Highsmith, Carol M. Remnants of old potato digging equipment outside an old cotton gin that became the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center in tiny Glendora, Mississippi. 2016. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017879614/.
Students will begin by analyzing the photograph of the old potato-digging equipment. The teacher will present the image without context, encouraging students to consider its purpose and what it reveals about rural labor and life. After the initial discussion, the teacher will introduce Glendora’s historical background and explain its present-day significance as the site of the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center. Students will be expected to ask analytical questions, draw inferences about life in rural Mississippi, and connect the image to broader social and historical themes.
Glendora, Mississippi, was a deeply segregated, rural Delta community where agriculture—particularly cotton and potato farming—dominated the local economy. Today, the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center sits near this site, linking the region’s agricultural past to the traumatic history of racial injustice through the brutal murder of Emmett Till in 1955.
- In what ways does the photograph capture the meeting of place, memory, and history?
- What do you notice about the equipment, and what might that tell us about farm work at the time?
- How does the condition of the equipment (rust, wear, placement) add to the feeling or mood of the photo?
ELA Standard
AL.9.10. Present research findings to a peer audience, either formally or informally, conveying credible, accurate information from multiple sources, including diverse media.
Social Studies Standard
19a. Explain how Jim Crow laws, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and violence shaped the economic, political, and social structure of the New South after Reconstruction. Examples: disenfranchisement, lynching, segregation
Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
- Students will begin by analyzing the photo without context, using structured observation routines to examine the machinery’s form, condition, and implied use. This activity will spark questions about who worked in these fields, under what conditions, and for whose benefit.
- The class will then explore the historical context of Glendora. Students will learn that this quiet piece of land is now home to the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center, a site commemorating one of the most pivotal and painful moments in the Civil Rights Movement.
- Students will work in small groups to connect the image of the equipment to larger themes—such as labor exploitation, rural poverty, and memory—using both historical background materials and guided inquiry questions. They will then synthesize their findings in short written reflections, presentations, or gallery walks, interpreting the image as more than just a farming tool but as a symbol embedded in a legacy of racial injustice and community resilience.
- The lesson concludes with a discussion on how objects and places help us understand painful histories, and why it’s important to preserve them. This lesson builds critical thinking, visual analysis, and empathy while grounding students in local and national historical narratives.
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Records: Subject File, 1929–1968; Racial tension; Mississippi; Emmett Till case, 1955–1956. 1955–1956. Manuscript. Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss6557001513/.