Today's movement in support of the 99 percent is a reminder that throughout U.S. history, a major engine of change has been grass-roots organizing and solidarity. Major history textbooks, however, downplay the role of ordinary people in shaping events--especially those who formed labor unions and used the strike to assert their rights. One of the…

Outlines a project in which the Paterson Silk Strike of 1913 is used to teach about gathering information from primary sources. Includes suggestions for using this project as a model for analyzing historical events in any location. Emphasizes importance of having students draw conclusions from primary sources. (BSR)

Contains learning activities dealing with child labor around 1908 and utilizing primary source documents for secondary U.S. history classes. Students read and discuss two oral accounts and analyze three photographs depicting child labor and working conditions in 1908. (AM)

This collection of essays and short stories is designed to provide a glimpse of life in the factory for the women who worked in the cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1840s. The book, which contains two primary sources (i.e., materials written by contemporaries), and three secondary sources, begins with a brief introduction to the…

Includes a selection of photos and texts from "Chinese in America: Images From a Neglected Past," a multi-media exhibition prepared by the Chinese Historical Society of New York. The exhibit, the first of its kind outside the west coast, traces the little known history of Chinese workers in the U.S. (Author/JM)

The resource guide provides teachers with background materials and references for teaching labor history. Sections include: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Curricula and Guides"; (3) "Exemplary Labor in the Schools Programs"; (4) "Teacher Training Programs"; (5) "Guest Speakers and Adopt-A-School Programs"; (6) "Student Readings"; (7) "Teacher Readings";…

This booklet presents a method of teaching the history of labor unions in a creative and interesting manner. The labor pioneers presented in this booklet have been chosen with the thought that they would provide inspiration for young people who are studying the 300 years or more of Pennsylvania history. These laborers, who came from the ranks of…

A teaching unit uses the songs of sailors, loggers, coal miners, and other workers to illustrate how the United States was built in the nineteenth century. Words and music for seven songs are given, along with classroom activities to help children understand occupations and industries during that time. (PP)

Examines three of the changes wrought by coal mining: (1) the miner's working conditions; (2) the establishment of company towns; and (3) the violence that ensued when miners from Harlan County, Kentucky, referred to as "Bloody Harlan," tried to better their lives by joining labor unions. (CMK)

This eighth grade lesson plan asks students to research and analyze primary source documents about early factory labor (mill workers during the period between 1840-1860) showing their hours of labor, ages of laborers, reasons for working, and working conditions. The lesson plan asks students to read a historical novel about the time,…

The subject of this bibliography, women in American labor history, deals with women in unions from 1825 to 1935, as well as with such topics as worker education, legislative lobbying, and the recruitment of interest groups. The termination date of the works cited in the bibliography, 1935, was chosen as a time when craft unionism began to decline…

Designed for use in secondary economics or other social studies classes, this kit presents instructional materials and replications of primary source documents on the development of the labor movement in America. The documents are divided into four major areas of study: the growth of organized labor, the function of a union, labor and politics,…

Following the removal of the Freedman's Bureau and failure of labor recruitment efforts targeted to Chinese and European immigrants, the practices of sharecropping, tenant farming, and the hiring of convict labor replaced slave labor in the South's postbellum agricultural economy. Lack of minimal economic power among freed Blacks resulted in slave…

Covering the period from 1819 to the present, this book presents the history of Chicanos in the United States with emphasis on the Southwest. The monograph is divided into 2 parts: (1) the U.S. conquest of the Southwest during the 19th century and (2) the experiences of Chicanos in the 20th century. In Part I, the historical myth that the Anglo…

Provides an annotated list of websites pertaining to the Industrial Revolution. Topics include the Boott Cotton Mills in Massachusetts, coal mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, labor conflicts of the Progressive Era, Andrew Carnegie, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. (CMK)