Teaching Tolerance
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upper grades activity
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Dust Bowl: Representing the Victim
Goals (Social Studies, Language Arts and Art)
• Students will compare the effects of the Dust Bowl on U.S. farmers and Hurricane Katrina on the people in the
Gulf Coast.
• Students will understand the philosophical assumptions and values underlying an artist’s work (e.g. point of view,
social issues, symbols).
• Students will describe how characteristics of the arts vary within a particular historical period or style and how
these characteristics relate to ideas, issues or themes in other disciplines.
Rationale
During the Great Depression, Dorothea Lange’s documentary photography of the Dust Bowl helped bring government
relief to farmers and migrant workers. Chronicling the natural, as well as human disaster, Lange raised national
consciousness about the crisis. Photographs in the news likewise brought the devastation of Hurricane Katrina into
our living rooms.
Many photos from Katrina resemble Lange’s photos, particularly because so-called “universal” themes resonate in
their composition. The face of poverty, the supplicant mother, humanity vs. nature and the fury of a storm can be
found in both cases.
This activity asks students to compare Lange’s photos with Katrina images. Think Quest New York City offers an
excellent photo essay (http://tqnyc.org/NYC030395/DorotheaLange/) of Lange’s work and the historical context
of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Contrasting photos with questions and essay prompts are provided so
students can define a similar context for the Katrina pictures.
Process
Ask students to read the essay about Dorothea Lange and study the pictures.
Give students the handout including Katrina questions and prompts. Discuss some of the examples in a large group,
and then permit students to write paragraphs about the remaining images independently or in small groups.
If time remains, reconvene for a large-group discussion of the comparison using follow-up questions.
Poynter.org has a photo gallery called “55 defining images of disaster and hope” ( http://www.poynter.org/column.
asp?id=68&aid=88301). If you show the slideshow in class, consider stopping at image 59. Despite the name, there are more
than 93 images available. The photos become increasingly violent and disturbing after 59 and some are not suitable for
classroom use.
Teaching Tolerance
upper grades handout
w w w.t e a c h i n g t o l e r a n c e . o r g
Dust Bowl: Representing the Victim
When photojournalists brought pictures of Hurricane Katrina survivors in New Orleans and the Gulf region to the
rest of the world, they put a human face on disaster. Awesome pictures of the storm itself reminded us that nature
sometimes is an unstoppable force.
Similarities exist between the natural disasters we call the Dust Bowl and Hurricane Katrina, both in terms of
regional devastation and huge migration of displaced people to other parts of the nation. The Great Plains became
uninhabitable due to drought and dust storms; New Orleans became uninhabitable due to the floods.
In both cases, thousands of people lost their homes. Dust Bowl migrants took shelter in California “tent cities” as
they sought agricultural work. Katrina evacuees traversed the nation, often with nowhere to reside except FEMA
trailer parks similar to the so-called tent cities.
Consider parallels in the stories Dorothea Lange’s documentary photography and Hurricane Katrina photojournalism
tell us about nature, humanity and struggle. Read the essay (http://tqnyc.org/NYC030395/DorotheaLange/) about
Lange’s photography and use it to help you put the story told by Katrina pictures in your own words.
1. How does the disaster represented in each photo affect the people who live there?
2. What kind of human error contributed to the crisis in each photo? Could they have been prevented? Explain.
Teaching Tolerance
upper grades handout
w w w.t e a c h i n g t o l e r a n c e . o r g
1. Does a picture of a mother and child make you more sympathetic than a picture of just children or just adults?
What specifically does the mother and child image call to mind?
2. Can you think of other famous pictures of a mother and child? Are these examples similar? Why or why not?
1. Do these photos make you want to help the children? Why or why not?
2. Do you think photos or a written story are more powerful to evoke empathy (the ability to identify with someone
else’s feelings)? Explain.
Teaching Tolerance
upper grades handout
w w w.t e a c h i n g t o l e r a n c e . o r g
1. Older people are shown sitting down in both these pictures. Are older people frequently depicted sitting down?
Do you think they’re represented differently than younger people?
2. Why do you think the little girl is holding the old woman’s hand? How do you imagine their relationship? What
do you think is their story?
1. Do you think the people in these automobiles have a specific destination? How do you think they feel about where
they’re going?
2. How is a forced evacuation or move different from a vacation or a planned move?
Teaching Tolerance
upper grades handout
w w w.t e a c h i n g t o l e r a n c e . o r g
1. Can you imagine going back to either of these places when the dust/smoke clears? Why or why not?
2. Can you think of other famous pictures of clouds of debris or smoke (example: atom bomb or the World Trade
Center?) Are these different? Why or why not?
3. What kind of feelings do these pictures give you? What would you do if your home was in the path of a storm or
hurricane?
Web Research and Writing Activity
Poynter.org has a photo gallery called “55 defining images of disaster and hope” ( http://www.poynter.org/column.
asp?id=68&aid=88301). Browse the images until you find a person you would like to write about. Imagine you are
that person and write a first-person narrative.
Use the following prompts to describe the person:
1. What is his or her age and background?
2. Describe his or her personality.
3. Do you think this person wanted to be photographed? Do you think he or she even knew a photograph was being
taken?
4. What was he or she thinking when the photo was taken?
5. What do you think this person did to help his or her family or neighbors?
6. What contributions do you think he or she might be bringing to the community where he or she lives in now?
Follow Up:
1. List the common symbols in photos from Katrina and the Dust Bowl. What do they represent?
2. Compare the pictures of people from Katrina and the Dust Bowl to other pictures in today’s newspaper. Do you
find any of the same symbolism?
3. Why do you think disaster pictures are often on the front page of the newspaper? For what reasons do people
look at them?