Learning Module 3: Activity One

The Photograph: The Source of Understanding the Actions of the New Deal[1]

 

 

 

 

General Information

 

• This activity will be active from  October 17 - November 7
• You will be required to view a series of video clips in Talon Net and complete additional research.
• The information learned will be the basis of your comments in the online discussion and for the exam essay.

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: Introduction to Visual Sources

 

1. View the video clip, Introduction to Visual Sources.  Watch a couple of times.  Listen carefully to the statements made by the commentators and the photographs and films used as examples. Make notes on your impressions.

 

2. Do you agree with Czitrom’s statement that photographs are the “most trustworthy source of information.” (See full quote below). Why or why not?

 

“By 1930, people really think that the photograph is the most trustworthy source of information. It’s the thing they want most. It’s the thing they believe in most. There’s no question that most ordinary Americans have been socialized in a way that says that seeing is believing, and the photograph is the most accurate way to see.”

 

DANIEL CZITROM, Historian

3. What is your reaction to Buell’s comment (shown below)?  Does it take a photograph or visual media to reveal those “bumps in history” that would be missed otherwise?

 

“Photography has a certain selective nature that will take an instant and maybe lift it up out of the ordinary, and therefore make bumps in history that you wouldn’t find if it were not for photography.

 

HAL BUELL, Former Photo Editor, AP

 

 

 

Step Two:  The Farm Security Administration – Documenting the Great Depression

 

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. 

 

The following websites provide useful and insightful information about the photographic division of the FSA.  Access these and make notes on what you learn.

 

 

• The Farm Security Administration – Photographic Division – Brief definition
  
  

·        Howe, Hartley E. "You Have Seen Their Pictures" April 1940  - This article provides an excellent overview of the Farm Security Administration (FSA).  The FSA was the agency that employed Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and other photographers to document the impact of the Great Depression and the policies of the New Deal.

 

 

Step Three: The Work of a FSA Photographer

 

• Review the information and photographs on the website listed below. 
• Select one photographer whose work you like best. 
• Read the information on the photographer and select one photograph that you like best. Note: if you select Gordon Parks, you can also use the information included in the video excerpt.
• Look closely at the photograph you selected.  What is it about this photograph that  takes “an instant and … lift it up out of the ordinary,” and by so doing, allows you to discover one of those “bumps in history”  that you wouldn’t have found any place else.

 

Website: FSA – Documenting America  (http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fadocamer.html)

 

Additional Sources: The following website is the gateway to most of the photographs taken by the FSA photographers.  You can search this data base of images by topic, geographic location, etc. Searching for additional photographs is not a requirement for this activity, but will be required for the exam essay.

 

• The American Memory – America from the Great Depression to World War II