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American History in 15 Photographs

1865 to the 21st century

  • Textbook
American History in 15 Photographs cover

American History in 15 Photographs

1865 to the 21st century

  • Textbook
Quantity
Available on 08 Jan 2026
£17.99

Available for purchase via Bloomsbury etextbooks on publication date

This title is available for inspection copy requests

Description

Photographs are more than just illustrations of a moment in time, they offer a powerful way to interpret and understand the past like no other historical source can. U.S. History in 15 Photographs introduces this power through 15 iconic and lesser-known photographs representing key eras in American History. Taking the reader from Reconstruction and Westward Expansion, to the Roaring Twenties and the World Wars, right up to Modern American Culture, it offers a refreshing, visual account of American history.

This volume reorients photography as a major source for understanding the past, expanding not only the stories that we tell, but the way we tell them. Teaching students how to understand, contextualize, and interpret historic photography, U.S. History in 15 Photographs centers diverse stories about the American experience by exploring topics around race, class, gender, disability, the environment, and social justice.

The scholars who contributed to this volume show that photographs are more just illustrations from the past, but foundational sources with surprising revelations about the past.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Photography in the Study of History, Rebecca S. Wingo and Lauren Tilton

1. Reconstruction: Black Political Activism in the Colored Conventions, Jim Casey
2. Westward Expansion: Reconsidering the Oklahoma Land Rush, Laura Wexler
3. Assimilation Era: Native American Women & the Politics of Portraiture, Cathleen Cahill
4. Gilded Age: New Money, New Photographs, Shannon Perich
5. Great Migration: Black Homesteaders, Jacob Friefeld
6. Roaring Twenties: Internationalism and the Pan-Pacific Conference, Courtney Sato
7. Great Depression: Dorothea Lange's Portraits of Agricultural Workers, Linda Gordon
8. WWII (Early Cold War): The Bracero Program, Mireya Loza
9. WWII (Atomic Age): Enola Gay and the Culture Wars, Rebecca Wingo
10. Cold War: IBM, Identity, and the Space Race, Nabeel Siddiqui & Thomas Haigh
11. Civil Rights: Section 504 Disability Rights Protest, Scot Danforth
12. Vietnam War Era at Home: Picturing Urban Renewal, David Hochfelder, Stacy Sewell, and Ann Pfau
13. Legacy of the War on Poverty: Harlan County and the Fight for Economic Equality, Grace Hale
14. Environmental Justice: Documerica and the rise of the Environmental Movement, Lauren Tilton
15. Modern American Culture: The Selfie, Ace Lehner

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 08 Jan 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 336
ISBN 9781350463400
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Series History in 15
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Rebecca S. Wingo

Rebecca S. Wingo is the Director of Public History…

Anthology Editor

Lauren Tilton

Lauren Tilton is the E. Claiborne Robins Professor…

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