Signs of Segregation Collection Activity Suggestions
We recommend starting the examination of all photographic collections with the Image Gallery Essay and lesson plan.
Here are some additional suggestions on how to use the images in this collection with your students.
- View the collection of segregation images with your class. Discuss some of the examples of segregation during the Jim Crow era.
Ask:
- How do you think the person (or people) in the image felt?
- Why do you think the photographer took this picture?
- How would this picture be different in another state? Another country?
After discussing the images, ask students to think about the things they do in a typical day. Have the class dialogue about what their typical daily activities are. Go through a timeline of a typical day, and discuss which of the activities would be affected by segregation. [Example: Going to school] Discuss with students how segregation would change their lives, and the lives of their families and friends.
- View the collection of Segregation images with your class.
After discussing the images, ask students if they think segregation is a part of your community's history. Discuss how they think they might learn more about this topic. Some ideas are:
- Obtain town or city documents through local government to see what laws were in effect
- Interview older relatives who can share about their experiences
- Obtain copies of newspapers from the early- to mid-twentieth century and use them to find examples of segregation
- Contact local chapters of groups such as the NAACP who might be able to answer your questions and share information.
If students are able to find information, have the students use the information to create a poster or other display showing what the law was and how it was changed. Use the jimcrowhistory.org geography maps on laws inside and outside the South as a starting point in the research.
These lesson activities were submitted by Laura Minnegerode, a teacher for Marin Day Schools in California.
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