ClassFlow
Class Flow: Labor Unions and Strikes
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart focuses on the Haymarket Riot, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike.
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Nysed: The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
This very complete lesson plan from the New York State Library uses newspaper accounts to give a "you are there" feeling to the discussion of the Railroad Strike of 1877. Included are a history of the strike, student activities,...
Other
Mass Moments: January 12, 1912: Bread and Roses Strike Begins
The Bread and Roses Strike was given a very slight chance of accomplishing anything for women who worked in poor conditions in the textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts. See how wrong the mill owners and even the leaders of the...
Other
Wpt: The Sit Down Strike of 1937
A lengthy look at the sit-down strike called against General Motors factories first in Flint, Michigan, and then across the country. Find out about how the UAW organized the strike, how long it lasted, and what the consequences were for...
Other
Labor Arts: Solidarity Forever: A Look at Wobbly Culture
An excellent collection of artifacts that highlight the aims and aspirations of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Members of the IWW, known as Wobblies, played a unique role in the American labor movement. Artifacts include...
Other
Kansas Heritage: Pullman Strike, Chicago, 1894
This detailed and informative site explains how the Pullman Strike, which began as a peaceful protest about rent in the company town of Pullman, spread across the country and brought railroad traffic to a halt.
Other
Ohio's Steel Mill War: The Little Steel Strike of 1937
A several page article about the labor unrest in the steel industries in 1937. Find out about what the union activists were fighting for, martial law that was declared in Ohio, and the final results of the strike.
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...
Curated OER
History Matters: Camella Teoli Testifies About the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike
Read the gripping testimony of an immigrant girl who testified before a U.S. Congressional committee detailing the conditons in the textile mill in which she worked. Because of these unsafe working conditions, the textile workers...
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: Ideas in Conflict: Opposing Views of the Cripple Creek Strike
The violent strike in Cripple Creek, Colorado, pitted the Western Federation of Miners against the mine owners. Read these statements by the two organizations giving their views of what happened in that conflict.
Curated OER
History Matters: "Word Has Just Been Received:"truman Speaks on Railway Strike
Read the text and listen to President Truman's speech concerning his plans to address the railway strike that was affecting the post-World War II economy. (12 min.19 sec.)
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.
University of Illinois
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign: Eslarp's Social History Project: 1877 Rr Strike
A discussion of the railroad strike of 1877 as it affected particularly Illinois. Read about how the strikes were put down violently and who was blamed for the work stoppages.
Digital History
Digital History: Samuel Gompers and the American Federation of Labor
A good look at not only Samuel Gompers and the formation of the American Federation of Labor, but also of the course of unionism in general, its successes and failures, its goals, and membership in the late 19th century.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Pullman Strike
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read primary source documents to solve a problem surrounding a historical question. This document-based inquiry lesson plan allows students read parallel accounts of the Pullman Strike of 1894...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Great Depression: San Francisco General Strike
Original photographs highlight the General Strike of San Francisco in 1934.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Homestead Strike
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Homestead Strike.
Virginia Tech
Digital History Reader: Which Side Are You On? The Flint Sit Down Strike
The first conflict between a corporation and labor union materialized in Flint, Michigan in the 1930's. Identify the tensions between General Motors and the United Automobile Workers during this time through Context, articles, images,...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Labor and Law
Explore the rise of unions in the United States in the early 1900's. Understand Roosevelt's role in unions, the Wagner Act, and sit down strikes.
Other
Illinois Labor History Society: Gene Debs and the American Railway Union
Description of the rise and fall of the American Railway Union in the context of the Pullman Strike.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Postwar Labor Tensions
[Free Registration/Login Required] A brief look at the growth of unions in the early 20th century. Read about the strikes in 1919 and their consequences.
Other
Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Knights of Labor
Read about the impact of the Knights of Labor on labor issues in Arkansas. Find out about the strikes they participated in for various work groups, and read about their political activity in a time of third-party elections.