Unit 1: Rural Economy in the Early 20th Century

This unit explores the ways geography has shaped the history, culture, and economy of Creelsboro, a Kentucky river town that was once the center of a thriving rural community in southcentral Kentucky. It also explores how documentary art can be used to tell a story of the past. Students consider how geography has shaped their own community and how they might share that story.

Through interviews, period photography, documentary art, and a short video (Rural Economy), Unit 1’s introduction, entitled Rural Economy in the Early 20th Century, offers students six different but integrated activities in:

  • social studies – researching local history using primary and secondary sources, investigating the impact of innovations in transportation (in particular, Cumberland River steamboats), and investigating the impact of human interactions on the environment.
  • visual and media art – exploring how documentary art communicates information and adding visual imagery to multimedia presentations.
  • reading and writing – writing original poems or songs.
Documents for Rural Economy in the Early 20th Century

For teachers:

For students:

Creelsboro Landing, 1890s – Documentary Art Interactive

The Creelsboro Landing, 1890s – Documentary Art Interactive gives students the opportunity to explore Creelsboro Landing, 1890s, Dennis Thrasher’s documentary art painting that tells the story of a bustling Kentucky river town’s Cumberland River landing. It offers 20 activities in visual art, visual and media art, visual art and theater, visual art and music, reading and writing and social studies.

A photograph of the steamboat Rowena. Credit: Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Teachers lead their students in analyzing the artwork and interpreting the narrative, including through the video producer’s instructions to the artist, and through four vignettes from the painting. Then students are asked to consider how they can share the story of their own communities through art.

Students begin by examining the whole painting through five introductory visual art and visual and media art activities. They analyze and interpret the artwork, connect it to the history of Creelsboro, and create and present artwork of their own related to the history of their own communities. Additional readings and activities, linked to the four vignettes that highlight scenes in the painting, permit them to dig deeper.

The Irvin Store, established by J.D. Irvin about 1885, served the residents of the Creelsboro Valley and customers from across the region. Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CEO Report, 1988.

Documents for Creelsboro Landing, 1890s – Documentary Art Interactive

For teachers:

For students (also accessible through the interactive):

Creelsboro Landing, north shore, 2015. Credit: Voyageur Media Group, Inc.

Topographic map of Creelsboro Landing, 1930. Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

How to Use Unit 1

To use Unit 1, instructors may begin with Rural Economy in the Early 20th Century or the Creelsboro Landing, 1890s – Documentary Art Interactive. Teachers are encouraged to select the activities that best meet their instructional needs. They also may choose to include activities and readings available in the supplementary resource sets: Dennis Thrasher – Documentary Artist and Documenting Local History Using Primary Sources.

Begin Rural Economy in the Early 20th Century by having students watch the video (Rural Economy), then read the Background Reading. Use one or more of the Discussion Questions to lead classroom or small group discussions, then select one or more of the visual art, and visual and media art activities.

Residents of Creelsboro Valley relied on steamboats for travel and trade before paved roads and the construction of Wolf Creek Dam in the 1940s. The Rowena was one of the last steamboats to serve communities along the Upper Cumberland River. Credit: The Porter Family.

To use the Creelsboro Landing, 1890s – Documentary Art Interactive, begin by projecting the Powerpoint of the entire painting. Use the Discussion Questions to arouse students’ interest. Alternatively, instructors may wish to begin by using Directions to the Artist (the actual directions provided to the artist by the video producer) and its visual art activity to arouse students’ interest. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions – they are designed to engage students in observing closely, using visual evidence to support their claims, and developing questions of their own. Then, ask students to read the Background Reading and use one or more of the associated visual art and visual and media art activities.

Announcement listing steamboat landings on the Upper Cumberland River- Creelsboro is indicated in red oval. Credit: Pin by Linda Corder, Old Burnside, KY & Lake Cumberland.

Students examine the whole painting through five introductory visual art and visual and media art activities: analyzing and interpreting meaning in artistic work; comparing the final painting to the video producer’s instructions to the artist; critiquing the artist’s style, intent and success; exploring how perspective influences perception of subject matter; and creating and presenting their own documentary art linked to their community’s history.

Next, instructors can access the four lesson sets, linked to four vignettes – small illustrations – that are part of the larger Creelsboro Landing, 1890s painting. Students can roll over the painting with a mouse to access each vignette and associated lesson. Teachers can use the links below for teacher versions of each lesson. From left to right, and from top to bottom, these vignettes are:

Detail from Creelsboro Landing, 1890s by Dennis Thrasher (2018).

Lesson Set 1: Rafting Logs – highlights timbering and the role the river played in transporting logs to market. Students analyze the vignette and research inland waterways. There is a poetry-writing activity and an art project (visual and media art, reading and writing, social studies activities).

Lesson Set 2: Fishing – students study the vignette and imagine the men’s conversation; then improvise a scene and perform it; and discuss the different interpretations (visual art and theater activity).

Good fishing in the Cumberland River. Credit: The Reeder Family.

Lesson Set 3: Campbell’s Ferry – students study the vignette’s artistic and content merits, then critique it; they imagine the conversation on the ferry, improvise and perform scenes, and discuss the different interpretations. They develop compelling questions about the influence of geography on history, the impact of innovation in transportation, and the impact of human interaction on the environment (visual and media art, visual art and theater, social studies activities).

Lesson Set 4: The Steamboat – students study elements of the vignette’s artistic and content merits, then critique it; imagine the conversation on the steamboat, improvise and perform scenes, and discuss the different interpretations; and imagine – then perform – their idea of the vignette’s soundscape (visual and media art, visual art and theater, visual art and music activities).