Project Collaborators:

• Montana Historical Society

Project Overview:

This grant will enhance the “Big Read” project already in operation and use primary sources from the Farm Securities Administration.  The sub-grantee will disseminate copies of the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Hope in Hard Times: Depression Era Photographs of Montana by Mary Murphy to 10 high schools throughout the state in order for students to analyze primary sources and compare depression-era photographs to current-day photographs. 

According to Kirby Lambert, with the state’s historical society, a longstanding Montana Heritage Project had lost its funding, so getting access to these grants helped continue that important work. “For a number of years, we’ve been involved in education in various capacities and in encouraging teachers to use primary sources in the classroom,” says Lambert.

For example, in addition to the novel, Lambert’s efforts include providing copies of the society’s Hope in Hard Times, which includes Farm Securities Administration photographs of the dust bowl’s impact on Montana farms. Those photographs are among the millions of digitized primary sources housed in the Library of Congress. Lambert plans to introduce some of the local archive materials from the Depression collected through the Montana Memory Project as well.

So, in early 2009, the society will host a two-day training in Helena for teachers experienced in the use of primary sources in the classroom and for those who are not. The goal is not only to provide training in sources and methods but also to connect teachers with peer-mentors. “One of the people who speaking is a teacher who has done a lot of this TPS work, and she can give really concrete examples of how she’s done this or that in the classroom,” Lambert explains.

Grant Awarded: Enhancement Grant of $10,000

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