Reading Historical Images with Recollection WisconsinWisconsin Council for the Social Studies March 16, 2015 Emily Pfotenhauer, WiLSHandout and slides:

recollectionwisconsin.org/wcss2015

recollectionwisconsin.org provides free access to a growing set of state and local history resources from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across Wisconsin.

South Wood County Historical Museum,Wisconsin Rapids

http://content.mpl.org/u?/swch,64

Program sponsors and partners• WiLS (Wisconsin Library Services)• Milwaukee Public Library• University of Wisconsin-Madison• Wisconsin Historical Society• Nicholas Family Foundation• Academic libraries, public libraries, archives,

museums, and historical societies around the state

Wisconsin Historical Societyhttp://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/maps/id/248

February 2015: recollectionwisconsin.org includes…218,726 historical resources from 219 digital collections

…and more records are added every month.

McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapidshttp://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

• Photographs• Postcards• Letters • Diaries• Maps• Yearbooks• Scrapbooks• Music• Recipes

• City directories• Local histories• County histories• Oral histories• Artifacts• Artworks• Magazine articles• Newspaper clippings

New Berlin Historical Societyhttp://content.mpl.org/u?/nbhs,33

UW-Madison Archiveshttp://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SSRecIDSearch?

repl1=UW&repl2=UW.uwar01662.bib

The digital materials that Recollection Wisconsin brings together may be used for teaching purposes under the guidelines of Fair Use (non-commercial, non-public, limited quantities).

Reading Historical Images

Visual literacy skills:• Close looking, observation, attention to detail• Understand how meaning is communicated visually• Evaluate content and author’s intent• Understand photographs as created texts (not

documentary “truth”)

Defining visual literacy

“Because so much information is communicated visually, it is more

important than ever that our students learn what it means to be visually

literate. Those who create visual images (such as photographs) do so with

a purpose in mind, using certain techniques. In order to “read” or analyze

an image, the audience (our students) must be able to understand the

purpose and recognize the techniques. Just like media literacy, visual

literacy is about analyzing and creating messages.”

Frank W. Baker, Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/MEDLIT-excerpt.pdf

Visual Literacy – Further Resources

• Media Literacy Clearinghouse: Photography and Visual Literacy http://www.frankwbaker.com/mlc/visual-literacy/

• Frank W. Baker, Media Literacy in the K-12 Classroom http://www.iste.org/docs/excerpts/MEDLIT-excerpt.pdf

• Center for Creative Photography: Learning to Lookhttp://www.creativephotography.org/study-research/educators/learning-to-look

• University of Maryland, “Seeing Everything in the Picture” http://www.humanities.umd.edu/technology/visuallit/see/view.html

• New York Times, “What’s Going on in this Picture?” series http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/category/lesson-plans/whats-going-on-in-this-picture/

Questions to ask a photograph

• What are the main elements of the image (people, objects, actions)?

• What is given prominence/emphasis (through composition, color, focus)?

• What DON’T we see? What is outside of the frame?

Questions to ask a photograph

• Who created this photograph? Why did they choose to capture this scene?

• Is the image posed or candid?• How might the people in the photograph have felt

about having their picture taken? • Why was this photograph created? How was this

photograph used?

Reading Historical Photographs – Common Core State Standards

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: "Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos or maps) with other information in print and digital texts."

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7: "Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words."

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.6: "Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text."

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SL.1: "Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively."

Reading Historical Photographs – Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies

• “Thinking Like a Historian” (Wisconsin Historical Society)– Through Their Eyes: How did people in the past view their

world? How did their worldview affect their choices and actions?

– Continuity and Change: What has changed? What has remained the same? Who has benefited from this change? Who has not benefited, and why?

• Hands-on experience analyzing and evaluating primary sources

Exercise: Reading photographs

National Archives Photo Analysis Worksheethttp://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/photo_analysis_worksheet.pdf

Finding More LOCAL Historical Imageshttp://recollectionwisconsin.org

--Civil Rights movement in Milwaukee--Bicycling in early Wisconsin--Native American bandolier bags--Wisconsin department stores--Stories from city directories--Deer hunting

Online Exhibits

--Effigy mounds--Lumber camps--Sausages--Home economics education--Farmers’ markets--Postcards from Main Street--Octagon houses

wiscohisto.tumblr.com

pinterest.com/recollectionwi

Lesson Plansrecollectionwisconsin.org/teachers

Digital Public Library of Americadp.la

What’s next for Recollection Wisconsin? Bringing Wisconsin’s collections to a national stage

Twitter: @recollectionwi

Facebook: facebook.com/recollectionwisconsin

Monthly email newsletter:Sign up at recollectionwisconsin.org

Milwaukee Public Libraryhttp://content.mpl.org/u?/mcml,1319

Thank You!Emily Pfotenhaueremily@wils.org

Handout and slides: recollectionwisconsin.org/wcss2015

Mineral Point Historical Societyhttp://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/

singleitem/collection/mphs/id/3/rec/29