Highsmith, Carol M. Old Courthouse Museum, Monroeville, Alabama. 2010. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010639935/.
In this lesson, students will analyze a historical photo of the Old Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama, using a See–Think–Wonder routine to spark observation and inquiry. After discussing its role in local history and its connection to To Kill a Mockingbird, students will explore how the building represents both justice and injustice. They will annotate the photo, compare it to the courtroom from the film adaptation, and reflect on the prompt: “What stories does this building hold?” Through discussion and a creative writing or museum placard activity, students will connect the photo to broader themes of history, literature, and civic life.
The Old Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama, built in 1903, served as the center of legal and civic life in a small, rural Southern town. It reflects the architectural and social importance of courthouses in the Jim Crow South, where legal proceedings often upheld racial segregation and injustice. The courthouse is also nationally significant as the inspiration for the courtroom setting in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee and fellow writer Truman Capote grew up in Monroeville, and the building now serves as a museum that honors their legacy and explores themes of justice, race, and Southern history.
- What details in the photograph help you understand what daily life might have been like in Monroeville at the time it was taken?
- How does the setting in the photograph reflect characteristics of a small or rural town?
- What clues in the image suggest how the community used this space or building?
- If you could step into the photograph, what sounds, smells, and activities do you think you might experience? Why?
ELA Standard
9-10.3: Analyze how an author’s cultural perspective influences style, language, and themes.
Social Studies Standard
US Government 13.c: Explain how the Fourteenth Amendment extended rights to minority groups through the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses.
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. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
- To begin the lesson, students will closely examine the Library of Congress photograph of the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville, Alabama, inferring the building’s role in civic life. Students will share responses to the prompt: What does this courthouse suggest about how rural communities represent power, tradition, and identity?
- Next, the teacher will provide a short historical overview of Monroeville as a rural town known for its timber and agriculture economy and its transformation into a symbolic “literary capital” due to its connection to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Students will consider how the courthouse functions not only as a former site of justice but also as a literary landmark and historical museum, shaping how the town defines itself.
- Students will engage in small-group discussion on the following questions:
- What does Old Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama, reveal about justice, community, and history in the American South?
- What can buildings and public spaces tell us about the values of a community?
- Why do certain places become symbols in history and literature?
- How can a single building help us understand larger stories about race, fairness, and power?
- What does it mean to remember and preserve history through places like museums?
- Why were courthouses important in rural Southern towns during the early 1900s?
- What stories—good and bad—do you think the walls of this courthouse could tell?
- What does Old Courthouse in Monroeville, Alabama, reveal about justice, community, and history in the American South?
- Guide students to annotate the photo using thoughtful questions about design, symbolism, and purpose. Facilitate a class discussion about who the courthouse served, whose voices were heard there, and what the building might represent.
Highsmith, Carol M. Historic mural depicting the Harper Lee novel, To Kill a Mockingbird located in Monroeville, Alabama. 2010. Photograph. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. https://www.loc.gov/item/2010639937/.