Teaching the History of Charity and Philanthropy through Objects

This article considers the material culture of charity and philanthropy, arguing that objects and artifacts related to charitable causes and campaigns are important sources for research and teaching. Recent scholarship explores the challenges faced in preserving and enabling access to records of charitable organizations but rarely examines material objects in this context. Yet charity objects can be engaging, stimulating, and insightful when used with both public audiences and students. This article offers an outline of object-based learning (OBL) in higher education. It then explores how teaching the history of charity and philanthropy through objects requires pedagogical innovations beyond the museum-based approaches which tend to dominate much OBL practice and suggests more portable, accessible, and affordable solutions. The paper ends by examining the pedagogical benefits of teaching the history of charity and philanthropy through material culture.