Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity five

In this activity for grades 7–12, students will evaluate primary source photographs from the tobacco bag stringing collection and some of Lewis Hine's photographs from the George Eastman House collection.

A lesson plan for grades 8 and 11–12 Social Studies

By Pauline S. Johnson

Learn more

• Secondary source: About tobacco bag stringing This article introduces the concept of tobacco bag stringing and discusses its importance as a source of income for women in North Carolina and Virginia during the Great Depression.
• Primary source: Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression Images and text from a report in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill documenting tobacco bag stringing work in North Carolina and Virginia in 1939.

Related pages

• Mrs. Cornelia Neal: NEAL, MRS. CORNELIA, (colored), age 66, husband 70; two children and four grandchildren living with her....
• Mrs. Emma Cleary: CLEARY, MRS. EMMA, married; two children; aged 30; husband aged 60; resides in Wilkes County, N.C. Children:...
• Mrs. Eugenia Allen: ALLEN, MRS. EUGENIA, (colored); married and has three children and four grandchildren living with her;...

Related topics

• Learn more about Great Depression, North Carolina, tenement homes, tobacco, tobacco bag stringing, and work.

Legal

This is one of a series of activities that will help educators use the Tobacco Bag Stringing project materials in their classrooms. Throughout the series students will learn about tobacco stringing, study primary source documents and visuals, and practice critical thinking and analysis skills.

This activity should be done after activity one, which is the introductory activity about tobacco bag stringing.

Learning outcomes

• Students will examine and evaluate primary source photographs.
• Students will compare and contrast tobacco bag stringers with tenement home workers in New York City.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

• Copies of the photographs from Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression. If possible, make copies of these pictures on photo paper of at least 4 X 6″. You can also use the photo and biographical pages from Activity four.
• A computer set to the tenement home work photographs of Lewis Hine in the George Eastman House collection. In this series, called “Let Children be Children,” the home work photos are on the bottom of the first page and the beginning of the second page.

Time required for lesson

40 minutes

Procedure

1. Allow the students to see the photographs from the Tobacco Bag Stringing collection.
2. Have a quick class discussion about what they have learned about the topic of tobacco bag stringing. Be sure to include in the discussion the information that the stringing took place at the homes of the participants.
3. During a quick review, discuss with the students information about the influx of immigrants to New York City in the late 1890s and early 20th century. Explain that photographers such as Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine worked to combat social ills through their photography.
4. Using a computer, show the tenement home work photographs of Lewis Hine in the George Eastman House collection. (The home work photos are on the bottom of the first page and the beginning of
   the second page.)
5. Allow the students time to look at the photographs from the computer.
6. Students should complete a Venn Diagram in order to compare and contrast the lives of the home workers from the tenements of New York and the tobacco bag stringers.
7. As a class, students will discuss the similarities and differences of the two groups of people.

Assessment

Assess by completed Venn Diagram and discussion.