Picture book. By George Ella Lyon. Artwork by Christopher Cardinale. 2011. 40 pages.
This children's book tells the story of a classic union song written in 1931 and the harsh conditions under which it was written.
Continue reading
Film. By Jordan Mechner. 2004. 26 minutes.
A documentary about the politics and economics of land in the United States, based on the story of a Mexican American village razed in the 1950s to build Dodger Stadium.
Continue reading
Film. Directed by Michael Moore. 1989. 91 minutes.
Documentary chronicling the efforts of the world's largest corporation, General Motors, as it turns its hometown of Flint, Michigan, into a ghost town.
Continue reading
Film. Produced by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2011. 35 minutes.
A documentary about parents in the Bronx who organized to bring high-quality education to their neighborhood.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. By Bruce Watson. 2006. 352 pages.
The riveting story of one of the most remarkable strikes in U.S. history.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. By Ronald Takaki, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. 2012. 368 pages.
An adaptation for young readers of the classic multicultural history of the United States, A Different Mirror.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. By Michele Bollinger and Dao Tran. 2012.
A collection of 101 brief and accessible profiles of rebels, radicals, and fighters for social justice.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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?”
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
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.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries. 2010. 372 pages.
History of the role that activists in Lowndes County played in spurring Black activists nationwide to fight for civil and human rights in new and more radical ways.
Continue reading
Article. By Howard Zinn. Excerpt from Chapter 5 of You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.
Howard Zinn’s first-hand account of Selma’s Freedom Day in 1963.
Continue reading
Teaching Activity. By Adam Renner, Bridget Brew, and Crystal Proctor. Rethinking Schools. 5 pages.
An article describing how math teachers in a San Francisco high school shed light on the ways economics and racism affect education, housing, and job opportunities.
Continue reading
Teaching Activity. By Katharine Johnson. Rethinking Schools. 10 pages.
An elementary school teacher introduces the history of redlining through a role play designed for 1st and 2nd graders.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn, edited by Richard Kreitner. 2014. 215 pages.
A collection of articles spanning 50 years, by and about Howard Zinn, originally published in The Nation magazine.
Continue reading
Book — Non-fiction. Edited by William Sturkey and Jon N. Hale. 2015. 176 pages.
A collection and examination of the creative literary work of students published during 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.
Continue reading
Teaching Activity. Teaching for Change. 2015. 20 pages.
Introductory lesson on key people and events in the long history of the Selma freedom movement.
Continue reading
A peaceful demonstration in Chicago for the eight-hour day ended in tragedy when the police barged in and a bomb exploded.
Continue reading
