Minneapolis Truckers Make History
Digital collection. Information and resources on the 1934 truckers strikes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Theme: Labor
Labor
“They’re Bankrupting Us!”: And 20 Other Myths about Unions
Book — Non-fiction. By Bill Fletcher Jr. 2012. 224 pages.
Scholar and labor organizer Bill Fletcher Jr. unpacks the 21 myths most often cited by anti-labor propagandists.
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Scholar and labor organizer Bill Fletcher Jr. unpacks the 21 myths most often cited by anti-labor propagandists.
Bread and Roses Strike of 1912 Exhibition
Digital collection. Digital photo collection of the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912.
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Mama’s Window
Book — Historical fiction. By Lynn Rubright. 2008. 89 pages.
Historical fiction inspired by incidents in the early life of sharecropper Owen Whitfield, the organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
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Historical fiction inspired by incidents in the early life of sharecropper Owen Whitfield, the organizer of the Southern Tenant Farmers Union.
We, the People: The Drama of America
Book — Non-fiction. By Leo Huberman, illustrations by Thomas H. Benton. 1932. 371 pages.
A people's history of labor with charts, diagrams, and illustrations.
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A people's history of labor with charts, diagrams, and illustrations.
Lawrence and the 1912 Bread and Roses Strike
Book — Non-fiction. By Robert Forrant and Susan Grabski. 2013. 128 pages.
Images, documents, and quotes tell the story of the 1912 landmark strike.
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Images, documents, and quotes tell the story of the 1912 landmark strike.
The Cruel Years: American Voices at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by William Loren Katz and Laurie R. Lehman. 2003. 304 pages.
First-person narratives in the context of their times and within the larger picture of U.S. growth and development.
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First-person narratives in the context of their times and within the larger picture of U.S. growth and development.
Organic Goodie Simulation
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 8 pages.
Lesson engages students in a lively simulation that helps them experience some of the pressures that lead workers to organize.
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Lesson engages students in a lively simulation that helps them experience some of the pressures that lead workers to organize.
Who Makes History?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 3 pages.
This lesson introduces students to Bertolt Brecht’s poem, A Worker Reads History. Students reflect on the creative role of workers in making history.
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This lesson introduces students to Bertolt Brecht’s poem, A Worker Reads History. Students reflect on the creative role of workers in making history.
What Rights Do We Have?
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 7 pages.
This lesson teaches some of the nuts and bolts of labor unions and then moves beyond to ask students to consider what rights they have at work, and to recognize that “rights” depend in large part on what people have fought for and won.
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This lesson teaches some of the nuts and bolts of labor unions and then moves beyond to ask students to consider what rights they have at work, and to recognize that “rights” depend in large part on what people have fought for and won.
Paper Airplane Simulation
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 4 pages.
Students make paper airplanes to learn about the origins and effects of “scientific management,” owners’ attempts to capture workers’ skills and knowledge and then to exploit that knowledge to reorganize work and cut costs by deskilling workers.
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Students make paper airplanes to learn about the origins and effects of “scientific management,” owners’ attempts to capture workers’ skills and knowledge and then to exploit that knowledge to reorganize work and cut costs by deskilling workers.
Free to Think, Talk, Listen, or Sing
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 6 pages.
Students work with a chapter from Milton Meltzer’s classic book, Bread and Roses, to see the impact of late 19th century factory work on workers’ home lives.
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Students work with a chapter from Milton Meltzer’s classic book, Bread and Roses, to see the impact of late 19th century factory work on workers’ home lives.
Modern Times
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond.
This lesson uses Charlie Chaplin’s hilarious classic film, Modern Times, to help students think about the impact of “scientific management” on the workplace.
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This lesson uses Charlie Chaplin’s hilarious classic film, Modern Times, to help students think about the impact of “scientific management” on the workplace.
“Taylorizing” Burgers: A Fantasy
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 8 pages.
In this lesson, students re-examine and restructure a burger joint so that it is more democratically and imaginatively operated.
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In this lesson, students re-examine and restructure a burger joint so that it is more democratically and imaginatively operated.
The Homestead Strike
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 11 pages.
This role play activity on the famous 1892 Homestead Strike, explores the possibility of solidarity among workers of very different backgrounds and at different levels in the workplace hierarchy.
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This role play activity on the famous 1892 Homestead Strike, explores the possibility of solidarity among workers of very different backgrounds and at different levels in the workplace hierarchy.
Birth of a Rank-and-File Organizer
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 7 pages.
Writing activity for students to complete the narrative of women workers striking at a glove-making factory, exploring possible outcomes.
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Writing activity for students to complete the narrative of women workers striking at a glove-making factory, exploring possible outcomes.
It’s a Mystery — White Workers Against Black Workers
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 8 pages.
In this “mystery” activity, students receive clues and discuss some of the factors that contributed to the intensification of racism in the 1920s in the United States.
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In this “mystery” activity, students receive clues and discuss some of the factors that contributed to the intensification of racism in the 1920s in the United States.
The 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 20 pages.
Students “become” several of the social groups who participated in the 1934 Longshore Workers Strike — some of whom had to answer the question, “Which side are you on?”
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Students “become” several of the social groups who participated in the 1934 Longshore Workers Strike — some of whom had to answer the question, “Which side are you on?”
Union Maids
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 4 pages.
Activity for students to write from the point of view of one of the women featured in the film Union Maids.
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Activity for students to write from the point of view of one of the women featured in the film Union Maids.
Shutdown! — Confronting Plant Closures
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 14 pages.
In this role play activity, students assume the roles of union members and attempt to figure out how to respond to a threatened plant closure.
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In this role play activity, students assume the roles of union members and attempt to figure out how to respond to a threatened plant closure.
Labor Songs
Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 7 pages.
Students explore the power of songs to build solidarity and increase understanding. This is the final activity from Bigelow and Diamond’s labor history book, The Power in Our Hands, and draws on the other lessons.
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Students explore the power of songs to build solidarity and increase understanding. This is the final activity from Bigelow and Diamond’s labor history book, The Power in Our Hands, and draws on the other lessons.
The Real Bread and Roses Strike Story Missing from Textbooks
Article. By Robert Forrant. 2013.
The author challenges the common myth that the Bread and Roses Strike was spontaneous.
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The author challenges the common myth that the Bread and Roses Strike was spontaneous.
Oh Freedom After While: The Missouri Sharecropper Protest of 1939
Film. Directed Steven John Ross and written by Candace O'Connor. 1999. 56 minutes.
Archival footage, photographs, and first-hand accounts of sharecroppers — Black and white — organizing in Missouri.
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Archival footage, photographs, and first-hand accounts of sharecroppers — Black and white — organizing in Missouri.
Fred Ross
Profile. By Gabriel Thompson. 2013.
Introduction to little-known but influential labor organizer Fred Ross (1910-1992), who trained many activists of note including Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
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Introduction to little-known but influential labor organizer Fred Ross (1910-1992), who trained many activists of note including Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.
The Power In Our Hands: Introduction
Article. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 1988.
Teaching insights and introduction to using The Power In Our Hands curriculum book.
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Teaching insights and introduction to using The Power In Our Hands curriculum book.