History Assessments for Evaluating Iconic Photographs

Do you want to teach students to evaluate historical significance? You can use the Olympics Protest HAT to gauge their understanding of the past and their ability to assess the significance of an event depicted in an iconic photograph. 

Students first identify John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s protest on the medal stand at the Mexico City Olympics from an iconic Library Of Congress photo and then evaluate the event’s significance. 

Reinforce student learning with more practice. We have eleven alternative versions of the task, all of which feature other iconic photographs from the Library of Congress:

The Soweto Uprising HAT asks students to identify the 1976 photo of Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector Pieterson, who was one of hundreds of students murdered by police in the Soweto Uprising, and then explain how the event was significant. 

The Kent State HAT includes the influential photo of slain Kent State student Jeffrey Miller, who had been shot by the Ohio National Guard while protesting the Vietnam War, and asks students to assess the significance of the tragic event.  

The Soviets in Berlin HAT shows students the famous image of a Soviet soldier flying the hammer and sickle above Berlin and asks students to evaluate the significance of the Soviet capture of the German city in World War II. 

Check out the Alternative Versions of Assessment boxes, located on the left and bottom of this page, to explore all similar tasks.