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Who Was Peter Hoy?
Nancy F. Rafal
Peter Hoy Elementary School, Lombard, Illinois
Subject: Language Arts
Grade 6
"A project such as this demonstrates that there are some
things right with American public education."
Purpose and Description of Project
Nancy Rafal, a sixth-grade reading and language arts resource
teacher, led the nine students in one of her reading groups on
a historical treasure hunt in which photographs played a pivotal
role. They investigated the life of Peter Hoy-the man for whom
their school is named-from his birth in Denmark in 1861 to his
death at the age of 93, tracing his stormy Atlantic crossing to
the United States in 1889, his eventual establishment as a prosperous
dairy farmer, and the sale a few years after his death of a tract
of his farm as the site for construction of their school.
Rafal's goals in designing this project were to develop in her
students improved letter, factual, and descriptive writing abilities;
organizational skills; visual literacy; appreciation of local
history; and an understanding of the value of photographs as a
device, for both investigative research into, and documentation
of, personal history. And, she reports, the project did indeed
achieve these results. But it was an unplanned outcome, she found,
that "became paramount through the months of the project."
That outcome was the increased sense of self-worth gained by the
students as a result of the responsiveness of individuals and
organizations to their efforts and the recognition that their
work garnered.
The students' final products were a slide/tape presentation and
an illustrated book on "The Life of Peter Hoy" and on
the research project itself. The students wrote the texts for
both slide show and book, copied old photographs and took contemporary
shots, made their own prints and selected the photos to be made
into slides, and taped the slide show narration. The slide presentation
and book were first unveiled at a special premiere for Hoy relatives,
school personnel, and community members who had contributed to
the project's success and then shown to the school's entire student
body. The book and slide show are now showcased in the school's
library/ learning center, which is also the site of a permanent
display about Hoy's life that includes a spread of captioned photographs
and such artifacts as milk bottles actually used at his dairy.
Activities
During this project, Rafal's students learned to apply a wide
range of research, organizational, writing, and photographic skills.
Specific activities included the following:
- Students composed letters to area residents named Hoy, whose
names they had drawn from the telephone book. The replies produced
names of other Hoy relatives, who were in turn queried, and this
process continued as the students built up an extensive chain
of information sources. Historical photos and artifacts were gathered,
as well as a family genealogy that traced family lines to about
1920 and opened up new lines of research. Students also got in
touch with the Danish Immigrant Archives in Des Moines, Iowa,
which provided a copy of the log of the ship that brought Hoy
this country, and with the Danish Consulate, which provided addresses
of information sources in Denmark. Altogether, about 60 letters
of inquiry were sent out, 10 of them to Denmark. Field trips were
made to historical museums, historic buildings, the office of
the county recorder of deeds, a cemetery, the school district
offices, the local library, and to a nearby forest preserve that
boasted a Mt. Hoy (although it turned out to have been named for
an entirely different Hoy family). Students learned about the
photographic process by viewing a film and studying materials on film
developing and print making that Rafal adapted from various Kodak publications.
- Working in teams, the sixth-graders recorded the information
they had gathered on note cards, grouped the cards according to
time period, and used this information base to compose the text
of their Hoy biography and slide show narration, which all the
students participated in taping. The next challenge was to shoot
copy negatives and slides of the old photographs that had been
gathered and produce prints. The students worked in a makeshift
darkroom at the school. They also processed the film and made
prints of the photographs they had taken themselves during field
trips and other project activities. The youngsters then selected
the slides and prints that would go into their slide show and
Hoy biography, which, according to Rafal, led to "intense
discussions" of the merits of individual images. News releases
and photographs documenting the project were sent out, drawing
coverage in both area and Danish newspapers. The students' photographs
were also featured in bulletin board displays at both their school
and the school board office. Students then brought all aspects
of their work together-determining the layout and design of the
book and integrating text and visuals for the slide show. Then,
to share their finished products with the people who had helped
them along the way, the students and Rafal invited Hoy relatives,
school personnel, interested community members, historical society
representatives, and parents to a formal showing of the slide/tape
presentation. The Hoy biography was also spotlighted at this gathering,
as well as being mailed to contributors who could not attend.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
According to Rafal, human resources were the real heart of this
project. These included members of the Hoy family, who provided
photographs, documents, and personal recollections; representatives
of historical societies, who contributed other artifacts, photos,
and models of turn-of-the-century buildings; county officials,
who supplied information about land acquisitions; the Danish Vice
Consul, who provided addresses in Denmark of archives and a tourist
bureau; a representative of the Danish Immigrant Archives in Des
Moines; two community members who translated information written
in Danish and a parent who arranged for printing of the Hoy biography;
and school personnel, who supported the project in a variety of
ways.
Most of the equipment required for the project was supplied by
the teacher or was already on hand. The camera used for both copy
work and to document the project was Rafal's 35 mm canera. Other equipment included a copystand, lights,
a slide projector, a tape recorder, and darkroom fixtures. The
book was typed on school district word processing facilities.
Only out-of-pocket expenses were for printing the 23-page book;
darkroom chemicals; photographic paper;
four rolls of color slide film and processing and two rolls of
black-and-white print film.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Rafal found that this project gave her students-many of whom had
learning difficulties-an enormous boost in self-esteem. Not only
did individuals and organizations take the students' inquiries
seriously, and responded to them, but the final products of their
work were recognized as being of high quality and historical importance.
An example of student enthusiasm is that one participant persuaded
his family to delay his transfer to another school until the project
was completed.
Among other outcomes cited by Rafal are:
- The youngsters gained a sense of history and of the importance
of photography as an instrument for recording events. They also
became interested in taking pictures to document their own lives
and came to realize that such photos should carry dates and subject
identifications.
- The students also learned to appreciate photography as a craft
and became comfortable with every aspect of the process-from being
in front of the camera to producing prints in the darkroom.
- The project has also enhanced ties between the schools and
the community and its institutions and made a contribution of
genuine historical value. In addition, the project has stimulated
interest among other students in local history, international
communication, and photography.
On the basis of her experience, Rafal reports that "'the
project can easily be modified for any grade, any class size,
any level of ability." She points out that students at schools
named for nationally known figures could focus more on academic
research, while those at schools named for local people could
produce original research, and those at schools not named for
people could be directed into other aspects of local history.
Whatever the topic, Rafal believes that other teachers will find
that the project will take off on its own" once the students
get involved in ' the detective work" of research.