also has a substantial
online gallery of primary sources that will supplement historical
research. Georgia educators have access to additional resources
through GALILEO and the growing collections of the Digital Library
of Georgia. Teachers should also take advantage of the videostreaming
project made available through Georgia Public Broadcasting. Many
of these video clips use original images and film sequences that
would complement any historical setting.
Some of the examples of ways teachers and media specialists
can integrate primary sources into a unit on historical fiction
were provided.
- Use images from the LOC that describe the Columbian
Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 during an introduction to the young
adult historical novel Fair Weather by Richard Peck.
Students can see the sights and personalities the children in
the novel experienced at the World’s Fair.
- Show a video clip that introduces the suffragette movement
and its leaders by viewing primary source photographs from
the turn of the century to create the setting for Radical
Red by James Duffy.
- View a powerpoint to illustrate the text in one paragraph
of A Separate Peace by John Knowles using images from
the LOC. All of the inserted photographs were taken in 1942,
the World War II setting of the novel. In this paragraph in
chapter 3, Knowles describes America from the viewpoint of
the main character, sixteen-year-old Gene. Students who simply
read this paragraph as part of a typical “read chapter
3” homework assignment would miss its powerful message.
Images from 1942 allow the students to see what life was like
on the home front.
- The LOC map collection has a hand-drawn map of the Confederate
prisoner of war camp in Andersonville, Georgia, done by a prisoner
there. Using this map, students can see where the train arrived
carrying its prisoners in the picture book Pink and Say by
Patricia Polacco.
- The digital images of the diary of Lt. Cornelius C. Platter
in The Digital Library of Georgia give a soldier’s point
of view of Sherman’s March to the Sea during the Civil
War, 1964-1965. This actual diary would make an excellent bridge
to the Dear America series or other historical fiction
that uses the diary as its format.
Digital projectors and presentation boards make using digital
images a powerful tool for teachers and a great option for inclusion
in student research projects. Useful resources and links to explore
featured during this session can be found at
http://webtech.cherokee.k12.ga.us/woodstock-hs/ramerson/primary_source_workshop.htm .
If you were unable to attend this session during GLMA’s
Summer Institute, I will be presenting it again at COMO in Athens
on September 21: Mining for Gold: How to Find, Extract
and Use Digital Resources.