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Here you will find a list of links to common digitized photograph and photographic ephemera collections for both humanities and science-based topics, primarily from the United States.
Local libraries and historical societies are also a great place to access photographs that connect to both local and national history. Local science museums may also have digitized collections for educational use.
This list also provides examples of additional lesson plan resources currently available online. Educators can explore these sites to find quality materials and ideas for enhancing teaching strategies with photographs.
Because URLs can change over time, some links may not work in the future. Searching for the name of the collection should take you to the appropriate website, however.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The legal responsibility for any use of photographs or other materials rests exclusively with you. For more information about copyright, see the Guide to Researching Photographs. It is also your responsibility to check with your own institution’s legal policies before proceeding.
Photographs and Prints
www.loc.gov/pictures
LOC Flickr site
www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress
LOC World War I
memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/rotogravures/rotogal.html
LOC Farm Security Administration Images
www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsa
Civil Rights (1963 Civil Rights March on Washington)
www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=march%20washington%201963&st=gallery&fi=subject&loclr=blogpic
Civil Rights (Demonstrations)
www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=civil%20rights%20demonstrations&sg=true
Ansel Adams (1902–1984)
Photographs of Japanese–American internment at Manzanar
ww.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=manz
Edward S. Curtis (1868–1952)
The collection includes a large number of Native American individuals or group portraits, as well as traditional and ceremonial dress, dwellings and other structures, agriculture, arts and crafts, rites and ceremonies, dances, games, food preparation, transportation, and scenery from 1900–1930. More than 1,000 of the photographs have been digitized and individually described.
www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?st=grid&co=ecur
Louis Wickes Hine (1874–1940)
Labor; Ellis Island immigrants
www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Lewis%20Wickes%20Hine
Gordon Parks (1912–2006)
Inner-city black neighborhoods; civil rights
www.loc.gov/pictures/related/?va=exact&co=fsa&st=gallery&q=Parks%2C+Gordon%2C+1912-2006&fi=author&sg=true&op=EQUAL
Photographs and Graphic Works
www.archives.gov/dc-metro/college-park/photographs-dc.html#photos
National Archives Flickr site
www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives
Lewis Hine
www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/sets/72157630406504922
Farm Security Administration Photos
research.archives.gov/search?expression=Farm+Security+Administration&pg_src=brief&data-source=online
Civil War
www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/photos
Photographs of the American West: 1861–1912
www.archives.gov/research/american-west
Pictures of Native Americans in the United States
www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/pictures
World War II
www.archives.gov/research/military/ww2/photos
Vietnam War
Teaching with Documents: The War in Vietnam—A Story in Photographs
www.archives.gov/education/lessons/vietnam-photos
The Digital Public Library of America
dp.la/info
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR Media)media.unhcr.org/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=Home
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
www.siris.si.edu
Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center
collections.si.edu/search
World Digital Library
www.wdl.org/en
The White House
www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse
Presidential Libraries
ARS (USDA Agricultural Research Service) Image Gallery
www.ars.usda.gov/oc/images/image-gallery/
NASA Multimedia Gallery
www.nasa.gov/multimedia/highlights/index.html
Climate Image Gallery
climate.nasa.gov/state_of_flux#Aral_Sea_930x463.jpg
National Human Genome Research Institute
www.genome.gov/dmd/index.cfm?node=Photos
National Institution of General Medical Sciences: Image Gallery
images.nigms.nih.gov
National Library of Medicine: Images from the History of Medicine
www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/ihm
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
www.photolib.noaa.gov
National Park Service
www.nps.gov/photosmultimedia/photogalleries.htm
National Renewable Energy Lab Renewable
images.nrel.gov
Natural Resources Conservation Service
photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov
National Science Foundation Multimedia Gallery
www.nsf.gov/news/mmg
National Snow and Ice Data Center
nsidc.org/gallery
Public Health Image Library (PHIL) from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
phil.cdc.gov/Phil/default.asp
United States Antarctic Program
photolibrary.usap.gov
United States Department of Agriculture
www.ars.usda.gov/News/docs.htm?docid=23559
United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service
www.flickr.com/search/?w=41284017@N08&q=forest%20service
United States Department of Energy
www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofenergy
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/bpd.html
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
digitalmedia.fws.gov
United States Geologic Survey
gallery.usgs.gov
Wellcome Images
wellcomeimages.org
Art Images for College Teaching (AICT) by A. T. Kohl
quod.lib.umich.edu/a/aict?page=index
Department of Defense-Media Archives
www.dvidshub.net
FEMA
www.fema.gov/media-library
State Photo and Multimedia Galleries via USA.gov
search.usa.gov/search/images?affiliate=usagov&query=
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
www.ushmm.org/search/results.php?q=photographs&q__src=&q__grp=&q__typ=&q__mty=Image&q__sty=&q__lng=
Virginia Commonwealth University: Civil Rights Collection
dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/far
Additional collections of photographs with activities for teachers and students can be found at the Annenberg Space for Photography, and on the Annenberg Learner website, as well as other sources.
www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/education
American Passages: A Literary Survey (Unit 12, Migrant Struggle activities, Documentary Photography and Film)
www.learner.org/amerpass/unit12/context_activ-2.html
Artifacts & Fiction (Unit 7, Ritual Artifacts Discipline Tutorial)
www.learner.org/workshops/artifacts/discipline_tutorials.php?tutorial=7&page=intro
America’s History in the Making (Primary vs. Secondary Source Material)
www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/resource_archive/primary.html
A Biography of America (Unit 11, The Civil War, Analyzing a photo as a historical document)
www.learner.org/series/biographyofamerica/prog11/index.html
and
www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/progabout/about/index.html
Journey North
www.learner.org/jnorth/
Primary Sources: Workshops in American History
www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/index.html
Shedding Light on Science (Unit 1, Shine and Shadow Photography activities)
www.learner.org/workshops/sheddinglight/camera/index.html
Teaching Multicultural Literature, Workshop 8. Social Justice and Action Teaching Strategies, Photography Project
www.learner.org/workshops/tml/workshop8/teaching3.html
Library of Congress
America’s First Look into the Camera: Daguerrotype Portraits and Views, 1839-1862
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/daguerreotype/
Civil War Portraits with Curriculum
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/liljenquist-civil-war-photos/
Dust Bowl with Curriculum
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/dust-bowl-migration/
Japanese Relocation with Curriculum
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/internment/
Native American’s Assimilation
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/assimilation/
National Archives
Vietnam
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/vietnam-photos/activities.html
Lewis Hine
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/hine-photos/activities.html
Japanese Relocation
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation/
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Environmental Visualization Laboratory
http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov