Article
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Hillsborough Community College: The Rise of Unions and Labor Activism [Pdf]

For Students 10th - 12th
Lengthy article on the Second Industrial Revolution in the United States. Looks at the growth of businesses into corporations with large workforces and manufacturing facilities, and the labor issues and organizations that arose as...
Article
A&E Television

History.com: Labor Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Article takes a look at the history of the Labor Movement and labor unions through videos, pictures, speeches and more.
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The Gilded Age: The Knights of Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Article
PBS

Pbs: History Detectives: The Early Labor Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Brief summary of the early labor movement and the role that labor unions played.
Primary
US National Archives

Our Documents: National Labor Relations Act (1935)

For Students 9th - 10th
Explore the original document that established the National Labor Relations Board written in 1935. Also known as the Wagner Act, its intention was to give employees the right to form unions and to engage in collective bargaining.
Website
University of Groningen

American History: Outlines: The Rise of Industrial Unions

For Students 9th - 10th
Article outlines the rise of industrial unions during the 1920s and 30s and the impact unions had on politics.
Handout
Tennessee Historical Society

Tennessee Encyclopedia: Knights of Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
The Tennessee Encyclopedia offers an interesting account of the Knights of Labor organization, particularly its actions in Tennessee. Read about how immigrants, African Americans, and women were all included in the membership of the...
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Stanford University

Beyond the Bubble: Unions in Paterson, New Jersey

For Teachers 9th - 10th
[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...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: Forming Unions

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This activity uses technology to generate interest in the study of labor unions. Students will use the Internet for research and conclude with a presentation about union leaders or labor organizations.
Article
US Department of Labor

U.s. Department of Labor: Labor in the Industrial Era

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
eBook
Library of Congress

Loc: American Memory: Alice Henry: The Trade Union Woman

For Students 9th - 10th
Excerpt from the Preface to Alice Henry's book, The Trade Union Woman (1915) in which Henry argues for regulation of wages and working conditions for women. Link to the entire book.
Article
Hartford Web Publishing

World History Archives: Mexican Border Workers Fight for Unions

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Graphic
Other

New York University: Labor Arts

For Students 9th - 10th
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...
Graphic
New York University

San Reiss: An Eyewitness to Labor History 1948 1975

For Students 9th - 10th
Considered the "Labor photographer," this online exhibit of Sam Reiss' work is a pictorial history of American labor from 1948-1975.
Handout
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Education: Spotlight Biography: Labor Reformers

For Students 9th - 10th
Biographical information on Samuel Gompers, Frances Perkins and Cesar Chavez. All three were inspirations for the labor union movement.
Website
Other

Afl Cio America's Union Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
The AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) enables working people to have a voice on the job and in the government through the creation of labor unions. This very extensive website offers...
Primary
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

Truman Library: Telegram: Injunction in the Copper Industry Strike

For Students 9th - 10th
Beset by labor unrest and strikes after World War II, President Truman sent a telegram to the Attorney General advising him to step into the dispute between copper companies and labor unions to avert strikes and lock outs. Read the...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Industrializing America

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
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...
Primary
Harvard University

Harvard Univ. Library: The Tide of Immigration: The Alien Contract Labor Law

For Students 9th - 10th
This chapter from a 1916 book by Frank Julian Warne, titled The Tide of Immigration, outlines how the so-called native workers' jobs should be protected from the influx of immigrants. Read about the law that made it illegal for...
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: A Separate Peace: Alice Henry on Women and Unions

For Students 9th - 10th
A primary source on the influence of women in labor unions in the early 1900's. A distinction between men and women at union meetings is examined.
Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: How Labor Got Its Day

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
If you asked students what comes to mind first when they think of Labor Day, what do you think they would say? The last days of summer? A family picnic? Shopping the Labor Day sales? The purpose of this instructional activity is to...
Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Work, Earnings and Economics: Using Lyddie by Katherine Paterson

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In reading and discussing Lyddie, by Katherine Paterson, young scholars examine basic economic concepts and explore the growth of labor unions and the role of government in a market economy.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Joe Hill and the International Workers of the World [Pdf]

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson plan from the producers of the 16-episode PBS series "Freedom: A History of US" that focuses on the growth of militant labor unions like the International Workers of the World, on Joe Hill's role in the IWW, and on the...
Website
Other

Nlrb: 1947 Taft Hartley Substantive Provisions

For Students 9th - 10th
The Taft-Hartley Act was a contentious law aimed at limiting the influence of labor unions immediately after World War II. Read about the act and the changes it made to the Wagner Act.

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