The White House
Credit: Courtesy of American Memory
Introduce the following scenario. Tell students to imagine that a previously unknown cache of images, documents, and photographs has just been discovered during some minor repairs of the White House. Because the documents were carefully wrapped and stored in the White House, we suspect that each image is related to an important or interesting event in American history that affected the White House in some way.
How has the White House been touched by the great events of our nation's history?
Create a chronology of important events that have occurred at or directly affected the White House.
Divide the class into small groups. Assign one or more of the following images to each group. Distribute the document “Researching the Archival Images of the White House” on page 1 of the Master PDF. Give students the opportunity to scrutinize the assigned image, and suggest ways they can find out more about it. Information about every President is available on the EDSITEment resource American President. Another relevant online source is the History Timeline on the White House Historical Association website, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Explore DC. The key words and questions provided below should also be helpful. Each group is responsible for filling out the document, sharing what they discovered with the class, and creating a brief caption for the image. (NOTE: All images are available via the EDSITEment resources American Memory or Digital Classroom unless otherwise specified.
Each group, together or individually, should be able to answer the questions that relate to the group's assigned image.
1 class periods