Picturing America for Public Libraries

On February 11, 2009, children in 2nd-5th grades learned about early photography in a program entitled, “Picturing America- Profiles of Abe; Photography Fun.” After exploring black and white photographs of Abraham Lincoln and discussing Alexander Gardner’s 1865 portrait of Abraham Lincoln from the Picturing America collection, students tried their hand at recreating black and white portraiture. They dressed in costumes from the Civil War period and posed for their own portrait. They discovered that it is extremely difficult to sit still and keep the same expression for the amount of time that it took to do pictures in Lincoln’s day. This same portrait of Lincoln was also used with adults at a meeting of the Oracle Club, a local literary club. Many of the discussion questions provided in the teacher’s guide were used to help members appreciate Alexander Gardner’s portrait of Lincoln in a new way.

On April 21, 2009 to celebrate National Poetry Week, several of the paintings from the Picturing America collection were hung on display in the program room. “Art for the eye & the soul” is an interactive program for children and adult family members which uses these paintings (the art for the eyes) to inspire the participants to write their response to these paintings in poems (the art for the soul). Their finished poem will be hung alongside the painting that inspired it. These will remain on display to inspire others in the months to come. We have several plans for the posters in the upcoming 2009 Summer Reading Program.

Submitted by Kelly Currie