Pre- and Post-Visit Educator Resources
America Seen: The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection of Social Realist Prints
31 January – 16 April 2014
The following resources are designed to prepare for and extend a classroom visit to the exhibition, America
Seen: The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection of Social Realist Prints at the Ackland Art Museum. The experiences
are intended to support classroom curriculum and learning standards, while allowing for students to express
their ideas through a variety of formats – writing, discussion, research, and art making. Activities and
conversation starters can be modified per grade level and discipline.
Exhibition Overview
Printmaking in America saw a surge in popularity during the 1920s through the 1940s as
artists used this medium to respond to the socio-economic changes of the nation. Federallyfunded arts programs, like the Works Progress Administration, sponsored and supported the
work of a large number of artists who were out of work during the Great Depression. This
exhibition captures both urban and rural spaces and shares a glimpse of America during a
time of change and growth.
Gan Kolski (Polish-American,
1899 – 1932), Steel and Milk, c.
1930, wood engraving
Pre-Visit ideas

Initiate a discussion about the events of the 1930s and 1940s and how it affected the American economy
(i.e. the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal Programs, the Dust Bowl, increased
transportation, World War II, etc.). Have students name some of the ways we have recorded history over
the past 100 years. (Newspapers, magazines, photographs, paintings, etc.) Authors, artists, journalists, and
photographers look to their own surroundings for inspiration. The artwork in the America Seen exhibition
has been influenced by the cultural, historical, and economical issues impacting Americans during the 1930s
and 1940s.

As a class, look closely at some of the artworks in the America Seen exhibition (see attached digital images
and artwork information). Based upon what you see, what is happening in each one? What information
might these images tell you about life in America during the 1930s and 1940s?

Listen to songs by Woody Guthrie, an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose music had a
cultural impact politically and within the arts. As the students listen to the music, encourage them to draw
what they hear. Have students share their work with classmates and as a class describe their responses.
Consider comparing Guthrie’s music to rap music. What are the similarities and differences?

Explore a variety of web resources for K12 Educators and students that focus on the Great Depression, New
Deal programs, and other cultural resources based upon this time period.




The Great Depression, Library of Congress
New Deal Network, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945, Library of Congress
The 1930s, Teacher Resource Guide, American Experience, PBS
Post-Visit ideas

Research individual artists (i.e. Dorothea Lange, Lewis Hine, and Mabel Dwight) who participated in
federally-funded arts programs like the Works Progress Administration and the Farm Security Administration
during the 1930s and 1940s. See which artists are represented in the Ackland Art Museum’s collection:
www.unc.edu/ackland/collection/. Encourage students to research government programs that fund artists
today.

The artists in the America Seen exhibition were inspired by the landscapes and cityscapes around them. As a
class, talk about and make a list of the buildings or landmarks that they might see in their community. Go
outside and look at the landscape that surrounds the school or your home. What are the buildings that make
up your community? Draw what you see.

Contact your local historical society or history museum to see photographs, publications, or other materials
that document your community’s growth. As a class, discuss what information you can find by looking at
these primary sources. Compare these photographs of the same view that you take.

Many of the artworks in the America Seen exhibition are about specific places and the buildings that occupy
that space. Encourage students to research neighborhoods or significant areas (i.e. downtown) in your own
community and find images of these areas from 25, 50, 75, and 100 years ago. What is similar and what is
different? What buildings/structures were in place during these mile marking years and do they still exist?
State and local history websites:
 North Carolina Office of Archives and History
 North Carolina Museum of History
 Chapel Hill Historical Society
 Museum of Durham History, Preservation Durham
 Wake County Historical Society
 Orange County Historical Museum
Try this same exercise with larger established cities in the United States, like Atlanta, Washington D.C.,
Chicago, or New York City. What did these places look like 150 or 200 years ago?

Research a variety of energy resources (i.e. hydro, wind, nuclear, and coal). What are the benefits and
disadvantages of each? Which ones are used in the United States and when did their use begin or end?
Write an opinion paper on the merits of one source of energy.

Have students conduct an oral history with family or community members about changes they have seen in
their community, city, or nation over the past 10, 25, or 50 years (or longer!).

Have students look at family photographs to see changes/lack of change in hairstyles, clothing styles, or
activities over the years. Ask students to chart of the similarities and differences with words and pictures.
Make a family tree and sketch people and their fashion in different generations.
Exhibition Resources

America Seen: The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection of Social Realist Prints, Ackland Art Museum, UNC-CH
www.ackland.org/exhibition/america-seen/
General Resource Websites

Living New Deal, University of California, Berkeley
www.livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu

WPA Film, A Better New York State – National Archives
www.research.archives.gov/description/12337

Final Report of the WPA Program , 1947 – Library of Congress
www.lccn.loc.gov/47032199

The Great Depression and the Arts – New Deal Network
www.newdeal.feri.org/index.htm

Lesson Plans for Educators, LEARN NC, School of Education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
www.learnnc.org
Additional bibliography:

Kennedy, Roger G. When Art Worked: The New Deal, Art, and Democracy. New York: Rizzoli, 2009.

Quinn, Susan. Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands made High Art out of Desperate
Times. New York: Walker & Co., 2008.

Smith, Jason Scott. Building New Deal Liberalism: the Political Economy of Public Works. New York:
Cambridge UP, 2006.

Steijnman, Ad. Engraving and Etching, 1400-2000: a History of the Development of Manual Intaglio
Printmaking Processes. London: Archetype Publications, 2012.
Suggested Books:
K-5
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
City Mouse and Country Mouse and two more Mouse Tales from Aesop illustrations by John Wallner
Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression - edited by Robert Cohen
MS/HS
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Chosen by Chaim Potok.
Great Depression: America in the 1930s by T. H. Watkins
The Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
North Carolina Essential Standards: Social Studies
K.H.1 –3.H.1
K.G.1 – 3.G.1
Understand that history tells a story of how people and events changed society over time.
Use geographic representations, terms and technologies to process information from a spatial
perspective.
5.G.1.2 & 4
Explain the positive and negative effects of human activity on the physical environment of the
US, past and present.
7.H.1.3- 8.H.1.3 Use historical thinking to analyze various modern societies.
AH2.H.4.1-2
Analyze how conflict and compromise have shaped politics, economics and culture in the United
States.
Common Core Curriculum: English Language Arts
K.W.1 – 5.W.1
K.W.2 – 5.W.2
K.W.1 – 5.W.1
K.W.1 – 5.W.1
Text Types and Purpose (Opinion)
Text Types and Purpose (Explanatory)
Research to Build and Present Knowledge (Shared research and writing)
Research to Build and Present Knowledge (Gather or recall information)
North Carolina Essential Standards: Visual Art
K.V.1 – 8.V.1
K.V.2 – 8.V.1
K.CX.1. – 8.V.1
K.CX.2 – 8.CX.2
Use the language of visual arts to communicate effectively.
Apply creative and critical thinking skills to artistic expression.
Understand the global, historical, societal, and cultural contexts of the visual arts.
Understand the interdisciplinary connections and life applications of the visual arts.
John Stockton De Martelly (American, 1903 – 1979)
Give Us This Day, 1937, published 1938
Lithograph
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection, 2013.21.9
Norman Merritt (American, b. Maine- mid 1990s)
In the Subway, 1947
Etching
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The
Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection, 2013.21.31
Donato Rico (American, 1912-1985)
Industrial Disease #1: Silicosis, 1933
Wood engraving
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Hunter and Cathy
Allen Collection, 2013.21.33
John Stockton De Martelly (American, 1903 – 1979)
Give Us This Day, 1937, published 1938
Lithograph
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection, 2013.21.9
John Stockton de Martelly spent much of his working life in the Midwest: first in Missouri, where he taught at
the Kansas City Art Institute with Thomas Hart Benton, and then in Michigan. Like Benton, he was associated
with the Regionalists, a group of artists that depicted the people and landscape of rural America.
In this scene, three figures are suffering from hunger and they only have one bowl of soup to share. The title,
Give Us This Day is the first line of The Lord’s Prayer, that continues, “… our daily bread.” The family prays for
food. The open door positioned directly above the bowl of soup reveals a farm landscape, suggesting that the
land outside now fails to provide for the family.
Source: American Seen exhibition wall label
Norman Merritt (American, 20th century)
In the Subway, 1947
Etching
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection, 2013.21.31
In this busy New York Subway scene, Norman Merritt juxtaposes diverse types, including children, mothers, an
older woman, a laborer, and a white collar worker. He humorously depicts the behavior of individuals in such a
crowded setting. The sign behind them reminds riders, “Don’t be a seat hog,” referring to the burly, dozing
worker directly below. The two figures on the right try to ignore the commotion by hiding behind their reading
material, but the old woman looks up to cast an annoyed look at the “seat hog” beside her.
Source: American Seen exhibition wall label
Donato Rico (American, 1912-1985)
Industrial Disease #1: Silicosis, 1933
Wood engraving
Ackland Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
The Hunter and Cathy Allen Collection, 2013.21.33
In this print, Donato Rico addresses the theme of workers’ rights, an important social issue in the 1930s. The title
refers to an occupational lung disease caused by inhaling silica dust. Along with “black lung,” it was a common
and often deadly affliction.
The central figure is a wide-eyed miner standing in front of an ominous looking building labeled “coal.” The print
is divided into sections to tell the miner’s story. Starting on the left, we see the man underground working,
pickax in hand. Above that, he crawls on hands and knees towards the exit and to open air. In the top panel on
the right, he leaves the mine with his head hanging low. In the final panel on the right side, he appears worried
and troubled at home. Rico is sympathetic to the miner’s plight, and his engraving highlights the high human
cost of industry.
Source: American Seen exhibition wall label