American Migrations
Lesson created by: Deerfield Teachers' Center Staff
Grade Level: High School
Images
18-B Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother and Children, 1936
Dorothea Lange (1895–1965), Migrant Mother and Children (Destitute pea pickers in California, a 32 year old mother of seven children), February 1936. Black-and-white photograph. Farm Security Administration, Office of War Information Photograph Collection. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
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17-A Jacob Lawrence, The Migration of the Negro Panel no. 57, 1940–1941
Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000), The Migration of the Negro Panel no. 57, 1940–1941. Casein tempera on hardboard, 18 x 12 in. (45.72 x 30.48 cm.). Acquired 1942. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Art © 2008 The Jacob and Gwendolyn Lawrence Foundation, Seattle / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. 9
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Other Resources Needed for this Lesson
- Book: The Great Migration: an American Story by Jacob Lawrence
- Two poems by Langston Hughes: "A New Song, 1938" and "I, Too, Sing America" (both poems can be found online)
- Three songs by Woody Guthrie: song lyrics as well as audio recordings:
- "Dust Storm Disaster" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvI7BmuUBXU)
- "Do Re Mi" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46mO7jx3JEw)
- "Pastures of Plenty" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH2DJvgNlMA)
- Three dust storm photos:
- "Dust Clouds Rolling Over the Prairies", http://images.wjla.com/pictures/339/1935-dust-storm-kansas-photo_606.jpg
- automobile buried in dust
(http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2011/07/holy-haboob-a-photo-gallery-of-historic-dust-storms/)
- tractor buried in dust
(http://www.ecology.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Dust-bowl-Texas-1935.jpg)
- Photo: family in a lean-to and its caption (scroll down to 12th photo) (http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/photoessay.htm)
- First and 3rd letters from "Don[']t Have to Mister Every Little White Boy...", on the History Matters website, (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5339/) (first letter is dated Oct. 7, 1917, 3rd letter is addressed to "Dear M_________")
Objectives
Students will understand that when living in dire situations beyond their control, certain groups of Americans have migrated to other areas of the country. Students will understand what drove people to migrate, where they went, and what life was like in their new homes.
Focusing Statement
Throughout our nation's history, migrations from one area to another within the country have occurred. In this lesson students will examine and compare two migrant populations through artwork, song, poetry, and primary written sources- the westward movement of dustbowl refugees in the 1930's and the Great Migration of African Americans from the south to northern cities.
Examining Expressive Content for "Migrant Mother, 1936"
- What do you see?
- What part of this picture catches your eye first?
- What catches your eye about this woman?
- What do you read in her posture and position with fingers to chin?
- What do the positions of her children tell you?
- What makes this image so intriguing and powerful?
Suggested answers to these questions
Teaching Plan for "Migrant Mother, 1936"
- Ask:
- What does "migration" mean?
- Tell students the photo was taken in 1936 in California. The woman in the photo is Florence Owens Thompson.
- What was going on in this country then?
Ask students to create a short story or poem about Florence. They might consider what brought on her hard times, what she might be thinking about, why the photo is titled, "Migrant Mother".
- Florence was a migrant pea picker in California, but she came from Oklahoma. To find out specifically what happened to drive her family from their home, read the song lyrics and/or listen to the following songs by Woody Guthrie:
and examine the following photos:
Florence was the mother of 7 children. The pea-pickers' camp was mostly deserted because rains had destroyed the crop and most migrant workers had moved on. This family was stranded because they had sold their car tires for food.
Ask students to edit or create a new poem or story about Florence.
- Revisit the first photo.
Lange's photos from the pea pickers' camp were published in a San Francisco newspaper the next day and reappeared in papers across the country soon after. Shocked into action, the federal government soon sent 20,000 lbs. of food to California migrant workers.
Suggested answers to these questions
Examining Expressive Content for "The Migration Series, No. 57, 1940-1941"
- What do you see?
- This painting measures only 12 x 18 inches, yet it effectively catches the eye. How did Lawrence achieve that? What effect does that have on the image? For instance, if he had chosen softer, muted colors and less distinct lines, how would that change the effect of the image, given its size, and its message?
- You can see his brush strokes in some sections. What do those add to the painting?
- What does Lawrence do to focus your eye on this woman, who is a laundress?
- What might the laundress's very straight and upright laundry stick symbolize about her?
Examine No. 14-17 and no. 22 from "The Migration Series". You can find these online or in Lawrence's book, The Great Migration: an American Story, by Jacob Lawrence.
- How does Lawrence use color to direct the eye to what he considers important? Note examples where the viewer's eye moves back and forth because of Lawrence's color choices.
- Compare the colors used in this set of images to those used in the image of the laundress.
- Compare the mood of this set of images to the one with the laundress.
Suggested answers to these questions
Teaching Plan for "The Migration Series, No. 57, 1940-1941"
- What do you know about the Great Migration? Here's what Jacob Lawrence, the artist of "The Migration Series", had to say about it. His parents had been part of that migration:
"This is the story of an exodus of African-Americans who left their homes and farms in the South around the time of World War I and traveled to northern industrial cities in search of better lives. It was a momentous journey. Their movement resulted in one of the biggest population shifts in the history of the United States, and the migration is still going on for many people today."
From the introduction to The Great Migration: an American Story, by Jacob Lawrence, 1992
- Read:
- Book: The Great Migration: an American Story by Jacob Lawrence
- First and 3rd letters from "Don[']t Have to Mister Every Little White Boy...", on the History Matters website, (http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5339/) (first letter is dated Oct. 7, 1917, 3rd letter is addressed to "Dear M_________")
- Two poems by Langston Hughes: "A New Song, 1938" and "I, Too, Sing America" (both poems can be found online)
Note why so many people left the south, how their lives did or didn't improve in the north, and how they were feeling about life in their new homes.
- Create a story or poem for the laundress in No. 57 of the Migration Series or create a letter from her to a relative still in the south.
- Revisit No. 57 of the laundress. What do you see now? Have your thoughts about her changed. If so, how?
Suggested answers to these questions
Putting It All Together
- Revisit No. 57 and "Migrant Mother". What do you see in the images now, when considered together?
- List the similarities and differences between the dustbowl refugees who went west and African-Americans who participated in the Great Migration north.
- What has caused & still causes people in this country to migrate to other parts of the country? What pushes them? What pulls migrants to a particular place or region?
- Give an example of a migration that occurred before the 20th c.
- Do migrations still happen here today? If you answered yes, give an example.
Pass around "Facts about Hurricane Katrina and the 1930's Dust Storms". Think back to Hurricane Katrina that hit the South and especially New Orleans in 2005.
- In regard to the impact on people, how do the 2 storms compare?
- In what ways has the nation gotten better at helping people affected by such huge natural disasters? In what ways has it not changed?
Jacob Lawrence said that to him migration meant "...movement. There was conflict and struggle. But out of the struggle came a kind of power and even beauty. 'And the migrants kept coming' is a refrain of triumph over adversity." (from comments on the back of his book, The Great Migration: an American Story, by Jacob Lawrence.)
- What does migration mean to you?
Standards
Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework
Gr. 8-12 US History II Learning Standards
USII.11 Describe the various causes and consequences of the global depression of the 1930s, and analyze how Americans responded to the Great Depression.
B. unemployment
Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Framework
By the end of basic study in grades 9-12 Students will:
5.8 Demonstrate the ability to compare and contrast two or more works of art, orally and in writing, using appropriate vocabulary
By the end of extended study in grades 9–12 Students will:
5.11 Analyze a body of work, or the work of one artist, explaining its meaning and impact on society, symbolism, and visual metaphor
5.12 Demonstrate an understanding how societal influences and prejudices may affect viewers' ways of perceiving works of art
Common Core Standards
English Language Arts Standards » History/Social Studies
Grade 9-10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9 Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources
Grades 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6 Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9 Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Informational Text
Grade 9-10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person's life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.
Gr. 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.
English Language Arts Standards » Reading: Literature
Grade 9-10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.7 Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden's "Musée des Beaux Arts" and Breughel's Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).
Grade 11-12
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.7 Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)
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