Kirsten+Zelenky+Local+History+Project

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==Learning Activity 3-D-2: Local Documents, Data, and Cartoons==

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=69&page=pdf This site includes 100 milestone documents from US history. It is a joint project whose participants include //National History Day, The National Archives and Records Administration//, and //USA Freedom Corps.// I plan to use some of the Roosevelt documents from the Depression to compare what was happening in the US while the lesson itself focuses more on the local effect of the economy.

http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/ What was the GNP then? The website //Measuring Worth// provides information on specific economic indicators from history. I hope to use this data to give the students a good look at how the economy really sank in the 1930's. The website also provides opportunities for students to look at adjusted indicators which put the money into today's values.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/documents_from_1865_-_1945/20425/the_great_depression/998889 Form the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, this website has primary documents that focus on the local area. The particular image I hope to use is the letter from a woman in Middletown (a town a few miles from here) who is asking for help. This letter is viewable in its original form as well as a more legible transcription.

http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/cc/introduction.html This website from Harvard provides an interesting background to economics. From the //Money Devil// to //Stock Exchanges//, this website would give students a unique perspective on the whole idea of economy and the dangers of over-borrowing. These fascinating graphics would provide some insight into the whole concept of economy.

http://www.bea.gov/about/pdf/cspan.pdf The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis provide illuminating data for the students. Not only can the students find the economic information about the Great Depression, they can also find out how that economic time compares to the current situation in the United States and in specific areas. I would use the data from this source to bring home the real impact of the economic hardships.

Learning Activity 4-D-1: Local Photos and Posters
[] The "Docs Teach" from the National Archives' Experience is a great source of docuements for any number of activities. Since the focus of this site is really providing documents that will help education students, one could not go wrong. One aspect I particularly appreciated is the link directly to the Archival Research Catalog so the students could get an appreciation for the scope of the whole project as well as follow research paths. I would use this source to provide students with the sort of background information they will need to understand the local effect of the Great Depression.

[] Because I am looking for a local site, I am including this one although its content changes so frequently that it might not work for the project. It has great information pertaining just to the local area, including postcard photographs of Mechanicsburg during the Great Depression. Unfortunately, those photos are only occasionally on the website. I have contacted the museum, asking for a more permanent link to the photos for the high school.

http://users.zoominternet.net/~jamieo/Turnpike_Page.htm This site is a great example of the public works projects happening locally. The photographs really give a great perspective on the scope of the projects undertaken during the New Deal. Best of all, most of these roads are very familiar to my students as the turnpike cuts right through our school district. Once the students study the public works aspect of the New Deal, I would use these pictures to bring the ideas home.

http://rs6.loc.gov/ammem/fsahtml/fadocamer.html //Documenting America// is part of the Library of Congress's American Memory Project. It contains a large number of photographs from the 1930's, documenting the incredible conditions suffered by a large slice of the population. From famous migrant photographs by Dorothea Lange to many lesser known images of New York city life by Walker Evans, this collection demonstrates the suffering of all kinds of Americans during the Great Depression. While some of the students may be familiar with the work of Dorothea Lange, seeing the whole accumulation of photographs might help the students understand the far-reaching impact of the Great Depression.

http://www.retrosnapshots.com/ While primarily a retail site, this collection has many photographs that can be enlarged and analyzed. The Pittsburgh photos of the 1930's steel workers demonstrates the dangerous work done by people happy to be working. In contrast, some of the Philadelphia city photos show a lack of any sort of hardship. These photos would be good for a comparison lesson.

==Learning Activity 5-D-1: Local Audio and Music==

[] Part of the //**Harrisburg Oral History Project**// this website contains a collection of oral histories describing being black in Harrisburg in the 1920's and 1930's. Finding something so local and immediate to the project history is a real asset to the project. This resource will be used in both the audio and the printed transcript as some of the audio can be difficult to decifer but the impact of hearing someone who live through that time is powerful.

http://www.archive.org/details/ A great source of audio recordings that can be searched by author, artist, title, or time frame. It has great recordings of some really almost forgotten songs. Using these could really recreate the sounds of the 1930's. Although no lyrics are supplied on the page, they could easily be found. Instead, this site gives students the feel of that time. This collection would serve as a great activator for the unit.

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/cherries.html Like a collection of poetry, this website's lyrics summarize a lot of what was going on in the United States during the Great Depression. The site includes the lyrics to songs that range from //Brother, Can You Spare a Dime// to //Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries.// The students could use these lyrics to describe the variety of methods used to deal with adversity: from lamenting the conditions to celebrating what one has.

http://www.rhapsody.com/#album/the-great-depression-american-music-in-the-30s A great collection of the songs of the time, this site does require registration. However, there is a free 7 day trial which would be enough for the project. Again, the collection's diversity, from those //Gloomy Sundays// and //Mean Low Blues// to //It Don't Mean a Thing// and //Happy Days Are Here Again//, is its primary strength. The attitude of the various songs combined with the interpretation of the singer reveals truths about society during the Great Depression that can't be experienced as effectively in any other way.

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/jul/anthology/ Part of National Public Radio's feature programs, this anthology is a compilation of songs between 1926 and 1934. The songs can be heard their "raw" form which might be harder to understand but are closer to the original interpretation. The students could use this site to gather media for their presentations; with 84 tracks, the presentations could really allow for a full experience of sound at that time.

==Learning Activity 6-D-1: Local Video and Maps==

http://railsandtrails.com/Maps/PRR-NKP/index.htm This site has maps of railroads throughout Pennsylvania's history. Since so much of the New Deal dealt with public works, I thought finding some images of maps from before, during, and after the New Deal would be illuminating for students.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/map/rails-map/ Riding the rails is such a iconic part of the Great Depression and one to which teenagers especially relate. This website allows students to follow the travels of those riding the rails via maps. Seeing the paths that the men followed as they searched for work is a powerful reminder of the desperate times.

[] This site provides a wealth of information for Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, including a large number of movie clips that really demonstrate the harsh conditions of the time. The students could use these videos to create a montage of images for their own videos.

[] This documentary (well, a documentary with some artistic liberties) shows the effect of the closing of the factory on a already suffering population in Pennsylvania during the Great Depression. The emotional effect is increased as the music and images combine to reveal the hopelessness of the situation. Students could use this film as an activator for the unit.

[] A little slice of life in Philadelphia during the 1930's, this video shows the local life moving on despite the challenges of that economic conditions. Created by the Mayfair Businessmen's Association, the point is to play up how life is going on, not provide examples of suffering. Understanding its purpose, students can see how people dealt with the adversity by focusing on the positive. ==Learning Activity 8-B-1: Local History Project==

Introduction: This assignment is a webquest about the Great Depression. The students will get an opportunity to explore the world at that time using primary sources. They are to work in a group, creating a presentation that highlights the effect of the Depression locally, nationally and world-wide. They have choice in the type of presentation and the focus of the presentation.



The Great Depression is an important time in history, not just for its impact locally, nationally, and world wide, but also because of the emerging technology of the time. Radio, with the connection it provided between the leaders and the general populace, was becoming a household item. Periodical publications were hugely popular, and the music of the time really reflected the culture then. This combination of a significant historical event and the means to preserve it make the Great Depression a wonderful topic to study using primary sources. ==Additional Notes and Resources==

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