Social Studies

Canadian Photographer Offering U.S. History Archive to Classrooms

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo — February 20, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A Canadian travel photographer with a passion for U.S. historic sites and presidential history is sharing his visual archive to allow students and teachers to illustrate their reports and classroom materials.

Jim Steinhart, a freelance journalist who has traveled extensively in the United States and abroad, is making his collection of professional-quality photos available on the Internet. The shots of presidential libraries, state capitols, museums, national park sites, and architectural features are free for limited use for educational purposes.

The photos are organized by state and subject. Under the subject of U.S. Presidential Homes and Libraries, for example, there are photos associated with every commander-in-chief. Shots include George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Va., home; Theodore Roosevelt’s inaugural site in Buffalo, N.Y.; and the Gerald R. Ford library in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“I’ve visited parts of the world that will be more and more difficult for kids to see because of environmental changes and political turmoil,” said the Toronto-based photographer, who has sold his work to textbook companies and magazines. Many of the photos were taken over the past four decades during his travels with his wife, Georgia Steinhart, a school psychologist.

“I want some posterity for my work,” Mr. Steinhart said, “but the truth is I’ve have had a lot of opportunities that I want to share with students.”

Get more information about Jim Steinhart’s collection.

A version of this article appeared in the February 21, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum Supporting the New K-12 Workforce: What Teachers Need to Stay at School
 Join this free virtual event to discover what teachers say they need to feel supported to stay in classrooms for the long haul.
College & Workforce Readiness K-12 Essentials Forum Career and Technical Education Takes Its Next Big Step
Join this free virtual event to hear creative approaches to modernize CTE programs and navigate the shift away from a near-exclusive focus on "college preparedness."

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Social Studies Opinion Why I Use a Business School Model to Teach History
Students who can see themselves in historical figures learn how to debate respectfully.
Maureen O'Hern
4 min read
Group of students walking into an illustration of the convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. They will use the case method to understand the context more deeply.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock/Getty
Social Studies Letter to the Editor To Understand the World They Live in, Kids Need to Learn Geography
The president of the National Council for Geographic Education advocates for geographic knowledge.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Social Studies Opinion Reading Scores Are Awful. Can Teaching History Help?
A curriculum expert explains why teaching context is key to student learning.
9 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Social Studies Q&A The Only National Civics Test Dates Back Decades. What Aspects Need to Change?
The test needs to factor in more recent developments such as the widespread use of social media.
4 min read
Ludak 1279959
The civics ed. field is ready to update the framework of an exam that dates back. Brochures at a conference on America's 250th anniversary are shown in Philadelphia, on Feb. 7, 2026.
Matthew Ludak for Education Week