Margaret Bourke-White

This woman photographed some of the most important images of a significant historical event of the C20th. . . Let’s take a look. . .

Lesson 1 – Snapshots from History‘What can pictures tell us about causes causes and interpretationsinterpretations of a significant historical event?’

Look at the following 4 imagesWhat questions do you want to ask about them?

Brainstorm ALL ideas – No ideas are useless!

BIG Historical Questions

WHAT has happened?

(Earthquake, War, Tsunami – a natural

disaster or man-made???)

WHEN did this happen?

(1914-18, 1939-45, 1990s???)

WHO did this happen to?

(Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus???)

(Indians, Africans, Sri-Lankans)

WHY has this event been photographed?

(What are people’s interpretations of this

event)

(Why is it significant???)

WHERE did this happen?

(Europe, Asia, Africa???)

Let’s add some contextcontext to our photos.Do these facts help us commentcomment on the content content of the sources ?

The biggest refugee movement of the twentieth century. (An estimated total of 11.5 million people moved)Between 200,000 and 1,000,000 estimated to have diedEvents took place between 1947-48 Chief figures included Gandhi, Mountbatten, Jinnah and Nehru

Write your idea on a Post-It note and come and stick it on the board.

Now come and select someone else’s Post-It note. Be ready to read it out.

Now let’s Revisit our Photos – what caption would you write to describe each image?

Add your own caption here

Add your own caption here

Add your own caption here

Add your own caption here

How would you feel if YOU had taken these photographs?

Why do you think the photographer choose such upsetting images? What might their significance be?

Write a short paragraph to describe what you have seen

What did the Photographer think. . . ???

Margaret Bourke-White:

‘the sight of helpless sufferers had made me very angry. These were innocent peasants; some had been driven from their ancestral

homes; the others had listened to the drumming of religious slogans and left home

to pursue a dream.’

Open your envelopes:Now see if you can match the original caption to the image.

Photo of a railway station in Punjab. Many people abandoned their fixed assets and crossed newly formed borders.

Wreckage from carts & belongings Indian refugees who had been camped there before the Beas River flooded over, during mass migration because of religious conflicts.

Muslim refugee cholera patients in filthy condition at Infectious Disease Hospital upon their arrival after their long march from Delhi, India.

Rural Sikhs in a long ox-cart train heading towards India.

Hindu man picking through the burned ruins of furniture in front of Hindu store in the wake of the destruction caused by Muslim riots in this [mainly] Muslim area [of Calcutta].

Starving Indians gathered around 200-yr.-old village well which has very little water in it due to horrible drought.

Old Sikh man carrying his wife.

An aged and abandoned Muslim couple and their grandchildren sitting by the roadside. The old man is dying of exhaustion. The caravan has gone on [towards Pakistan].

Hot seating

What oral history questions would you ask the people in the photos?

Would these questions change depending on who they were?

Would their answers change depending on who they were?

Can you spot the changes to the map?

1. How might these changes explain the images we have seen today?

2. Where on the map might these photos have been taken?