Photographs are one of the most enjoyable and informative resources available for teachers at all grade and capability levels. Everyone has access to old photographs. They can be found in abundance in family collections, at the newspaper office, the library, the museum, the flea market, junk and antique stores, the files of civic and religious groups, and the local professional photographer. Look for street scenes, interiors, and everyday activities as well as weddings, christenings, groupings, and other more carefully posed pictures. Teaching with photographs is one of the easiest and best ways to bring the past to life for all ages.

    A photograph can stimulate a student's interest in and desire to learn about the past as nothing else can. Modes of transportation, fashions, architecture, social and family relationships, furnishings, professions and trades, and lifestyles are a few of the topics which photographs can vividly illustrate.

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   Photographs can help to teach vocabulary, textures and shapes, sharpen observation skills, draw inferences, form hypotheses, and analyze raw data. They are a good starting point for discussion, writing assignments, and research.

    How can a teacher present photographs to the class? Perhaps the easiest way is to use slides. Everyone can get a good look at the portrait or photograph at the same time, while the original can be kept from the deterioration that comes from frequent handling. Slides can be made with a 35 mm camera and a close-up lens. Professional or amateur photographers in your community may be willing to assist the project for the price of the film and its development.

     If a photograph is sharp enough, you may also be able to photocopy it for classroom use. Slides or black and white prints of portraits for supplementing almost any period in American history may be ordered from The National Portrait Gallery, The Smithsonian Institution, and American Memory. Contact them for additional information.

    Now, with digital imaging, photographs or other illustrations may be scanned or downloaded and copied to diskettes for viewing on personal computers.

    To use photographs to their fullest extent, the teacher must ask inquiring questions which will cause students to analyze what is before them and draw on their experiences and knowledge. A word of caution: do not try to read too much into a photograph nor draw too many conclusions from it. Remember each image is a product of the process, the photographer, the purpose and the subject. While photographs can be extremely valuable teaching and research tools, they are best used in conjunction with other sources to give a more complete understanding of a time, place, circumstance, and people.

All photographs and images included on this web site are the property of the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University unless otherwise noted. Use for anything other than classroom instruction is prohibited.