Classroom Extensions

Become a Historian

This exercise can help students discover how history is written. A good place to start would be to research the history of the Hill District through Teenie Harris’s photographs.

Pick photos from different eras and explore how people, places, and events have changed over time—and why. You can view Harris’s photos by theme or thread to find a sequence of images with similar content that range from the 1930s to the 1970s. How is change evident in the photographs?

You can also research some of the important figures from the civil rights era.

Lead a discussion comparing Teenie Harris and the Picturing the City photographs in terms of race and gender relations.

What do you notice? How have things changed over time?

Research additional legislation since these people, places, and events were photographed (examples such as civil rights, equality, etc.).