The Problem We All Live With: Close Reading of Illustration

Overview:

Students view Norman Rockwell’s illustration, The Problem We All Live With. Students learn about Ruby Bridges and her story. They look closely at the painting, and share their observation. Based on observed details, students make inferences about the painting, including the artist’s purpose and message.

Enduring Understandings /Essential Questions:

1. People have not always been treated equally in the United States according to the law.
2. People of all ages, races, cultures, and walks of life have helped to bring about change in our country.
3. We can learn about the history of our country not only from documents and historians - people who study the events that took place in the past - but also from the first-hand accounts of people who participated in these events. We can also learn from illustrations.
   • Why are some people treated differently than others?
   • In what ways can people help to bring about change?
   • How do we learn about events that happened in the past?
   • Why are all accounts of a historical events not the same?

Objectives:

• Students will close read the illustration, The Problem We All Live With, by Norman Rockwell, sharing the observations about the painting.
• Students will make inferences supported by the details in the illustration.
• Students will think about how people treat each other today, and how they have treated each other in the past.
• Students will discuss the purpose and message of this painting.
• Students will be introduced to the Civil Rights Movement.
• Students will generate questions to explore the contributions that Ruby Bridges Hall has made to the Civil Rights Movement.

Background:

In the 1960s, particularly following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the intensification of American military activity in Vietnam, long-held beliefs and cultural norms shifted dramatically in America. Attitudes about race, sexuality, and gender roles were challenged as diverse social groups united to fight for civil rights and protest the Vietnam War.

After resigning his forty-seven year tenure with The Saturday Evening Post in 1963, Norman Rockwell embraced the challenge of creating imagery that addressed the nation’s pressing concerns in a pared down, reportorial style. The Problem We All Live With for Look magazine is based upon an actual event, when six-year-old Ruby Bridges was escorted by U.S. Marshals to her first day at an all-white school. While the neutral title of the image invites interpretation, Rockwell’s depiction of the vulnerable but dignified girl clearly condemns the actions of those who protest her presence and the issue of desegregation. Letters to the editor were a mix of praise and criticism, but that did not stop Rockwell from pursuing his course.

In September 1960, years after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling stating that separate was not equal in America’s public schools, four African American students were selected to begin the integration process in the public elementary schools of New Orleans, Louisiana. One six year old. Ruby Bridges, was assigned to a first grade class at the William Franz Elementary School. The integration of the schools was not welcome by many white Americans in the south, and parents refused to have Ruby in their child’s class. As a result, she was the only student in the first grade class taught by Boston native, Barbara Henry. For many months, angry parents protested her attendance at the school.

Norman Rockwell's painting, The Problem We All Live With, shows a young African American girl symbolizing Ruby Bridges being escorted to school by U.S. Marshalls despite the barrage of racial slurs and threats. The young girl who posed is Lynda Gunn, Rockwell’s neighbor in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he lived for his last twenty-five years.

Materials:

Classroom Supplies:

• Chart paper with T-Chart labeled “What I See”/”What I think” (can infer)
• Markers

Activities:

• Display the illustration of the The Problem We All Live With.
• Ask students to look carefully at the illustration. Give them a few minutes to do this.
• Turn and Talk: When you feel enough time has passed, have students turn to a person sitting beside them. Ask them to share with each other some of the things they notice in the illustration. As they are sharing, listen to some of their conversations.
• Have partners share some of the things they noticed in the picture. Record their responses on chart paper. (Elicit noticings heard during partner conversations that may not be brought forward by the students themselves.)
• New observations may be contributed as they look more closely and are thinking about the details. Add them to the appropriate column on T-Chart.
• If you have not already done so, share the origin of the painting and its name. Have students reflect on the purpose of Rockwell’s illustration, what he would want them to understand, and what the message means to them.
• Listen to the song, Ruby’s Shoes, by Lori McKenna, which reflects upon Ruby Bridges’ experience (link in media box above). Invite children to learn the song and sing along.
• View images of two sculptures inspired by Ruby Bridges, Remember Them by Mario Chiado, in Oakland, CA;and another at the site of her former elementary school in New Orleans, now known as Akili Academy. (Images information provided)
• The following books about Ruby Bridges are appropriate for young students:
• Ruby Bridges (A Rookie biography by Scholastic) by Simone T. Ribke
• The  following two books are in follow-up activities:
  • Ruby Bridges Goes to School by Ruby Bridges 
  • The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

 

Assessment:

• Did everyone participate?
• Are students basing their thinking on the details?
• Did the students’ contributions during the discussion reflect an understanding of civic virtues? Democratic principles?
• Are the students generating reasonable questions about Ruby Bridges?