Evening clouds, Grays Harbor, Wash. 1912. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2024693665/.
The primary source will serve as a focus for teaching historical context and perspective. Students will engage with it by writing a personal narrative as an individual looking at that scene during the time period. Students will work to give historical context for the photo and then elaborate using creative writing to provide a narrative for the individual looking at the landscape in 1912. Learners are expected to describe what else is surrounding the environment that is not shown in the source, provide a conflict that the narrator deals with when reflecting on the sight, and then explain why industrialism is positive or negative for their character’s community.
This picture was taken in 1912 between Cosmopolis and Aberdeen, Washington, and is the front of a postcard. The back of the postcard is featured below the main picture. “Postcard production blossomed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Postcards were popular because they were a quick and easy way for individuals to communicate with each other.” (Smithsonian Archives)
Source: https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history
- Did growth of industrialization like this train bridge help or hurt communities in the early 1900s?
- How does this photo connect to modern industrialization?
- How does perspective influence your understanding of this photo?
ELA Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3.a. Engage and orient the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple point(s) of view, and introducing a narrator and/or characters; create a smooth progression of experiences or events.
Social Studies Standard
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.9-10.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
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
- This lesson can be paired with any historical fiction novel, preferably one from the same time period. The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams; Family Limitations by Margaret Sanger; Spring and All by Willaim Carols WIllaims (poetry); The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane.
- Place the image on the front board so it is large. Have students discuss what they see, what it makes them think, and what questions they might have about the source. Allow for 10–15 minutes of discussion for each topic.
- Once students have talked about the source, have them take out paper to begin drafting a historical narrative. The focus of the lesson is on perspective: Students need to create two different characters from the time period who are looking out at the river and reflecting on what they see.
- Students will then do a quickwrite as each of those characters. They need to include the qualities of a personal narrative but from a fictional perspective. This will allow students to use their imagination and research what was going on during this time period.
- Students will then research about the area and what was happening in industry in this community in the early 1900s.
- Students need to reflect on the background of their character (age, race, job) and what they might care about or value. That will help students decide how to write their stories. Students need to think about what the person might have felt or been worried about at this time.
- As students draft their stories, they can have partner talks in which they ask each other questions about their narratives but that they have to answer as their fictional character. This will help students adjust their point of view to the person they are writing as. It will also allow them to realize what information they do not know so they can research more about the image.
Cedar River, Renton, Wash. 1909. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2024693807/.