Rockwell Educator Guide:Layout 1.qxd

March 8—May 31, 2009
Guide for Educators
How to use this
Educator’s Guide:
• Preview what students
will see and learn
• Give copies to chaperones
• Incorporate this information into classroom lessons and activities
Go to dia.org to
download additional copies of this guide,
view color images, find live
links to resources, and get
more information on the
exhibition and the DIA
programs.
Left: Norman Rockwell, American;
Triple Self-Portrait, 1960; oil on canvas. Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, February 13, 1960.
From the permanent collection of the
Norman Rockwell Museum. ©1960
SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing,
Indianapolis, IN.
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell has been organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge,
Massachusetts. American Chronicles has been made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, American
Masterpieces Program. In Detroit, support has been provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the
City of Detroit. Publication support has been provided by the Henry Luce Foundation. Media sponsorship has been provided
by the Curtis Publishing Company and by the Norman Rockwell Estate Licensing Company.
March 8—May 31, 2009
CONTENTS OF THIS GUIDE
Programs for Teachers ......................................................................................................................................Page 3
Map of Exhibition with Audio Stops..............................................................................................................Page 4
Exhibition Overview...........................................................................................................................................Page 5
Exhibition Walk-Through .........................................................................................................................Pages 6–19
Keep It Going—explore the DIA after the exhibition ..............................................................................Page 20
Time Line of American Life 1915–1964 (Rockwell’s career)..........................................................Pages 21–23
Discussion Questions and Classroom Activities Connecting the exhibition to Curriculum Standards
and Benchmarks for grades 3–12: .......................................................................................................Pages 24–27
• Arts Education
• Career and Employability
• English Language Arts
• Social Studies
Resources: Books, Films and Web sites (view content on-line).....................................................Pages 28–31
DIA Evening Post Activity: Who’s Your Family? (print on-line template) ...........................................Page 32
–2–
PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS
To register for classes, call 313.833.4249 or e-mail [email protected]. Because of the special focus on instructional
issues, teacher workshops are only for educators of K–12 students.
Evening for Educators
Friday, March 20; 5:30–7:30 p.m., begin in DIA Lecture Hall
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell and Service Learning
• See how Norman Rockwell’s images inspired Americans from WWII to the 1960s Civil Rights
Movement
• Discuss how to meet the new High School Service Learning requirement with David Hales, Wayne
RESA Social Studies consultant
• Learn how to prepare students for civic life outside of school with Kari Pardoe from Learning to Give
• Supports Social Studies and Visual Arts Standards
• Recommended for middle and high school teachers
• Includes admission to the exhibition, a $14 value
• Includes admission to the DIA Friday Night Live! and special programs for all ages, 6–10 p.m.
Member fee: $15; nonmember fee: $20
Pre-service teacher fee: $10
Saturday Workshop
Saturday, March 28; 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m., meet in Farnsworth entrance lobby
American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell and Primary Resources
• Long before the Core Democratic Values curriculum, see how Norman Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms”
posters inspired Americans during World War II
• Includes private tour of the exhibition
• David Hales, Wayne RESA Social Studies consultant, shows how Rockwell’s images are primary and
secondary resources that support your teaching
• Sample the DIA’s American Art tour and classroom talk with Jennifer Williams, DIA educator
• Supports Social Studies and Visual Arts Standards
• Recommended for upper elementary, middle, and high school teachers
• Includes exhibition admission, a $14 value
Member fee: $40; nonmember fee: $50
Pre-service teacher fee: $25
SB-CEU credit is available.
–3–
Kirby St.
A
Woodward Ave.
DIA
John R
GROUP ENTRANCE
Y
Redefining
American
Heroism
Y
Exit
PUBLIC
ENTRANCE
A
A
Defining American
Heroism
Y Youth Audio Stop
A Adult Audio Stop
MAP KEY:
Farnsworth St.
–4–
Y
Shop
Stairs
“Keep It Going” Volunteers
Rockwell’s Timeline
323 Post Covers
Making
American
Innocence
A A
A
Elevator
Entrance
Audio Tour
Pick-up
Y
Becoming
America’s
Illustrator
Y
Y
A
A
LEVEL 2
Map of Exhibition and
Audio Guide Stops
Restrooms
Exhibition
Introduction
AY
Creating the American Family
AY
EXHIBITION OVERVIEW
Summary
This exhibition presents a range of Norman Rockwell’s imagery and explores its profound impact on
American culture. Rockwell’s work influenced and helped define how America sees itself in terms of
1.) family, 2.) innocence, and 3.) heroism (the three themes of the exhibition.)
Learning from This Exhibition
A visit to the exhibition—linked to classroom studies—gives students and educators a focused look at
the art of Norman Rockwell and the stories and values he represented. Labels are written to emphasize
that there is more than one way to look at these paintings. Labels start with a simple look at Rockwell’s
work and then ease visitors into more complex ideas.
By careful looking and discussion, supplemented by additional resources provided here, a visit to the
exhibition allows students of all backgrounds to make connections to art. Audio Guides are free with
exhibition admission. On request, a printed copy of each audio guide script is available for use in the
exhibition for visitors with special needs.
Youth Audio Guide: Recommended for middle school students and younger
Youth stops will emphasize Rockwell’s storytelling abilities by bringing the paintings to life
through narration and sound cues which invite listeners to take part in the storytelling.
Adult Audio Guide: Recommended for high school students and older
Adult stops feature commentary by experts, deeper-looking strategies and encourage visitors to
compare two or more works of art.
Keep it Going—Explore the DIA after the exhibition
Museum-trained volunteers in the last gallery of the exhibition will direct you to works of art in the DIA
galleries that relate to exhibition themes of family, innocence and heroism. They’ll also tell you about
books, web sites and movies for use in the classroom.
–5–
Exhibition Walk–Through
Introductory Gallery: “American Artist”
After entering the exhibition, visitors are greeted by a photomural showing Rockwell in his studio with the title above,
“American Artist.” The importance of Rockwell’s career and art in shaping American culture is presented.
–6–
Norman Rockwell, American; The Art Critic, 1955; oil on canvas. Cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, April 16, 1955.
From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. ©1955 SEPS: Licensed by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
–7–
“American Illustrator” Gallery
This gallery invites visitors to step back and see Rockwell’s beginnings as he struggled to find his voice in the
massively competitive field of illustration. Visitors will get a sense of the parameters Rockwell worked under to cater to
the demands of his clients, and who Rockwell’s audience was at the time. Visitors will see how Rockwell carves out his
niche focusing on and idealizing rural, small town folksy life.
FIND THE ROCKWELL
COVERS
To help visitors see what the
competition was like and
the importance of finding a
way to stand out among
illustrators, visitors will be
invited to identify the two
Rockwell’s in a group of
Saturday Evening Post
covers, using hints.
–8–
“Creating the American Family” Gallery
Visitors enter this gallery greeted by a photomural showing Rockwell posing his son for one of his paintings. Here visitors
will be invited to consider/compare their experiences of family as they explore how Rockwell’s images of family emphasize nurture and protectiveness, most often through reiterations of traditional models of the middle class unit—mother,
father, brothers, sisters, pets, and grandparents.
–9–
VIDEO
A video slide show of stills of television sitcom families from the 50s to the present will engage visitors to
relate Rockwell’s imagery and ideas about family to another popular mass medium—television.
MICHIGAN CONNECTION:
The image of Farmer and Boy Holding a Bird in this gallery illustrated a tractor calendar for Ford Motor
Company. The company is based in Dearborn and was founded in 1903.
–10–
“Making American Innocence” Gallery
Visitors see how Rockwell’s configurations of children and their wholesome, playful antics manufacture a kind of
unfettered innocence. Visitors will be able to engage with the lighthearted images, yet be invited to see that these became
popular because they helped sell products. Visitors will move into a smaller section of the gallery to explore the concept
of innocence lost, and the ways Rockwell frames issues of transitions into adulthood through issues of burgeoning sexuality, and incipient understandings of race and class in America.
–11–
MICHIGAN CONNECTION:
With an innovative color palette and contemporary design, the ad campaign changed the look of cereal
boxes.
–12–
MICHIGAN CONNECTION:
Above: Norman Rockwell, American; Beanie, 1954; illustration for Kellogg Company Corn Flakes; oil on canvas.
Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing, Niles, IL. From the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum.
–13–
“Defining American Heroism” Gallery
Visitors explore Rockwell’s attention to the ways people at home in times of war were also heroes. This area features
Rockwell’s immensely popular “Four Freedoms” war bonds posters that defined abstract freedoms with American faces to
remind people of the reasons to support the war effort.
–14–
Special Interpretation
Above the posters visitors will see dynamic captions—phrases, questions, and quotes dissolving in and out
to provoke thinking and conversation related to the “Four Freedoms.”
–15–
Norman Rockwell, American; Freedom of
Speech (detail), 1943. War bond poster.
From the permanent collection of Norman
Rockwell Museum. ©1943 SEPS: Licensed
by Curtis Publishing, Indianapolis, IN.
MICHIGAN CONNECTIONS:
The “Four Freedoms” paintings were the centerpiece of a war bond sales drive and art exhibition that
toured the country. In Detroit, the J.L. Hudson Company department store hosted the show in the fall of
1943. Poster reproductions of the “Four Freedoms” were given as a premium to people who purchased a
set amount of war bonds.
Rockwell’s Peace Corps (JFK’s Bold Legacy) includes a portrait of John F. Kennedy, who had been
assassinated in 1963. He proposed the formation of the Peace Corps during a campaign speech for
students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1960.
–16–
“Redefining American Heroism” Gallery
From the Four Freedoms, visitors will move to this final themed area. Visitors will explore three paintings that show
Norman Rockwell shifting the weight of his celebrity and influence behind issues of social justice to bring Civil Rights
struggles to the attention of the white, middle class audience he had cultivated over the decades.
–17–
VIDEO
A video in this area focuses the discussion of Rockwell’s interest in Civil Rights on his interpretation of
the story of Ruby Bridges and integration of public schools in The Problem We All Live With.
Norman Rockwell, American; The Problem We All Live With, 1964; oil on canvas. Story illustration for Look, January 14, 1964. From
the permanent collection of Norman Rockwell Museum. Licensed by Norman Rockwell Licensing Company, Niles, IL.
–18–
–19–
Timeline of American Life (1915–1965)
In the last area of the exhibition, visitors will be able to explore all 323 of Rockwell’s The Saturday Evening Post
cover images, which will be arranged in chronological order.
A timeline will run above the covers to help visitors situate the Rockwell images in their historical moments and
to see what events were happening when millions of Americans were looking at a Rockwell Post cover.
Keep it Going
Museum-trained volunteers in the last gallery of the exhibition will direct you to works of art in the DIA
galleries that relate to exhibition themes of family, innocence and heroism. They will also tell you about books,
Web sites and movies for use in the classroom.
Visit the DIA Prints and Drawings Gallery
Learning By Line: The Role and Purpose of Drawing in the Eighteenth-Century
Drawings were an essential tool of artists in the 1700s. This exhibition is located in the Prints and Drawings
Gallery, Level 1. Free with museum admission.
Notebooks in the Museum
Have students bring notebooks for writing and sketching in the museum after you visit the exhibition. Use
pencils, not pens. You may be asked to get a sketching permit, available from Security officers at museum
entrances. Note: sketching and photography are not allowed in The Art of Norman Rockwell exhibition.
–20–
1925—1929
1920—1924
1915—1919
ROCKWELL’S TIMELINE OF AMERICAN LIFE
1917
U.S. Congress curtails Asian immigration
1917
African Americans migrate to the urban North and West from the rural South
1917
Russian revolution begins
1914–1918
World War I
1919
Grand Canyon becomes U.S. National Park
1920
Negro National League in baseball forms
1920
19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants women right to vote
1921
U.S. Supreme Court allows unionizing activities
1921
Mao Tse-tung helps form Chinese Communist Party
1921
Ku Klux Klan increases violent activities in the South; active in North as well
1922
U.S.S.R. forms
1922
Tutankhamen’s tomb discovered in Egypt
1922
Insulin first used to treat diabetes
1924
Native Americans granted U.S. citizenship
1924
Ziegfeld Follies opens on Broadway
1924
National Origins Act sets quotas on immigration favoring western Europe
1925
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union for African American railway
porters founded
1925
Chrysler Corporation founded
1925
Hitler publishes Mein Kampf
1925
F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby
1926
Hirohito crowned emperor of Japan
1926
Henry Ford announces 40-hour work week
1927
Great Mississippi flood affects 700,000 people
1928
First Mickey Mouse films shown
1928
Amelia Earhart first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
1928
Penicillin discovered
1929
Stock Market crashes
1929-1939
Great Depression
1929
Vatican City becomes a sovereign state within Rome
1929
Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit and Canada
–21–
1930—1934
1935—1939
1940—1944
1933
First radio broadcast of The Lone Ranger from Detroit
1930
Mahatma Gandhi organizes first act of civil disobedience against British in India
1930
Hostess Twinkie invented
1930
First NFL game played and won by Detroit Lions
1930
Nation of Islam forms in Detroit
1931
Construction completed on Empire State Building, New York; tallest in world
1931
Yellow River Flood kills one to two million Chinese
1932
13.7 million Americans unemployed; more than 5,000 banks close
1932
Unemployed march on Dearborn Ford factory; 4 killed
1933
Adolf Hitler named German chancellor
1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt initiates New Deal to stabilize banks and provide jobs
1935
Game of Monopoly invented
1936
Green Hornet radio show first heard in Detroit
1937
44-day strike at GM in Flint ends, leading to unionization of auto factories
1937
Japanese attack Shanghai; China declares war
1938
U.S. bans child labor in factories
1938
Boxer Joe Louis defeats German Max Schmeling
1939
Superman comic debuts
1939
Hitler calls for extermination of European Jews
1939
Spanish Civil War ends; Franco assumes power
1939
John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath published
1939
Film Wizard of Oz premiers; Gone with the Wind wins 8 Academy Awards
1939-1945
World War II, 70 million dead worldwide
1941
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; U.S. enters WWII
1941
FDR gives “Four Freedoms” speech
1942
U.S. automakers convert plants to build war materials, Detroit becomes the
“Arsenal of Democracy;” workers crowd the city
1942
U.S. Manhattan Project develops atomic bomb
1942
Disney releases animated film Bambi
1942
U.S. federal judge allows detention of Japanese Americans
1943
Race riots sparked on Belle Isle in Detroit
1943
Casablanca wins best film at the 16th Academy Awards
1944
D-Day: 150,000 Allied troops land in Normandy, France
1944
1944
Anne Frank’s last diary entry; 3 days later she is arrested
GI Bill of veterans benefits help fuel postwar economic boom
–22–
1945—1949
1950—1954
1955—1959
1960—1965
1945
6 million Jews found to have perished under Hitler
1945
F. D. R. sworn in to an unprecedented 4th presidential term; dies 4 months later
1945
U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan
1946
UN general assembly meets for the first time in London, England
1946
US baby boom begins, increasing population to 165 million by 1955
1947
Jackie Robinson becomes first African American major league baseball player
1948
President Truman raises taxes for Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe
1948
Israel becomes an independent nation state in Palestine
1950–1953
Korean War: US forces defend South Korea from Communist North Korea
1950
Senator Joseph McCarthy’s activities prompt anti-Communist Red Scare in US
1951
Color television introduced in the U.S.
1952
Jonas E. Salk develops the first polio vaccine
1953
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzin Norgay reach summit of Mount Everest
1954
Brown v. Board of Education bans segregation in public schools
1955
Rosa Parks arrested for not giving her bus seat to a white passenger
1956
Interstate Highway Act expands highway construction, suburbs grow
1957
U.S.S.R. begins Space Age with launch of the first satellite
1957
Musical West Side Story debuts on Broadway
1957
Leave it to Beaver premiers on television
1957
Michigan’s Mackinac Straits Bridge dedicated
1959
Barbie doll goes on sale; toys marketed as necessary for play
1961
Freedom Riders travel attacked for integration of interstate transportation
1961
President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps
1962
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring launches environmental movement
1962
Watson and Crick awarded Nobel Prize for discovering DNA structure
1962
Cuban Missile Crisis
1963
John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, TX
1964
U.S begins full-scale military intervention in Vietnam
–23–
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND CLASSROOM
ACTIVITIES CONNECTING THE EXHIBITION TO
CURRICULUM STANDARDS AND BENCHMARKS FOR
GRADES 3–12:
The Michigan Department of Education’s K–12 Curriculum Standards and Content Expectations provide
descriptions of what students should know and be able to do in subject areas. The Michigan Educational
Assessment Program (MEAP) tests are based on these standards. For more information, visit their web site:
http://www.michigan.gov/mde
Selected standards and benchmarks below are enhanced by a visit to the exhibition and use of this Educator’s
Guide.
Use Rockwell postcards, prints and books available in the Museum Shops to continue
learning after the exhibition. Please bring your educator’s ID to receive a 20% discount on
items used in the classroom.
Arts Education: Visual Arts:
Response Strand: R.3 Describe, analyze and understand the arts in historical, contemporary, social, cultural,
environmental and/or economic contexts.
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
Compare Rockwell’s work over time to see how he develops the ability to animate a character and tell a
story.
What does family mean to you? Norman Rockwell depicted his idea of family in many covers for The
Saturday Evening Post. Create a magazine cover based on your ideas of family. Use template provided
on page 32: The DIA Evening Post: Who’s Your Family?
Career and Employability:
Standard II: Career planning. All students will acquire information from career awareness activities.
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
In the American Illustrator Gallery, explore Rockwell’s early career and learn how he developed a style of
his own. How did he continue to learn?
Learning By Line: The Role and Purpose of Drawing in the Eighteenth Century
Drawings were an essential tool of artists in the 1700s. This exhibition is located in the Prints and
Drawings Gallery, Level 1. Free with museum admission.
–24–
English Language Arts:
Reading Strand: Word Study, R. 4.07–8.07 recognize metaphors, symbols using content-related resources
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
In the American Heroism Gallery how does Rockwell use people and objects as symbols to express ideas
in the “Four Freedoms?”
Reading Strand: Narrative Text, R.NT. 3.02–8.02 Identify and describe a variety of narrative genres
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
Match Rockwell images to narrative genres and discuss how he “tells the authors words in paint”. Here
are some suggested matches:
NARRATIVE
GENRES
EXHIBITION GALLERIES
Introduction:
American
Artist
Tall tale/
fable/
folktale
Realistic
Fiction
Myth/
legend/
fantasy
Becoming
AmericaØs
Illustrator
Creating the
American
Family
Defining
American
Heroism
Redefining
American
Heroism
Ichabod Crane
Going and
Coming
Freedom from
Want
Art Critic
Adventure
No Swimming
Mystery
Brass
Merchant
Historical
fiction
Merrie
Christmas
A Scout is
Helpful
The Stay at
Homes
(Outward
Bound)
Poetry
Memoir
Making
American
Innocence
The Law
Student
The Problem
We All Live
With
–25–
Reading Strand: Informational Text. R.IT. 3.01–8.01 Identify and describe a variety of informational genres
EXHIBIT CONNECTION:
Match Rockwell images to informational genres and discuss how he “tells the authors words in paint.”
Here are some suggested matches:
INFORMATIONAL
EXHIBITION GALLERIES
GENRES
Introduction:
Becoming
American
$PHULFDØV
Artist
Illustrator
Autobiography
Biography
History
Creating the
American
Family
Making
American
Innocence
Defining
American
Heroism
Redefining
American
Heroism
Artist Facing
Blank Canvas
Triple SelfPortrait
Daniel Boone
Pioneer Scout
Family Tree
Christmas Eve
in Bethlehem
Portrait of
Dwight D.
Eisenhower
Portrait of
John F.
Kennedy
Lincoln for the
Defense
The Peace
&RUSV-).ØV
Bold Legacy)
Writing Genre W.GN. 3.01-8.01 write a cohesive narrative piece using personification, setting, actions, and
thoughts that reveal important character traits
Speaking, Listening and Viewing Strand:
L.RP 3.03–05 Respond to multiple text types by discussing, illustrating and/or writing to show understanding.
High School Writing, Speaking and Visual Expression Standard 1.1 Students plan using prewriting strategies,
compose written pieces for different purposes.
EXHIBIT CONNECTION:
Write a story inspired by an image by Norman Rockwell (To refer to an image in detail when writing,
buy a postcard in the Museum Shop). Can others identify which image was selected based on your
description?
Social Studies:
History 3 H3.0.2, 4 H3.0.4, 6 H1.2.1 Grades Three, Four and Six: Explain how historians use artifacts and primary and secondary sources to explore the past.
EXHIBIT CONNECTION:
In the American Family Gallery: How do the objects in If Your Wisdom Teeth Could Talk They’d Say Use
Colgate’s help tell the story?
In the Redefining American Heroes Gallery: How did Rockwell use primary sources to create The
Problem We All Live With? How did filmmakers use it as a secondary source?
–26–
History of Michigan (Beyond Statehood- after 1837) Grade Four
4–H3.0.1 investigate the development of Michigan’s major economic activities (agriculture, manufacturing.)
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
The following images are evidence of the cereal and automotive industries. How and why did they
flourish in Michigan? In the American Innocence Gallery: Beanie, Freckles, Girl with String, and Sis. In
the American Family Gallery: Community Supper, and Farmer and Little Boy Holding a Bird.
United States History and Geography Grade Five: U1.4 Three World Interactions
5 U1.4.1 Describe the convergence of Europeans, American Indians and Africans in North America after 1492.
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
How do the following images show diverse ancestors of Americans? In the American Family Gallery:
Family Tree, and In the American Heroism Gallery: The Peace Corps and Freedom of Worship.
United States History and Geography Grade Eight U6.1; High School 6.1 Development of an Industrial, Urban
and Global US (1870–1930)
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
How do Boy in the Dining Car and Welcome to Elmville in the American Innocence Gallery, and Going
and Coming and Christmas Homecoming in the American Family Gallery reflect growth of the United
States from an agricultural rural nation to a more industrial urban nation?
Civics and Government
Grade Three, Four C5; Grade Five P4.2; Grades Six, Seven C1.1; Eight P4.2, High School 5.4
EXHIBITION CONNECTION:
In the American Heroism Gallery, how do the“ Four Freedoms,” The Peace Corps, The Problem We All
Live With, and Lincoln for the Defense reflect the Core Democratic Values and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship?
–27–
RESOURCES
Books
AMERICAN ART
Hennessey, Maureen Hart. Norman Rockwell: Pictures for the American People. New York: Abrams, 1999.
This richly illustrated book brings together 14 essays by art historians such as Thomas Hoving, Robert
Rosenblum, historians, as well as Dr. Robert Coles who writes about befriending Ruby Bridges. This
book places Rockwell’s work in an art-historical context. For high school and up. 200 pages.
Panzer, Nora, ed. Celebrate America in Poetry and Art: Paintings, Sculpture, Drawings, Photographs, and Other
Works of Art from the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. New York: Hyperion Paperbacks, 1994.
This collection of American poetry inspired by American art covers two hundred years of American
history. Brief biographies of the writers and artists are included. For upper elementary. 96 pages.
Pero, Linda Szekely. American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell. The Norman Rockwell Museum. Stockbridge, Masachusetts, 2007.
Exhibition catalog. For middle school and up. 272 pages.
Venezia, Mike. Norman Rockwell. Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists New York: Scholastic, Children’s
Press, 2001.
One of a popular illustrated series of artists’ biographies for children. Some Rockwell paintings featured
are in the exhibition. For ages 9-12. 32 pages.
AMERICAN HISTORY
Bridges, Ruby. Through My Eyes. New York: Scholastic Press, 1999.
Ruby Bridges tells her own story of integrating an all-white school as a first-grader in New Orleans in
1960. Includes news photos and first hand accounts of her teacher, doctor and others. For upper
elementary and middle school. 61 pages.
Hakim, Joy. A History of Us. 10 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993–2007.
Hakim includes stories of African-Americans, Native Americans and women who are rarely mentioned
in traditional history texts. Ten volumes cover colonial times through the Clinton administration. Grades
six and up.
–28–
Giovanni, Nikki. Lincoln and Douglas: An American Friendship. Bryan Collier, Illus. New York: Holt, 2008.
President Lincoln and black abolitionist Frederick Douglass (born a slave but escaped to freedom)
formed a strong bond over shared ideals and worked alongside each other for a common goal.
Rockwell’s Lincoln for the Defense also symbolizes Lincoln’s efforts to free African American slaves.
For early elementary, 40 pages.
McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack. A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter. New York:
Walker & Company, 1995.
This well-balanced and engaging history includes a detailed index, bibliography and photo credits. Boy
in a Dining Car features a dining car waiter who worked for the Pullman Company. Though limited to
service jobs, working on trains provided African Americans with increased opportunities. For ages 8–12.
160 pages.
LITERATURE
Dickens, Charles. Pickwick Papers. Oxford Progressive Readers edition. Oxford, England. Oxford Press,1995.
Student edition with unfamiliar vocabulary words explained within the text. Rockwell’s Merrie Christmas features a character from this fictional story. For middle school and up. 96 pages.
Gherman, Beverly. Norman Rockwell: Storyteller with a Brush. Antheneum, 2000.
Anecdotal biography of the artist as a social historian. Illustrated with his works. For ages 9 and up.
64 pages.
Rackham, Arthur, illus. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. By Washington Irving. New York: HarperCollins, 1990.
Facsimile edition, originally published in 1928. Compare Rackham’s illustrations of Irving’s stories of
early Dutch settlers in New York to Rockwell’s Ichabod Crane. Upper elementary and up. 112 pages.
Spadlin, Michael. Daniel Boone’s Great Escape. Ard Hoyt, illus. New York: Walker Books, 2008.
Exciting, real life adventures of early American pioneer Daniel Boone (1734–1820). Compare Hoyt’s
illustrations of Boone’s life with Rockwell’s work. For elementary readers. 32 pages.
Films
Biography: Norman Rockwell. Arts and Entertainment. 2006. DVD
Disney’s Ruby Bridges. Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 1998. DVD
The true story of a first grader who integrated her local school with strength and dignity and helped to
change history. (Note: video in Redefining American Heroism gallery shows how filmmakers were in
spired by Rockwell’s image The Problem We All Live With.) Not Rated. 96 Minutes.
–29–
Norman Rockwell: Painting America. Winstar. 1999. DVD
Broadcast as part of PBS American Masters series. 86 minutes.
Periodicals
Norman Rockwell. Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People, December 1989.
A biography of Rockwell illustrated with his art. This back issue can be ordered from the publisher’s
web site which includes a teachers’ guide. Ages 9–14. 48 pages.
http://www.cobblestonepub.com/index.html
Web sites
A. Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum. “Union History”
http://www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com/evo_history.html
Randolph was the founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African-American labor
union in the country. BSCP improved working conditions for Pullman Porters. Boy in a Dining Car
features a dining car waiter who worked for the Pullman Company.
American Rhetoric. “Top 100 Speeches: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, ‘The Four Freedoms’”
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrthefourfreedoms.html
Speech given by Roosevelt in 1941 that inspired Rockwell to create the “Four Freedoms.” Site includes
transcription and mp3 audio file.
The Norman Rockwell Museum. http://www.nrm.org/
Organizer of American Chronicles exhibition Library of Congress.
“The Learning Page: Especially for Teachers”. http://memory.loc.gov/learn/
American Memory segments highlight some of the 7 million photographs, historical documents, maps,
films, and audio recordings in the LOC. Many have lessons like this:
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/97/dream/index.html
“America Dreams: Through the Decades.” Students take research roles (photographer, lawyer, poet,
politician, producer, comedian, and musician) to define the American Dream. Grades 4–12. Compare
these materials with Rockwell’s 323 covers for The Saturday Evening Post.
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National Archives and Records Administration. “Powers of Persuasion: Poster Art from World War II”
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/four_freedoms/four_freedoms.html
Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” (in war bond poster format) are included in the context of other World War
II posters. Images may be printed.
Peace Corps. “Peace Corps Challenge Online Game.” http://www.peacecorps.gov/kids/
Engaging role playing game puts several environmental and cultural challenges in context. For Middle
School and up. Site includes teacher resources, a correspondence match of volunteers and teachers, and
a volunteers’ stories section searchable by grade, geography and topic. In 1966, Rockwell painted The
Peace Corps for the 5th anniversary of the Peace Corps.
Public Broadcasting Service. “Don’t Buy It: Getting Media Smart”
http://pbskids.org/dontbuyit/advertisingtricks/cerealbox_flash.html
Design your own cereal box interactive activity for elementary students. It is part of “PBS Kids Go: for
Big Kids” site, and includes a Guide for Teachers. Related to Rockwell’s four images used on Kellogg’s
cereal boxes: Beanie, Freckles, Girl with String, and Sis.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “Separate Is Not Equal: Brown v. Board of Education
Exhibition.”
http://americanhistory.si.edu/Brown/history/6-legacy/achieving-equality.html
Online exhibition includes many primary and secondary resources from equal rights movements in the
United States. Relates to Rockwell’s The Problem We All Live With.
The DIA Evening Post: Who’s Your Family?
What does family mean to you? Norman Rockwell depicted his idea of family in many covers for The Saturday
Evening Post. Create a magazine cover based on your ideas of family. Use template provided on page 32.
This activity will be the focus of Drop-in Workshops Friday, March 6, Saturday, March 7 and Sundays, March 1,
8, 15, 22, & 29; Noon–4 p.m. Covers made in Drop-in Workshops will be on display for the length of the
exhibition.
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