Student Lesson: FSA/OWI Photo Project

Assignment Goals:

• Learn about the styles and subjects of New Deal-era photographers
;
• Gain an appreciation of the reality of the Dust Bowl and migrant life
;
• View some of the scenes that Steinbeck would have seen while researching The Grapes of Wrath
; and
• Learn about the purposes and accomplishments of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and Office of War Information (OWI).

Resources Used:

• America from the Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1935-1945, online in American Memory on the Library of Congress Web site;
  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fahome.html
• Thematic chapter from The Grapes of Wrath
• Photograph Ranking Sheet

Assignment Components:

Begin by using the Special Presentation entitled "Documenting America: Photographers on Assignment," which can be found on the home page of America from the Depression to World War II: Black and White Photographs from the FSA-OWI 1935-1945.

You are to:

1. Read through all seven photographers' sections, looking at the examples of their works.
2. Select one photographer whom you would like to investigate further.
3. Do a search in the collection using the photographer's name to identify his/her photographs included in this collection.
4. Complete a Photograph Ranking Sheet and turn it in.

Part Two: Create a photo scrapbook that visualizes one of the thematic chapters in The Grapes of Wrath. (40 points: 20 images; 20 text)

For this part, you will be working with one or two other people to complete a visual study on the topic of the thematic chapter assigned to you. Think of this visual project as a way of creating a "scrapbook" of your particular thematic chapter. The photos should help to understand the theme (i.e., Steinbeck's point) for this particular chapter.

To complete this portion, you will need to:

1. Search (by keyword or subject heading) for photographs related to the topic of your thematic chapter. For example, you could search under dust, migration, camps, Okies, cotton, farming, family, etc.

IMPT: Even if it means reading your thematic chapter out of order, read the chapter before you go to the library to search the collection.

2. Select and save the best four photographs that you can find to illustrate the topic and the message of your thematic chapter (use bookmarks to help tag potential selections). (See Linking & Bookmarking in American Memory for guidelines on bookmarking photographs.)

3. Create a word processing document which contains the images and accompanying text. At the top of this document, you should indicate the thematic chapter you are using, and what it is about. For each photograph, indicate:
   • what it depicts;
   • the photographer’s name; and
   • why you chose to include it (i.e., what makes it powerful in relation to your topic).
   
   You may wish to include language from your thematic chapter in the manner of a ‘found poem’ as we did with our ‘Dust Poems.’

4. Place the file in my American History turn-in folder.

Due Dates:

 

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