Evaluation
Products
- process Journal (individual);
- executive summary of independent research (individual) - one-page abstract, glossary/outline, bibliography;
- proposed itinerary (team) - world map, line budget, packing list;
- peer review of partner team's proposal (team) - written evaluation of one paragraph summary;
- postcards updating Board of Trustees (individual) - selection of visual images and citation;
- peer review of partner team's postcards (team) - critique of visual images;
- illustrated written report (team);
- oral presentation (team), and
- letter from contemporary non-Westerner (individual).
Each group compiles a record of the Commission's experiences to be shared with a role play Board of Trustees of the World Transportation Commission (WTC), comprised of the classroom teacher and a peer partner team.
We recommend that student products be submitted in hard copy as well as posted electronically in team folders connected to your school's Web site or network.
In addition, each student will keep a process journal commenting on the progress of the project, problems encountered, and technological issues. Topics of journal entries should be determined by the students unless otherwise indicated in the assigned activities.
This learning experience meets several goals:
- It encourages students to try to see the world in the 1890s through nineteenth century eyes and to identify the attitudes that Westerners may have held toward non-Westerners during the same time period.
- The activity also requires students to explore the kinds of technology available at the turn of the twentieth century in a very personal manner and to enter the mindset of a Westerner preparing to take a grand world tour.
- In exploring these attitudes, students confront different ideologies that were prevalent during the time period such as the New Imperialism, scientific racism, and positivism.
- Students adopt multiple perspectives -- those of a Westerner and non-Westerner in the 1890s, and that of a historian in the present day.
- Students assess the point of view and validity of primary source documents.
- From a skills perspective, the activity requires critical thinking, cooperative group process, the use of electronic media, creative writing, oral presentation, and map reading skills.
Learning Context/ Introduction
Working in groups, students plan, take, and document a trip around the world in 1896 using Around the World in the 1890s: Photographs from the World's Transportation Commission, 1894-1896. This collection presents documentary evidence concerning the role of technology at the turn of the twentieth century and raises questions about European and American views of the world during the fin de siecle. These activities require students to penetrate Western mentalite (mindset) at the turn of the twentieth century and to explore Western perceptions and misperceptions of the non-Western world during the same time period.
Objectives
Students will:
- explore Western mentalite at the turn of the century;
- identify Western perceptions of non-Western peoples at the turn of the twentieth century;
- use Internet technologies to research and prepare a written and oral presentation;
- utilize the tools of the historian in assessing primary sources; and
- become familiar with American Memory.
Procedure
During this learning experience, each team of students plans an itinerary on a world map, explores the methods of travel to arrive at their intended destinations, and explains what items of clothing and other personal belongings they would bring on their trip. Once they have finished preparations, they will simulate the journey itself as men and women of the 1890s by preparing an illustrated narrative of their experiences and their impressions of the places they have visited.
Students also compose three postcards addressed to the members of the Board of Trustees of the World's Transportation Commission (WTC). They evaluate the historical validity of these postcards from the point of view of a twentieth century historian.
Finally, students design a presentation to illustrate their findings to the Board of Trustees. At the conclusion of all the presentations, each student plays a contemporary non-Westerner responding to the findings of the WTC and writes a letter to the members of the WTC commenting on his or her mission.
The procedure for this learning experience is composed of the following parts:
Part I: Research Background (2 classes - 1 for research, 1 for sharing summaries)
Part II: Plan Itinerary (3 classes - 2 for planning itinerary, 1 for evaluating partner's proposal)
Part III: Tour the World (2 classes - 1 for choosing photographs, 1 for reviewing partner's photographs)
Part IV: Present to the Board of Trustees (2-3 classes for presentations based on number of students)
Project Description
Part I
Research Background
Divide students into teams of three, with each person assuming the role of a member of the World's Transportation Commission:
Travel Planner- Investigates modes of transportation and room and board, and researches and plans the itinerary.
Photographer- Investigates methods of photography in use in the 1890s and leads in the selection of images to be recorded.
Journalist- Investigates the history of the World's Transportation Commission and William Henry Jackson and records the group's impressions of the trip.
Activity: Students individually prepare executive summaries of their research topics and share with other team members. The executive summary consists of:
- a one-page abstract;
- a glossary or outline of important information, and
- a bibliography of sources consulted.
The summary is posted in the team folder and a paper copy is submitted.
Journal: What processes did you use to find the information? What problems did you encounter?
Part II
Plan Itinerary
Teams plan the itinerary of their trip by choosing a number of places to visit from the World's Transportation Commission Trip Itinerary. Students MUST include:
- purpose of trip;
- countries to visit (minimum of four, maximum of six);
- world map with countries and route plotted;
- method(s) of travel they plan to use;
- line budget listing items;
- packing list, and
- anticipated challenges.
Activity I: In teams, students write a proposed itinerary and submit it to the Board of Trustees of the World's Transportation Commission for approval.
The proposal should answer the following questions:
- Why does your trip merit funding?
- What challenges do you anticipate encountering on your trip, and how will you overcome them?
Activity II: In teams, students evaluate another team's proposal. Use the following prompts as a guide when evaluating a proposal:
- Should your proposal be approved? Why or why not?
- Respond with comments on the other team's proposal.
- Include a one-paragraph summary of your findings.
- Review your partner team's proposal by finding their team folder and recording your comments in their folder.
Journal: How did the planning process for this trip differ from planning a similar trip today?
Part III
Tour the World
Using photographs from Around the World in the 1890s: Photographs from the World's Transportation Commission, 1894-1896, students choose images that best represent their experiences and impressions. These photographs become the visual images that are presented to the Board of Trustees upon return. Students must choose images from the following categories:
Children, Education, Fashion, Homes, Leisure activities, Local customs, Modes of Transportation, Places of Worship, Technology, Women, Work and Workers
Activity I: Students individually choose images to make into postcards to send home to the Board of Trustees on the status of their trip. Each message must include:
- a caption identifying the image;
- proper citation (see Citing Electronic Sources); and
- a message to the Board of Trustees explaining the significance of the image.
Students create a paper copy postcard by downloading the image and printing it. Students then submit their postcards to their partner team for review.
Activity II: As a team, and using the perspective of a historian today, students write a two-page critique of the postcards sent to them as role play members of the Board of Trustees.
For each postcard, students answer the following questions:
- Is this postcard a historically valid document? Why or why not?
- What does the postcard tell you about Western mentalite at the turn of the twentieth century?
- What is the significance of this image?
Journal: Why did you choose this image for the postcard?
Part IV
Present to the Board of Trustees
Activity I: Each student writes a narrative report to the Board of Trustees which chronicles his or her experiences and impressions from the world tour. The narratives are illustrated with photographs from the collection which are linked to the text. The narrative focuses on:
- how people live;
- how people work;
- how people play;
- technology; and
- modes of transportation.
Students submit their narratives by posting them in their team folder.
Activity II: Each team gives an oral presentation with a slideshow on its trip to the Board of Trustees. Each member of the team must participate and the presentation includes:
- a description of the itinerary using a world map;
- a description of the images and why they were selected;
- an analysis of the student's findings as a member the World's Transportation Commission.
Activity III: Each student plays a contemporary non-Westerner responding to the findings of the World's Transportation Commission and writes a letter to the members of the World's Transportation Commission commenting on their mission.
Resources/Materials
- Around the World in the 1890s.
- Time Exposure: The On-line Bibliography of Web-Based Information about William Henry Jackson, Florida Institute of Technology
- A Brief History of Photography
- Gassan, Arnold. A Chronology of Photography: A Critical Survey of the History of Photography as a Medium of Art. Athens, Ohio, Handbook Co.; (distributed by Light Impressions, Rochester, N.Y.), 1972.
- Gernsheim, Helmut. The History of Photography. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1969.
- Hales, Peter B. William Henry Jackson and the Transformation of the American Landscape. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1988.
- Jackson, William Henry. Time Exposure: The Autobiography of William Henry Jackson. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1940. [Reprinted in 1994 by Patrice Press].
- Kern, Stephen. The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983.
- Newhall, Beaumont. The History of Photography from 1839 to the Present Day. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1964.
- Pollard, Sidney. Peaceful Conquest: The Industrialization of Europe, 1760-1970. London: Oxford University Press, 1981.
- Sandweiss, Martha A., and Alan Trachtenberg. Photography in Nineteenth-Century American. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1991.
Duration
3 weeks (9-10 class periods, plus time outside of class for completing written components).
Author
Eva L. Abbamonte and Della Barr Brooks
Source
Reproduced from the Library of Congress web site for teachers. Original lesson plan created as part of the Library of Congress American Memory Fellows Program.
