Learning Module 3: Activity
One
The Photograph: The Source of
Understanding[1]
General
Information
- Work on this activity will be between0 October 26 –
November 2
- You are required to complete all sections for this
activity. Step one should be
completed by November 2. A quiz on the material will be given at the start
of class. Steps 2 & 3 will be completed in the computer lab.
- Assessment: (40 points): 20 points for the quiz &
20 points for the computer lab activity & attendance.
- The information learned will be the basis for the exam
essay for this learning unit.
Learning
Objectives:
- To gain a greater understanding of the impact of
photography on making people aware of historical and social events.
- To speculate whether a photograph can tell us about those
“bumps in history” that we would not otherwise and whether a photograph is
the “most trustworthy source of information.”
- To evaluate two photographs taken during the Great
Depression by a photographer employed by the Farm Security Administration.
- To explore the variety of resources that web-based
technology provides such as video clips and educational websites.
Step
One: Historical Context
- Complete this section
before class on November 2
- The Information in this
section will be the basis for a quiz on November 2.
Sources:
Definition
of the Farm Security Administration: The Farm Security Administration: The Farm Security Administration (FSA)
was created in the Department of Agriculture in 1937. The FSA and its
predecessor, the Resettlement Administration (RA), were New Deal programs
designed to assist poor farmers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression.
Roy Emerson Stryker was the head of a special photographic section in the RA
and FSA from 1935-1942.
During
its eight-year existence, the section created the 77,000 black-and-white
documentary still photographs (also at the Library of Congress) for which it is
world-famous. Beginning in 1939, it also created 644 color documentary still
photographs. The section's documentary project continued for one year after the
unit moved to the Office
of War Information in 1942.
Chapter
24 of textbook and/or lecture information: an understanding of the New Deal and of the difference in
emphasis between the First New Deal and the Second/Third New Deal.
Article:
Hartley Howe, You have Seen Their Pictures (attached)
Step Two: The Farm Security Administration –
Documenting the Great Depression
This section will be
completed on November 2 in the student computer lab.
Part One: View the Video
Clips
View
the video
clips on the FSA and Gordon
Parks. You might wish to read
the transcript as well. Make notes
on what you learn and list any additional questions that you might have about
the “propaganda agency” of the Farm Security Administration.
[Note: I (Susan Oliver) have done considerable
research on the FSA. It is my view that
the individual photographer, as well as Stryker, did not consider their work as
“propaganda,” and I believe that the statement in the video clip gives the
wrong impression. While it is true that
the photographers on staff were asked to document the conditions of the Great
Depression and impact of New Deal programs in rural areas as well as cities,
these men and women often showed the shortcomings of New Deal policies.]
Part Two: Learning More about
the FSA. –Under Revision