Russell Freedman Books: History Through Photographs, People & Powerful Stories
What if students could look directly into the faces of people who lived through history?
That’s one of the pleasures of reading Russell Freedman.
Freedman was a master of nonfiction for young readers. Rather than simply listing dates and facts, he told real people’s stories while incorporating historical photographs, documents, artwork, and other primary sources. His books covered presidents and first ladies, inventors, immigrants, children, explorers, social reformers, and pivotal moments in American and world history.
For school librarians, Freedman’s books offer something especially valuable: they invite students to read the pictures as carefully as they read the words.
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Here are Russell Freedman books to explore from the elementary years through high school, along with activities for using his distinctive nonfiction in the library.
Picture Books & Primary Grades
Russell Freedman was not primarily a picture-book author. Most of his books require more reading stamina than young primary students can typically handle.
But I wouldn’t leave younger students out of a celebration of Freedman.
Instead, use selected photographs and short excerpts from his books for read-alouds and observation.
Immigrant Kids — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / American History / Photography
Freedman uses archival photographs to introduce young readers to children who immigrated to the United States around the turn of the 20th century.
Students see children arriving, living in crowded neighborhoods, attending school, working, and adapting to unfamiliar surroundings.
The photographs make this an especially approachable Freedman title for sharing selectively with younger students, even when they aren’t ready to read the entire book independently.
Possible uses: Immigration, family history, primary sources, historical photographs, children’s lives
Try this: Photo Detective
Choose one photograph and ask students to look silently before you provide any background information.
Ask: What do you NOTICE?
Then: What do you WONDER?
Finally: What might this photograph help us learn?
It’s a wonderfully simple introduction to primary-source analysis.
Children of the Wild West — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / American History / Photography
Instead of concentrating on cowboys and gunfighters, Freedman looks at something children rarely encounter in traditional Western history: other children.
Historical photographs help readers see what life was like for young people growing up in the American West.
Possible uses: Westward expansion, childhood history, photographs as evidence, daily life
Try this: Compare one child’s life in the book with a student’s life today.
Create two columns:
THEN | NOW
Compare school, clothing, chores, transportation, entertainment, and family life.
Elementary
Lincoln: A Photobiography — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography
This is probably Freedman’s signature work.
Rather than presenting Abraham Lincoln as an untouchable historical icon, Freedman introduces readers to the person behind the presidency—his childhood, family, humor, ambitions, struggles, political career, presidency, and assassination.
Historical photographs and documents are integral to the storytelling.
Lincoln: A Photobiography won the 1988 Newbery Medal, an unusual and important achievement for nonfiction.
Possible uses: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, biography, photography, primary sources
Try this: Build a Photobiography
Ask students to imagine someone creating a photobiography of their life.
Which five photographs would they choose?
What would each picture tell a future historian?
The Wright Brothers: How They Invented the Airplane — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography / STEM History
Freedman tells the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s efforts to solve the problem of powered flight.
Photographs help document the brothers’ experiments, machines, successes, and failures.
The book received a Newbery Honor.
Possible uses: Aviation, inventors, engineering design, perseverance, STEM history
Try this: Give students a simple paper-airplane challenge.
After the first test flight, don’t ask: Did it work?
Ask: What will you change?
That’s much closer to the engineering process the Wright brothers followed.
Buffalo Hunt — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / History
Freedman explores the buffalo’s importance to Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and examines traditional buffalo hunts.
Possible uses: Indigenous history, Great Plains, animals in history, cultural studies
Try this: Have students investigate how different parts of the buffalo were traditionally used. This can become a discussion of natural resources and reducing waste.
Cowboys of the Wild West — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / American History
Freedman separates cowboy mythology from the job’s realities.
Historical photographs show readers actual cowboys rather than Hollywood versions.
Possible uses: American West, occupations, myths versus reality, historical photographs
Try this: Hollywood or History?
Ask students what they think a cowboy’s life was like before reading.
Afterward, revisit the list.
Which ideas were accurate?
Which came largely from movies and television?
Indian Chiefs — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography & History
Freedman profiles notable Indigenous leaders and their experiences during a period of enormous conflict and change.
Because terminology and scholarship surrounding Indigenous history have evolved since some older nonfiction was published, this is also an opportunity to teach students to read historical nonfiction critically.
Possible uses: Indigenous history, biography, historiography, evaluating older nonfiction
Try this: Pair one section with a newer source about the same historical figure. Ask students what information, terminology, or perspective has changed.
That’s an excellent information-literacy exercise.
Middle School
This is really the sweet spot for much of Freedman’s work.
Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography
Freedman traces Eleanor Roosevelt’s transformation from a shy, insecure child into one of the 20th century’s most influential women.
The book received a Newbery Honor.
Possible uses: Women’s history, First Ladies, human rights, biography, personal growth
Try this: Create an:
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT WAS MORE THAN A FIRST LADY
research activity.
Students find one accomplishment from her life that had nothing to do with simply being married to a president.
Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Civil Rights History
Freedman tells the story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott while showing that the movement involved far more people than the handful of famous names students may already recognize.
Photographs help students see the individuals and community behind the movement.
Possible uses: Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, Montgomery Bus Boycott, primary sources, collective action
Try this: Beyond the Famous Names
Give each student a person connected with the boycott to investigate.
Create a display:
A MOVEMENT TAKES MANY PEOPLE
This helps students understand that major historical changes rarely happen because of one individual alone.
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography / Civil Rights
Freedman tells the story of celebrated contralto Marian Anderson, whose career intersected dramatically with the struggle for racial equality.
Her famous 1939 concert at the Lincoln Memorial powerfully connects music to American history.
Possible uses: Music, civil rights, biography, segregation, performing arts
Try this: Let students hear a recording of Marian Anderson singing.
Then ask: What can an audio recording tell us that a photograph or written biography cannot?
Now you’re comparing different types of primary sources.
Who Was First? Discovering the Americas — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / History
Freedman examines exploration of the Americas and challenges overly simple versions of the familiar “Columbus discovered America” narrative.
Possible uses: Exploration, historical evidence, competing claims, evaluating sources
Try this: Put the question on the board:
WHO WAS FIRST?
Let students discover why the answer depends on exactly what the question means.
That’s a wonderful lesson in questioning assumptions.
Lafayette and the American Revolution — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Biography & American History
The Marquis de Lafayette was still a young man when he crossed the Atlantic to support the American Revolution.
Freedman’s account helps students understand both the man and the larger historical events around him.
Possible uses: American Revolution, France, biography, international alliances
Washington at Valley Forge — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / American Revolution
Freedman examines the famous winter at Valley Forge and the challenges facing George Washington and the Continental Army.
Possible uses: American Revolution, George Washington, military history, primary sources
Try this: Have students investigate one common Valley Forge myth and compare it with historical evidence.
High School
Many of Freedman’s books are marketed to younger readers, but his research and source material make several useful for high-school readers as well—especially as accessible introductions to complex historical topics.
We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / World War II
Freedman tells the story of Hans and Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, a group of German students who resisted the Nazi regime by distributing anti-Nazi leaflets.
Possible uses: World War II, Holocaust studies, resistance movements, courage, propaganda
Discussion question:
What responsibility does an ordinary person have when a government is committing injustice?
Because They Marched: The People’s Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Civil Rights History
This account focuses on the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama, and the events surrounding the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches.
Possible uses: Civil rights, voting rights, protest movements, American government, primary sources
Try this: Build a timeline using photographs rather than written descriptions.
Students select an image for each major event and write a caption explaining why that photograph matters.
Vietnam: A History of the War — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / American & World History
Freedman provides young readers with an accessible history of the Vietnam War, including the conflict’s background, America’s involvement, the experiences of soldiers and civilians, and divisions at home.
Possible uses: Vietnam War, foreign policy, protest, media literacy, historical perspective
Try this: Compare photographs from the Vietnam War with government statements, newspaper reports, or later historical accounts.
Ask: Can a photograph be accurate and still tell only part of the story?
That’s an important media-literacy question.
The War to End All Wars: World War I — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / World History
Freedman introduces students to the origins, battles, technologies, experiences, and consequences of World War I.
Possible uses: World War I, military technology, propaganda, primary sources
Try this: Give students three different sources from the era—a photograph, propaganda poster, and soldier’s letter.
Ask: Which source tells us the “truth” about the war?
The answer, of course, is that each reveals something different.
In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America’s Bill of Rights — Russell Freedman
Nonfiction / Civics
Freedman explores the Bill of Rights’ origins and significance.
Possible uses: Constitution, Bill of Rights, civics, American history
For older students, pair portions of the book with the actual text of the amendments and contemporary examples.
Russell Freedman and the Power of Photographs
This is the part I would especially emphasize in a Library Lady post because it’s what makes Freedman so distinctive.
His books offer librarians a natural way to teach students that photographs aren’t simply decorations added to nonfiction.
Photographs are sources.
Try a simple activity with almost any Freedman book.
Choose a historical photograph and cover the caption.
Ask students:
- What do you see?
- What do you think is happening?
- What evidence supports your idea?
- What can’t you determine from the photograph?
- What questions does the photograph raise?
Then reveal the caption.
Finally ask:
What did the caption tell you that the photograph couldn’t?
That’s visual literacy, historical thinking, and information literacy wrapped into one activity.
Create a Russell Freedman Photo History Display
This could make a terrific October author display.
Use the heading:
HISTORY HAS A FACE
Display several Freedman titles around historical photographs representing his subjects:
- Abraham Lincoln
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- the Wright brothers
- immigrant children
- cowboys
- Marian Anderson
- civil rights marchers
- World War I soldiers
- Sophie and Hans Scholl
Add the question:
What can you learn from a photograph?
Provide sticky notes so students can respond.
You could even add:
LOOK → NOTICE → QUESTION → INVESTIGATE
That’s a very Library Lady kind of display—books plus information literacy without requiring a huge amount of preparation.
More Russell Freedman Books to Explore
Freedman’s bibliography is extensive (you can see his books here https://link.amazon/B05nzEG4y), so an author display could easily include additional titles such as:
- Martha Graham: A Dancer’s Life
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
- The Life and Death of Crazy Horse
- Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor
- Children of the Great Depression
- The Adventures of Marco Polo
- Confucius: The Golden Rule
- The Boston Tea Party
- Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship
- Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain
- The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft
- Out of Darkness: The Story of Louis Braille
- The Bells of Christmas
That range makes Freedman a useful author for a K–12 collection: one author can lead students into biography, American history, world history, immigration, civil rights, science, invention, photography, and primary-source research.
Celebrating Russell Freedman in the School Library
Russell Freedman understood something that school librarians know well:
Students don’t always connect with history when it is presented simply as a collection of names and dates.
- But show them a photograph of an immigrant child standing on a crowded city street…
- The Wright brothers beside one of their experimental airplanes…
- Eleanor Roosevelt as a young woman…
- or children working in factories…
- and suddenly history contains real people.
That’s where Freedman’s books are particularly powerful.
Students can read his words, study the photographs, question the evidence, and discover that nonfiction reading isn’t simply about finding facts.
It’s about investigating the past.
And for librarians looking for books that combine outstanding nonfiction writing with photographs students will stop and examine, Russell Freedman’s work deserves another look—and another generation of readers.
I have not read all of these books. Please preview them for yourself before adding them to your school library.
Read more Bibliography and Book List posts.
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