“The American Colony in Jerusalem: The Locust Plague.” 2005. Museum Exhibition. The Library of Congress. Washington, DC. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-locust.html
The locust plague provides a unique lens through which to explore human resilience, moral reflection, and societal adaptation. Its vivid documentation through photographs and firsthand accounts parallels literary and historical explorations of crises, making it an ideal addition to interdisciplinary curricula.
Pairing the locust plague exhibit with texts such as the Book of Joel, the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and The Grapes of Wrath allows students to examine themes of survival, morality, and divine intervention. Le Morte d’Arthur and Things Fall Apart add allegorical and cultural perspectives, emphasizing how crises challenge and redefine societal values. This source also encourages exploration of humanity’s relationship with nature and its response to environmental upheaval.
In a Catholic school setting, this resource deepens discussions on faith and service by highlighting how communities turn to spiritual practices during times of crisis. By connecting biblical narratives, medieval literature, and modern accounts, students can analyze how societies across eras interpret and endure adversity.
The American Colony in Jerusalem: The Locust Plague exhibit provides a photographic and narrative account of a devastating agricultural crisis in 1915. The locust plague disrupted communities and strained resources, offering a historical parallel to the societal challenges posed by pandemics like the 1918 flu and COVID-19. By examining this source, students explore themes of resilience, faith, and moral reflection in the face of natural disasters.
This resource complements texts such as the Ten Plagues of Egypt, the Book of Joel, The Grapes of Wrath, and Le Morte d’Arthur, encouraging students to consider how literature and history frame crises as both societal and spiritual trials. Through interdisciplinary analysis, students can connect the locust plague to broader themes of human suffering and recovery, fostering critical thinking about how different eras and cultures interpret adversity.
The American Colony in Jerusalem: The Locust Plague exhibit documents an agricultural disaster in 1915, during which locust swarms devastated the region’s crops and livelihoods. Through photographs and firsthand accounts, this primary source captures the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a natural crisis on a local and global scale.
The locust plague serves as a compelling parallel to crises like the 1918 flu pandemic and COVID-19. Both types of disasters disrupt lives, strain resources, and challenge societal values. The exhibit also connects to literary traditions and biblical narratives that reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature, resilience, and moral reckoning. Texts such as the Book of Joel, the Ten Plagues of Egypt from the Book of Exodus, and The Grapes of Wrath explore responses to environmental and societal crises. Themes of societal collapse and renewal in works like Le Morte d’Arthur and Things Fall Apart further enrich the discussion. These connections foster interdisciplinary learning, linking literature, history, and theology, and encouraging students to consider how crises are represented across cultures and eras.
- How do different types of crises, like locust plagues and pandemics, reveal societal values, weaknesses, and strengths?
- What parallels exist between the societal and faith-based responses to the locust plague, the 1918 flu, and COVID-19?
- How do literary and historical depictions of crises (e.g., The Book of Joel, the Ten Plagues of Egypt, The Grapes of Wrath) help us understand resilience, morality, and community?
- How does Le Morte d’Arthur or Things Fall Apart reflect on the themes of societal collapse and renewal in times of crisis?
- How do visual narratives of crises, like those in the American Colony exhibit, compare to literary storytelling across different cultures and time periods?
UCLA-Historical Thinking Standards, ELA Common Core State Standards, and USCCB Standards for Catholic Schools
Standard 4: Historical Research Capabilities: Students will analyze visual and narrative primary sources to understand historical events and their implications.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: In the photographic analysis activity, students examine images of the locust plague to explore how visual elements convey resilience and loss, and how these historical narratives inform our understanding of human responses to environmental crises.
RL.11-12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: When comparing the exhibit to biblical texts such as the Ten Plagues of Egypt or the Book of Joel, students use textual evidence to analyze the moral and societal implications of plagues in different cultural contexts.
RL.11-12.2: Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: Through interdisciplinary seminars, students explore themes of divine judgment and societal renewal in The Grapes of Wrath and Le Morte d’Arthur, discussing how these themes parallel the locust plague narratives.
Domain: Faith and Social Justice, Standard 4: Reflect on Catholic teachings about dignity, compassion, and service to the marginalized.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: In faith-based reflections, students analyze how communities responded to the locust plague through acts of faith and service, tying these actions to Catholic social teaching principles.
Domain: Literature and Theology, Standard 7: Analyze how literary works reflect the human search for God and understanding of suffering.
- Connection to Teaching Approaches: Students analyze how the Ten Plagues of Egypt and The Vision of Tundale frame crises as opportunities for spiritual growth and resilience, drawing connections to the locust plague exhibit.
- Photographic Analysis: Assign students to analyze photographs from the locust plague exhibit, discussing how visual elements convey themes of resilience and loss.
- Comparative Literature Analysis: Pair the exhibit with excerpts from the Ten Plagues of Egypt, the Book of Joel, and The Grapes of Wrath to explore the role of storytelling in interpreting crises.
- Faith-Based Reflections: Discuss how faith communities interpreted the locust plague, comparing it to the biblical narratives of the Ten Plagues of Egypt and modern religious reflections on pandemics.
- Interdisciplinary Seminars: Facilitate discussions connecting literature, history, and environmental science to analyze societal responses to different types of plagues.
- Creative Projects: Encourage students to create their own narratives or artistic representations of crises, inspired by the exhibit and accompanying texts.
- Some students may find the visual and narrative depictions in the locust plague exhibit emotionally challenging, particularly if they draw connections to current or personal crises. Teachers should create a supportive environment, framing the material as an opportunity to understand human resilience and compassion.
- Additionally, discussions of societal collapse, environmental crises, and divine judgment may require careful contextualization. Teachers should provide historical, cultural, and literary frameworks that encourage thoughtful and empathetic exploration of these themes, emphasizing universal lessons of hope, service, and solidarity.
- Locust plague is an additional photo that could be used in place of the original. This has more concrete geographic elements that students could make observations about. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/matpc.13541/
- Locust plague, None. [Between 1898 and 1946] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2019700942/.
- This could be a substitute to the original photo and it would be an interesting discussion to talk about how photos used to break down over the centuries.
- Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Oklahoma dust bowl refugees. San Fernando—Los Angeles County—California—United States, 1935. June. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017759887/.
- This photo could be an alternative to the locust plague as it represents other types of natural devastation and the human cost it visits on people.
- The Book of Joel (Old Testament)
A biblical narrative addressing a locust plague as a metaphor for divine judgment and renewal. - The Ten Plagues of Egypt (Exodus, Old Testament)
A foundational biblical account of divine intervention, exploring themes of faith, justice, and societal transformation. - Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory: A medieval text exploring themes of societal collapse, renewal, and moral reflection.
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: A postcolonial novel examining the impact of societal disruption and resilience through an African cultural lens.
- The Vision of Tundale: A twelfth century Latin account of a visit to purgatory, recorded by Marcus, an Irish Benedictine monk.