Digital History
Digital History: Postwar Labor Tensions
Read about the strength of labor unions just after World War I and see how the gains were eroded throughout the 1920s.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Prosperity: Labor Union
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards historical documents, literary texts, and works of art thematically organized with notes and discussion questions....
Library of Congress
Loc: Today in History: August 20: 8 Hour Work Day
This Library of Congress site provides information on the fight for the eight-hour workday. Discusses labor unions and strikes.
Texas State Historical Association
Texas State Historical Association: Labor Organizations
The history of the labor movement in Texas is examined, beginning during the Republic of Texas. The article discusses the different labor organizations that formed in various industries, and how these evolved over time. As immigration...
Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: American Government, Unionism Friend or Foe?
This site highlights the conflicting points of view within the government of labor unionizing. Focuses on pro and anti union legislation througout history and the attempt to balance workers rights with economic success.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Industrializing America
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the "second industrial revolution" and the mass production of consumer goods. This, in turn, caused an increase in the labor force and immigration. Learn how these changes brought about the start...
Other
Afl Cio: Labor Timeline
Use this resource to explore the development of labor unions in the United States. The interactive timeline allows you to scroll through the periods of labor development.
Curated OER
History Matters: Race and Racism at the 1886 Knights of Labor Convention
This interesting excerpt from Terence Powderly's autobiography discusses the problems he encountered as head of the Knights of Labor in terms of race relations in the unions.
![Pbs: Working for Freedom: Labor Reform and the Triangle Factory Fire [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/124630-ee1b60f70ecc54a951dc99bbb10b7ce6.jpg?1661419416 "Pbs: Working for Freedom: Labor Reform and the Triangle Factory Fire [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
PBS
Pbs: Working for Freedom: Labor Reform and the Triangle Factory Fire [Pdf]
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that examines the conditions American workers faced in the late 1800s. Students will understand the factors that precipitated the birth and growth...
A&E Television
History.com: The History of Labor Day
Learn all about this National holiday started in 1894 that celebrates how we value work in America presented by History.com.
New York University
San Reiss: An Eyewitness to Labor History 1948 1975
Considered the "Labor photographer," this online exhibit of Sam Reiss' work is a pictorial history of American labor from 1948-1975.
US Department of Labor
U.s. Department of Labor: Labor in the Industrial Era
This interesting essay traces the growth of the Knights of Labor from a group that represented those in the shoe industry in Philadelphia to a nationwide union fighting for workers' rights. It also traces other union developments over...
University of Washington
University of Washington: Strikes and Unions
The Great Depression built the modern labor movement by growing and strengthening unions. Follow the labor movement through a day-by-day database of newspaper articles chronicling strikes in Washington State. Additionally, students can...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The Gilded Age: The Knights of Labor
Discusses the rise of labor unions and the history of the Knights of Labor. After the Haymarket Square riots, members deserted it and many joined the American Federation of Labor instead. Includes questions for students at end.
PBS
Pbs: History Detectives: The Early Labor Movement
Brief summary of the early labor movement and the role that labor unions played.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Rise of Industrial Unions
Article outlines the rise of industrial unions during the 1920s and 30s and the impact unions had on politics.
Stanford University
Beyond the Bubble: Unions in Paterson, New Jersey
[Free Registration/Login Required] An excerpt from an interview with a textile factory worker named Marianna Costa. In the interview, Costa talks about working conditions at the Arrow Piece Dye Works in Paterson, New Jersey, prior to the...
Curated OER
History Matters: Eight Hours for What We Will!
Passage of the Adamson Act in 1916 was a huge victory for labor unions pushing for an eight-hour day. Read about that victory and find an illustration celebrating that fact.
Other
New York University: Labor Arts
Numerous collections of cartoons, buttons, posters, murals, photographs, and similar artifacts, all pertaining to history of American labor, especially its drive to organize and its history of protest. Stretches back to the earliest days...
Hartford Web Publishing
World History Archives: Mexican Border Workers Fight for Unions
The story of Mexican workers and their attempt to unionize due to poor working conditions at a Hyundai plant in Tijuana. Fom a story by David Bacon in the San Francisco Bay Guardian on 06/11/1997.
Curated OER
History Matters: Joe Rudiak Remembers the 1919 Strike
Read an interview with a former steelworker, who recalls the Great Steel Strike of 1919 when he was a young boy. Find out the ramifications for his family because his father was a union man who supported the strike. An audio of the...
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Mary Harris Jones
Female labor activist "Mother Jones" was a self-proclaimed "hell-raiser" in the cause of economic justice.
Curated OER
History Matters: "A Healthy Public Opinion"
Read Terence V. Powderly's reasoning for keeping the Knights of Labor, which he headed, out of the turmoil that came after the Haymarket Square Riot.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
Student will use primary and secondary sources to gain a richer understanding of women's activism and how the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire led to changes in labor and safety regulations in America.