Abstract
This lesson plan promotes skills through an examination of Lincoln's legacy on race. The exercise incorporates images from the Indiana Historical Society's Jack Smith Collection. By race this lesson plan refers to issues of racial slavery and control. It asks the question: What does one really see when viewing an image of Lincoln and African Americans in a celebratory print about Emancipation? Is it Lincoln the Great Emancipator? Or is it the formerly enslaved taking their freedom? By asking students to dissect the perceptions and myths surrounding these seeming contradictions, teachers can provide students with an opportunity to participate in historical thinking. While teachers and historians vigorously debate these interpretations, that is the point. It is crucial to give students a glimpse at this difficulty in our history (i). While developing visual literacy tools, students will examine Lincoln's policy of emancipation and examine their own attitudes about history, race, and Abraham Lincoln. In this activity, students will gain new skills in examining and analyzing visual items. As technology grows, and with it the possibility of image manipulation, students need to develop skills that allow them to question they see, formulate inquiries into visual thinking, and bring contextual thinking and background to an image. Instead of what you see is you get, students will learn that a picture can mean many different things. Visual literacy refers to a set of skills that enhances history education, as well as other humanities disciplines. Traditionally, historians have used images, primarily political cartoons and photographs, to discover meaning or context. This lesson emphasizes that these skills are applicable across the curriculum and in every day situations. The visual exercises incorporated in this lesson plan will:
Published Version
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