Rockville Fair, Maryland, 1928. 1928. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016852880/.
Students will be studying the evolution of community from our time as nomadic peoples to today. They will learn about city planning and infrastructure as part of their civics curriculum, and part of that will include libraries. Students will learn about the Packhorse Librarians and discuss the importance of access to information. Using this photo, students will connect these past efforts to bring equitable access to rural communities with the present day.
Historically (and in present day), rural communities have faced inequitable access to information. Whether due to remoteness, financial barriers, and/or internet access, rural people continue to fight for this access.
- What is the civic issue being addressed in the photograph?
- How are the people in the photograph working for social reform?
- How does this photo connect to modern-day issues for rural communities?
ELA Standard
7.RC.1. Analyze what a text says explicitly as well as draw inferences through citing several pieces of textual evidence.
Social Studies Standard
8.C.5. Explain the importance of responsible participation by citizens in voluntary civil organizations to bring about social reform.
Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment.
- Ask students to fold a piece of paper in half longways (or hotdog style). At the top of the first column they should write “What I Notice” and at the top of the second column they should write “What I Think about It.”
- Invite students to engage with the photograph by describing what they see in the first column and then the meaning they make of what they see (their interpretation) in the second column.
- Once they are finished noticing and interpreting, ask them to share with their elbow partner a couple of things that they noticed and the meaning they made from it.
- Then come back together as a whole group, giving students the opportunity to share. If it doesn’t come up, ask students:
- Does this take place in a rural or non-rural place? How do you know?
- What is the main issue the folks of Rockville are addressing here?
- Why do you think they’re addressing this issue at the county fair?
- Invite students to make connections to today:
- How is this issue still present in our modern era?
- How do modern rural folks work to address those issues? Do you think those are similar to or different from what is happening in the photo?
- Offer students the opportunity to synthesize and process by writing one of the following:
- A personal letter exchange between the two women (one letter from each woman) detailing how they will organize, strategize, and work together to get a library for their county. You can include the book mobile at the fair as part of your strategy/organization.
- A formal letter (use correct formatting) from the perspective of one of the two women in the photo addressed to their county commissioner and/or county council detailing why they want a county library. The letter could also offer alternative options to the county library.
- A formal letter (use correct formatting) to your county commissioner, county council, or state legislator detailing an important issue. Be sure to include details and possible solutions.
Johnston, Frances Benjamin. Gaston County Bookmobile, Gastonia, Gaston County, North Carolina. Between 1935 and 1938. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017888411/.