View Historical Photos from the 1900s at Shorpy
October 9, 2007
We know a picture is worth a thousand words, but what kind of interest does it earn? A photo from a hundred years ago ought to be worth a few thousand words today, shouldn’t it? Let your history class decide after you visit Shorpy.
Billed as the “100-Year-Old Photo Blog” (that is, the blog of 100-year-old photos, as blogs were called “diaries” back then), Shorpy is a collection of pictures from the early 1900s. The site is named after one Shorpy Higginbotham, a lovable scamp so eager to join the workforce that he exaggerated his age to a ripe-old 14 so they’d let him haul grease and dodge train cars at an Alabama coal mine. Have your class discuss Shorpy’s story, and examine the implications of a kid so young working such a dangerous job. Maybe then they’ll stop complaining about homework.—BILL FERRIS
