The document describes a photo analysis activity where students analyze 6 historical photographs in groups. For each photo, they are prompted to answer questions about who/what is depicted, the context, potential messages, historical significance, questions raised, and inferences that can be made. The photos show scenes of women cooking, Hitler with women, African Americans with police/dogs, a hanging body at the Statue of Liberty, immigrants at Ellis Island, and men enlisting in the military.

1. Photo Analysis—Group
Description: Analyze three different photos as a group by answering the given questions.
Picture 1
1. Who are the people in the photograph? They appear to be several old women cooking dinner.
2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. The people are in the kitchen cooking food probably because they are hungry.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? That women in the
previous times were the ones that did essentially all of the cooking.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It expresses the duties of women during the time
period through the early 1900s.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? Why the women are cooking? Why they are
wearing dressier clothes to cook?
6.Write your own caption for the photograph: Women hard at work
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? You could research at
what period of time women spent the majority of their time within the household.
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. I would
infer that the women are all probably married cooking for their husbands, none of them have
regular jobs, and that they don't appear to have children.
Picture 2
1. Who are the people in the photograph? The person in the photograph appears to be Adolf
Hitler along with some random women.
2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. They appear to be in some type of building, and possibly maybe even a train
because there is a window in the background.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? I think that the
photographer was trying to show how Hitler could be perceived in a more positive light.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It reveals the other side to Hitler, despite what
everyone knows to be true about him in regards to the killings of citizens.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? Was Hitler really a compassionate man? Did

2. people see Hitler differently before the Holocaust?
6. Write your own caption for the photograph: The other side of Adolf Hitler
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? You could research the
background of Hitler and what his early life consisted of.
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. The
picture is of Hitler showing his affectionate towards a non-Jew child. Also, people probably view
Hitler as a good person at this point in time. The picture probably takes place before the
Holocaust even started.
Picture 3
1. Who are the people in the photograph? The people in the picture appear to be several African
Americans along with White officers enforcing something upon them.
2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. The African Americans seem to be observing the officers and their dogs, and
the officers look like they are going to fight. They are on a street with the lines on the road and
trees in the background.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? I think the photographer
was trying to portray violence towards citizens in a particular time period.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It could explain the difference of races from the
past.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? Why do the officers have search dogs? When was
the photo taken and where was it taken? Who are the African Americans pictured?
6. Write your own caption for the photograph: A Time of Struggle
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? You could research
information about officers and violence in regards to African Americans
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. I would
infer that the dogs in the photograph don't care for what they are being forced to do, the people
watching are confused by the officers, and the officers are angry about something.
Picture 4
1. Who are the people in the photograph? A man hanging by his neck

3. 2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. The situation appears to be a man already dead from being hung by the statue
of liberty.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? Give me liberty or give
me death.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It probably created tension within the
community due to the fact that the man appears to be African American.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? Who is the man in the photo? Why is the statue of
liberty hanging someone? When was this photo created?
6. Write your own caption for the photograph: Give me liberty or give me death
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? Look up the statue of
liberty or maybe look up African Americans and the statue of liberty.
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. I would
infer that people became angry over this photo, that people have struggled for liberty in the past,
and that the statue could relate to the government.
Picture 5
1. Who are the people in the photograph? They appear to be people arriving at Ellis Island maybe
a family.
2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. They are arriving to a more free state than from where they came from that is
why they are staring off to the statue of liberty.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? I think the photographer
was trying to show how people longed to come to America in the past much like they still do
today.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It is important because it shows how people felt
when they came to America which has shaped what America is all about.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? Who is the family in the photo? Where did these
people come from? What year was this photo taken?

4. 6. Write your own caption for the photograph: The Land of Freedom
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? Research people arriving
at Ellis Island or where people came from that came from Ellis Island.
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. That
people searched for freedom in America, families traveled to America from other lands, and that
a lot of people came to America in the past.
Picture 6
1. are the people in the photograph? There are a bunch of men and what appears to be officers of
some sort.
2. What is the situation of the people in the photograph? Provide evidence from the photo
that tells you this. They are enlisting in something possibly war because the officers look like
generals and they are being checked by them as it is seen by the guy getting his eyesight
checked.
3. What message do you think the photographer was trying to convey? I think the photographer
was trying to show the process to enlist in the army.
4. Why is this photograph important to history? It is important because it shows that the men that
enter the army have to pass through in order to fight which shows what kind of men can fight in
war.
5. What questions does this photograph raise? What time period was this photo taken? Is there a
war on the rise? Where did these men come from?
6. Write your own caption for the photograph: Preparation for the War
7. What could you do to find more information about this photograph? You could look up in
what wars men needed to be checked thoroughly to fight or possibly where generals cared about
the health conditions of their soldiers prior to the war.
8. Based on what you have observed list 3 things you might infer from the photograph. There is a
war getting ready to take place, men have been called in to fight in this unknown war, the
generals want only top-notch soldiers to fight for them.