Hell’s Crossing, black-and-white lithograph, 12” x 15 ½” plate
1.Project this image to students. Give the class an appropriate amount of time to observe. Then ask them to write down everything they noticed about this picture. Give them an appropriate amount of time to write. If you think it would help your students, you could project the following questions:
-What is going on here?
-Where do you think this takes place?
-What time period do you think this is set in? (The 1930s)
2.Have your students meet in pairs or groups to discuss and then have them share their findings with the class.
3.Share this information about the lithograph with your class: This lithograph shows life on the Eastern Shore almost one hundred years ago. Many people of color lived and gathered on this street in St. Michaels. Notice the neatly kept homes and neighborly attitude of the subjects in the lithograph. As with most of the streets of St. Michaels at that time, there is an unpaved lane weaving through their neighborhood. The people depicted here are part of an “underrepresented” community. This means that communities of color such as this one got very little attention and reward for their strength and hard work. This snapshot into that world is what makes this piece of art so unique and important.
4. Ask your students to define what makes a community. Is it the size of the houses or the character of the inhabitants? What other characteristics make up a community?
5.Have your students, either individually or in groups, create conversations between the people in the lithograph. First decide who they are. How old are they? What are their relationships with each other? Create the conversations in a theater format. If there is time, assign roles to students in the classroom and have the students perform them. If there are students reluctant or unable to physically act out roles, an alternate assignment could be to make “speech bubbles” over the characters, such as in cartoons.
MD State Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1/CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.8.1
W.3.1/W.4.1/W.5.1