AP U.S. History Students Visit Museum Without Leaving Campus

Students in Dr. Jill Cooper’s AP U.S. History class recently took a trip to the National Portrait Gallery without stepping foot outside the Learning Commons.

Dr. Cooper transformed her classroom into an immersive, gallery-style exhibit featuring printed portraits and primary sources from the Washington, D.C. museum’s collection. Students moved from image to image, analyzing each source to identify author’s purpose, intended audience, historical context, and point of view. These are essential skills for success on the document-based question portion of the AP Exam.

After completing their analyses, students posted their strongest responses alongside the portraits, creating a collaborative space where they could engage with and learn from their classmates’ thinking.

The curated collection focused on the mid-19th century and included a portrait of Thomas Mundy Peterson, the first Black American to vote under the 15th Amendment and a resident of nearby Perth Amboy; John Brown, the abolitionist sentenced to death for his role in the Harpers Ferry raid; and “Peter,” an escaped enslaved man whose wounds were documented in a widely circulated daguerreotype. Students also examined materials connected to John C. Calhoun, Abraham Lincoln and his “A House Divided” speech, and Harriet Beecher Stowe alongside excerpts from Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Dr. Cooper designed the activity after participating in the Perspectives in Portraiture Teacher Institute at the National Portrait Gallery this past summer, which she described as “some of the best professional development I’ve ever done.”

“My understanding of the American past is forever evolving,” she said. “I am convinced that my students are the beneficiaries of that new knowledge.”