Digital Snapshots

This exhibit includes educator resources and a general lesson plan appropriate for use in Mississippi Studies, U.S. History, Geography, and other middle and high school classrooms. In this lesson plan, teachers will find engaging activities and historical content related to the Mississippi State Department of Health Photographs.

To understand the past and see its impact on the present, students should engage with primary sources from past events. For students to truly understand the documents and have the correct context, teachers must first lay the groundwork for this connection. The teacher should begin this lesson with a brief introduction about the Mississippi State Department of Health and their work surrounding large-scale health issues in Mississippi. A short introduction to this collection and a list of additional resources is available here.

The selected items from the Mississippi State Department of Health Photograph collection highlights medical conditions across the state in the first half of the twentieth century. The 63 photographs capture Mississippi leaders’ efforts to combat major health concerns, such as tuberculosis and malaria, to professionalize the practice of medicine, and to launch early education through home health programs.

Use the button below to access the classroom activity, photograph analyses worksheets created by the National Archives, and learn how you can use the Mississippi State Department of Heath Photographs in your classroom.