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There are 2443 matching records. Displaying matches 91 through 120 .
Every Picture Tells A Story: Documentary Photography and the Great Depression
From 1935 to 1943, photographers working for the federal government produced the most enduring images of the Great Depression. Under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a small group of men and women created a pictorial record of the nation’s hard times, primarily of rural American life. These publicly displayed pictures had a profound impact on contemporary viewers, and more than fify years later the FSA photographs continue to shape Americans’ views about the 1930s. Like other forms of historical evidence, these images conveyed the views of their creators as well as the audiences they were made for. As interpretations photographs remain valuable historical resources, but they need to be studied critically. This interactive exercise allows viewers to examine how some of the photos of the FSA’s Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange were created, which photos were selected for publications, and how they were changed for public presentation.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
From 1935 to 1943, photographers working for the federal government produced the most enduring images of the Great Depression. Under the auspices of the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a small group of men and women created a pictorial record of the nation’s hard times, primarily of rural American life. These publicly displayed pictures had a profound impact on contemporary viewers, and more than fify years later the FSA photographs continue to shape Americans’ views about the 1930s. Like other forms of historical evidence, these images conveyed the views of their creators as well as the audiences they were made for. As interpretations photographs remain valuable historical resources, but they need to be studied critically. This interactive exercise allows viewers to examine how some of the photos of the FSA’s Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange were created, which photos were selected for publications, and how they were changed for public presentation.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
Freedom and Slavery in 19th century America
Leslie Wilson, Montclair State University.
After the American Revolution, northern states began abolishing slavery. By 1808 slavery was outlawed in every northern state. Blacks were merged into an emancipated society where all persons were to be treated equally. However, was this actually the case? This activity asks students to compare first person and literary accounts, census data, and legal cases and draw conclusions on whether emancipation meant equality and if there was a universal free northern experience.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Leslie Wilson, Montclair State University.
After the American Revolution, northern states began abolishing slavery. By 1808 slavery was outlawed in every northern state. Blacks were merged into an emancipated society where all persons were to be treated equally. However, was this actually the case? This activity asks students to compare first person and literary accounts, census data, and legal cases and draw conclusions on whether emancipation meant equality and if there was a universal free northern experience.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Red Hot Jazz: Music, Literature & Culture in “The Jazz Age”
Bret Eynon.
This assignment can be used in a class studying the literature and culture of the 1920s. Students are asked to prepare a multimedia presentation to the class, 1) providing background to a reading of widely-recognized novels of the period (such as the Great Gatsby) and 2) illuminating the relationship of jazz and 1920s concepts of modernism to the literature of the period. This assignment is designed to deepen student understanding of the relations that exist between literary texts and other forms of cultural expression.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Bret Eynon.
This assignment can be used in a class studying the literature and culture of the 1920s. Students are asked to prepare a multimedia presentation to the class, 1) providing background to a reading of widely-recognized novels of the period (such as the Great Gatsby) and 2) illuminating the relationship of jazz and 1920s concepts of modernism to the literature of the period. This assignment is designed to deepen student understanding of the relations that exist between literary texts and other forms of cultural expression.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Civil War Photographs
Bill Friedheim, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York.
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be photographically documented, leaving behind a unique visual record which affects how the war is remembered. However, early photographic processes were subjecct to technological constraints which require the researcher to remain aware of both the usefulness and limitations of these photographs as sources. This activity is designed to introduce students to the collection of Civil War photographs displayed at the Library of Congress/National Digital Library collection “American Memory” website in order to increase visual literacy and critical thinking skills. It seeks to help students use photographs as historical evidence and to understand photographic production during the Civil War.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Bill Friedheim, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City University of New York.
The Civil War was the first major conflict to be photographically documented, leaving behind a unique visual record which affects how the war is remembered. However, early photographic processes were subjecct to technological constraints which require the researcher to remain aware of both the usefulness and limitations of these photographs as sources. This activity is designed to introduce students to the collection of Civil War photographs displayed at the Library of Congress/National Digital Library collection “American Memory” website in order to increase visual literacy and critical thinking skills. It seeks to help students use photographs as historical evidence and to understand photographic production during the Civil War.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Race, Gender and Justice
Students in a Race, Gender and Justice course analyze Barbara Kruger’s art piece “Love for Sale.” The artwork poses questions about national scripts and about who is included and excluded from these scripts. By gathering together quotes from these famous documents—The Pledge of Allegiance, The Marriage Vow and the Testamentary Preface—Kruger offers an alternative vision of so-called objective nation building. The assignment sought to develop writing and web publishing skills and to have students examine their positions in relation to other students as well as to primary documents and assigned readings.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Students in a Race, Gender and Justice course analyze Barbara Kruger’s art piece “Love for Sale.” The artwork poses questions about national scripts and about who is included and excluded from these scripts. By gathering together quotes from these famous documents—The Pledge of Allegiance, The Marriage Vow and the Testamentary Preface—Kruger offers an alternative vision of so-called objective nation building. The assignment sought to develop writing and web publishing skills and to have students examine their positions in relation to other students as well as to primary documents and assigned readings.
Resources Available: TEXT.
The Amistad Case in Fact and Film
Eric Foner.
Historian Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, examines the issues surrounding the historical film Amistad. In this essay he explores the problems faced by the producers of Amistad and the shortcomings of both the film and its accompanying study guide in their attempt to portray history. More importantly, Foner raises questions not only about the accuracy of details and lack of historic context, but also about the messages behind Hollywood’s portrayal of history as entertainment. (Posted March 1998)
Resources Available: TEXT.
Eric Foner.
Historian Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, examines the issues surrounding the historical film Amistad. In this essay he explores the problems faced by the producers of Amistad and the shortcomings of both the film and its accompanying study guide in their attempt to portray history. More importantly, Foner raises questions not only about the accuracy of details and lack of historic context, but also about the messages behind Hollywood’s portrayal of history as entertainment. (Posted March 1998)
Resources Available: TEXT.
“I Always Had Pads with Me”: A G.I. Artist’s Sketchpad, 1943–1944
In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war, thousands of Americans enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Among them was twenty-year-old Bronx resident Ben Hurwitz. Like many of the men and women who entered military service, Hurwitz (who changed his name to Brown after the war) kept a record of his experiences. But his “journal” was a sketchpad, and, during his two years in North Africa and Italy, Corporal Hurwitz drew and painted at every opportunity. Hurwitz’s pictures are accompanied by the artist’s commentary transcribed by historian Joshua Brown in November 1996. Sketches used with permission of Eleanor A. Brown.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war, thousands of Americans enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Among them was twenty-year-old Bronx resident Ben Hurwitz. Like many of the men and women who entered military service, Hurwitz (who changed his name to Brown after the war) kept a record of his experiences. But his “journal” was a sketchpad, and, during his two years in North Africa and Italy, Corporal Hurwitz drew and painted at every opportunity. Hurwitz’s pictures are accompanied by the artist’s commentary transcribed by historian Joshua Brown in November 1996. Sketches used with permission of Eleanor A. Brown.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
“It Set the Indian Aside as a Problem”A Sioux Attorney Criticizes the Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which became known as the Indian New Deal, dramatically changed the federal government’s Indian policy. Although John Collier, commissioner of Indian affairs who was responsible for the new policy, may have viewed Indians with great sympathy, not all Native Americans viewed the Indian New Deal in equally positive terms. In this 1968 interview with historian Joseph H. Cash, attorney Ramon Roubideaux, a Brule Sioux, denounced the Indian Reorganization Act as “a white man’s idea” of how Indians should live and argued that it “set the Indian people aside from the mainstream of American life and made them a problem.”
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which became known as the Indian New Deal, dramatically changed the federal government’s Indian policy. Although John Collier, commissioner of Indian affairs who was responsible for the new policy, may have viewed Indians with great sympathy, not all Native Americans viewed the Indian New Deal in equally positive terms. In this 1968 interview with historian Joseph H. Cash, attorney Ramon Roubideaux, a Brule Sioux, denounced the Indian Reorganization Act as “a white man’s idea” of how Indians should live and argued that it “set the Indian people aside from the mainstream of American life and made them a problem.”
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
The Jungle Project
In the spring on 1997, an honors “U.S. History Since 1876” class at Arkansas State University created the first edition of “The Jungle Page” to supplement and enhance their reading of Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle. Their desire was to compile readings and resources from the Internet that relate to Sinclair’s portrait of conditions in the stockyards district of Chicago in the early 1900s. They created the website to serve as a resource for students as well as for teachers, scholars, and die-hard history buffs. Subsequent classes have been building on the site.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
In the spring on 1997, an honors “U.S. History Since 1876” class at Arkansas State University created the first edition of “The Jungle Page” to supplement and enhance their reading of Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle. Their desire was to compile readings and resources from the Internet that relate to Sinclair’s portrait of conditions in the stockyards district of Chicago in the early 1900s. They created the website to serve as a resource for students as well as for teachers, scholars, and die-hard history buffs. Subsequent classes have been building on the site.
Resources Available: TEXT, IMAGES.
“I Am Obliged to Reside in America”: A Gay Immigrant Tells His Story in 1882
Richard Von Krafft-Ebing.
The reasons immigrants had for leaving their homelands and coming to America were as diverse as the backgrounds of the immigrants themselves. Although most immigrants came to the United States for economic reasons some sought a new home because of persecution based on their politics, religious beliefs, or even their sexual orientation. In this 1882 letter sent to medical writer and sexologist Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, a thirty-eight-year-old German-born merchant explained how a homosexual arrest in his homeland forced him to emigrate to the United States.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Richard Von Krafft-Ebing.
The reasons immigrants had for leaving their homelands and coming to America were as diverse as the backgrounds of the immigrants themselves. Although most immigrants came to the United States for economic reasons some sought a new home because of persecution based on their politics, religious beliefs, or even their sexual orientation. In this 1882 letter sent to medical writer and sexologist Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, a thirty-eight-year-old German-born merchant explained how a homosexual arrest in his homeland forced him to emigrate to the United States.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“The Greatest Tyrant in the State of Pennsylvania”: A Late Nineteenth-Century Rail Worker Describes Management
Joseph P. Cahill.
Although publicists for the Gilded Age corporations celebrated efficiency and the science of management, their employees did not always join the celebration. What looked like careful and disciplined management from one perspective was often viewed as petty tyranny from below. While some workers assailed upper management for this abuse others experienced the tyranny more directly in their day-to-day work lives. In this transcript taken from testimony before the U. S. House of Representatives in the late 1880s, Joseph P. Cahill, a worker in the freight department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, described the petty tyrannies inflicted on workingmen by the company dispatcher.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Joseph P. Cahill.
Although publicists for the Gilded Age corporations celebrated efficiency and the science of management, their employees did not always join the celebration. What looked like careful and disciplined management from one perspective was often viewed as petty tyranny from below. While some workers assailed upper management for this abuse others experienced the tyranny more directly in their day-to-day work lives. In this transcript taken from testimony before the U. S. House of Representatives in the late 1880s, Joseph P. Cahill, a worker in the freight department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, described the petty tyrannies inflicted on workingmen by the company dispatcher.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“We Are Literally Slaves”: An Early Twentieth-Century Black Nanny Sets the Record Straight
In folklore the black nursemaid was seen as a dutiful, self-sacrificing black woman who loved her white family and its children every bit as much as her own. Yet the popular images of the loyal, contented black nursemaid, or “mammy,” were unfortunately far from the reality for the African-American women who worked in these homes. In 1912 the Independent printed this quasi-autobiographical account of servant life, as related by an African-American domestic worker, which dispelled the comforting “mammy” myth.
Resources Available: TEXT.
In folklore the black nursemaid was seen as a dutiful, self-sacrificing black woman who loved her white family and its children every bit as much as her own. Yet the popular images of the loyal, contented black nursemaid, or “mammy,” were unfortunately far from the reality for the African-American women who worked in these homes. In 1912 the Independent printed this quasi-autobiographical account of servant life, as related by an African-American domestic worker, which dispelled the comforting “mammy” myth.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“Drug Him Through the Street”: Hughsey Childes Describes Turn-of-the-Century Sharecropping
Hughsey Childes/Charles Hardy.
The sharecropping system that emerged in the South in the last three decades of the 19th century afforded southern black families a certain measure of control over their daily lives and labor. But the white landowners were able to use the legal mechanisms of sharecropping to assure control over the largely African-American workforce that toiled on the farms. Here Hughsey Childes, interviewed by historian Charles Hardy in 1984, described what seems like a matter of fact exchange in which the white landowner cheated the black sharecropper. But when the sharecropper got a little wise and withheld some of the crop from the landlord, the punishment was swift and final.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Hughsey Childes/Charles Hardy.
The sharecropping system that emerged in the South in the last three decades of the 19th century afforded southern black families a certain measure of control over their daily lives and labor. But the white landowners were able to use the legal mechanisms of sharecropping to assure control over the largely African-American workforce that toiled on the farms. Here Hughsey Childes, interviewed by historian Charles Hardy in 1984, described what seems like a matter of fact exchange in which the white landowner cheated the black sharecropper. But when the sharecropper got a little wise and withheld some of the crop from the landlord, the punishment was swift and final.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“Still Livin’ Under the Bonds of Slavery”: Minnie Whitney Describes Sharecropping at the Turn-of-the-Century
Minnie Whitney/Charlie Hardy.
The emergence of the sharecropping system in the South in the last three decades of the 19th century rested on an uneasy compromise between black farming families and the white landowners on whose land they labored. Sharecropping was an oppressive system but the experience of sharecropping families varied. In this interview done by historian Charles Hardy in 1984, Minnie Whitney, born in 1902, described the determined efforts of more progressive farmers like her father, who along with her mother struggled to maintain some self-sufficiency in the face of white determination to enforce African-American dependence on the sharecropping system.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Minnie Whitney/Charlie Hardy.
The emergence of the sharecropping system in the South in the last three decades of the 19th century rested on an uneasy compromise between black farming families and the white landowners on whose land they labored. Sharecropping was an oppressive system but the experience of sharecropping families varied. In this interview done by historian Charles Hardy in 1984, Minnie Whitney, born in 1902, described the determined efforts of more progressive farmers like her father, who along with her mother struggled to maintain some self-sufficiency in the face of white determination to enforce African-American dependence on the sharecropping system.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“We Didn’t Have Flies Until the White Man Came”: A Yankton Sioux Remembers Life on the Plains in the Late 19th century
Paul Picotte/Joseph Cash.
In the era before the U. S. Army conquered the Great Plains Indians the region’s giant buffalo herds provided the primary food and clothing source for the Indians who lived there. Indeed, in 19th century America buffalo were more numerous than people. The various Lakota Sioux tribes who lived in the area that became South Dakota and Nebraska depended largely on the buffalo hunt according to Paul Picotte, a Yankton Sioux born in 1880. In this transcript of a 1968 interview with historian Joseph Cash, Picotte recalled the elaborate process used to hunt, dress, and preserve buffalo.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Paul Picotte/Joseph Cash.
In the era before the U. S. Army conquered the Great Plains Indians the region’s giant buffalo herds provided the primary food and clothing source for the Indians who lived there. Indeed, in 19th century America buffalo were more numerous than people. The various Lakota Sioux tribes who lived in the area that became South Dakota and Nebraska depended largely on the buffalo hunt according to Paul Picotte, a Yankton Sioux born in 1880. In this transcript of a 1968 interview with historian Joseph Cash, Picotte recalled the elaborate process used to hunt, dress, and preserve buffalo.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“Genesee Had Railroads”: Kenneth Platt Recalls the Importance of the Railroad to Late Nineteenth-Century Western Towns
Kenneth Platt.
The penetration of the railroads into the West in the late nineteenth century had a profound impact on local economies. For a period of ten years in the 1880s the Latah County, Idaho town of Genesee experienced this phenomenon. One town boomed while its neighbors languished in economic isolation, largely as a result of the rail station in Genesee. In this oral history interview, Kenneth Platt described the railroad’s impact on Latah County.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Kenneth Platt.
The penetration of the railroads into the West in the late nineteenth century had a profound impact on local economies. For a period of ten years in the 1880s the Latah County, Idaho town of Genesee experienced this phenomenon. One town boomed while its neighbors languished in economic isolation, largely as a result of the rail station in Genesee. In this oral history interview, Kenneth Platt described the railroad’s impact on Latah County.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“Everything Was Lively”: David Hickman Describes the Prosperity Late Nineteenth-Century Railroads Brought to the West
David Hickman.
The availability of rail connections often determined whether a western community would survive or die. The rails fostered prosperity by bringing both goods and people. This trade, and the local service industries that sprouted up to capitalize on the movement of people and goods, drove many local economies. Here, David Hickman talked about the boom years that followed the arrival of the railroad in the Latah County, Idaho town of Genesee in the 1880s.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
David Hickman.
The availability of rail connections often determined whether a western community would survive or die. The rails fostered prosperity by bringing both goods and people. This trade, and the local service industries that sprouted up to capitalize on the movement of people and goods, drove many local economies. Here, David Hickman talked about the boom years that followed the arrival of the railroad in the Latah County, Idaho town of Genesee in the 1880s.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Making the Atlanta Compromise: Booker T. Washington Is Invited to Speak
Booker T. Washington.
On September 18, 1895 Booker T. Washington, the noted African-American educator who was born a slave in 1858, spoke before the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His Atlanta Compromise address, as it came to be called, was one of the most important and influential speeches in American history. Acutely conscious of the narrow limitations whites placed on African Americans‘ economic aspirations, Washington stressed that blacks must accommodate white people’s—and especially southern whites’—refusal to tolerate blacks as anything more than sophisticated menials. In this excerpt from his best-selling autobiography Up From Slavery (1901) Washington explained some of the circumstances surrounding the unprecedented invitation for him to speak before a biracial audience.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Booker T. Washington.
On September 18, 1895 Booker T. Washington, the noted African-American educator who was born a slave in 1858, spoke before the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His Atlanta Compromise address, as it came to be called, was one of the most important and influential speeches in American history. Acutely conscious of the narrow limitations whites placed on African Americans‘ economic aspirations, Washington stressed that blacks must accommodate white people’s—and especially southern whites’—refusal to tolerate blacks as anything more than sophisticated menials. In this excerpt from his best-selling autobiography Up From Slavery (1901) Washington explained some of the circumstances surrounding the unprecedented invitation for him to speak before a biracial audience.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“Equal and Exact Justice to Both Races”: Booker T. Washington on the Reaction to his Atlanta Compromise Speech
Booker T. Washington.
The Atlanta Compromise speech, which Booker T. Washington delivered before the Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, established Washington as the leading black spokesman in America. He came to control enormous amounts of northern white philanthropy directed at African Americans as well as much of the federal patronage dispensed to them by the Republican party. In this excerpt from his autobiography Up From Slavery, Washington described the reactions of both black and white Americans to his speech.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Booker T. Washington.
The Atlanta Compromise speech, which Booker T. Washington delivered before the Cotton States and International Exposition in 1895, established Washington as the leading black spokesman in America. He came to control enormous amounts of northern white philanthropy directed at African Americans as well as much of the federal patronage dispensed to them by the Republican party. In this excerpt from his autobiography Up From Slavery, Washington described the reactions of both black and white Americans to his speech.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“Cast Down Your Bucket Where You Are”: Booker T. Washington’s Atlanta Compromise Speech
Booker T. Washington.
In 1895, Booker T. Washington gave what later came to be known as the Atlanta Compromise speech before the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His address was one of the most important and influential speeches in American history, guiding African-American resistance to white discrimination and establishing Washington as one of the leading black spokesmen in America. Washington’s speech stressed accommodation rather than resistance to the racist order under which Southern African Americans lived. In 1903, Washington recorded this portion of his famous speech, the only surviving recording of his voice.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Booker T. Washington.
In 1895, Booker T. Washington gave what later came to be known as the Atlanta Compromise speech before the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta. His address was one of the most important and influential speeches in American history, guiding African-American resistance to white discrimination and establishing Washington as one of the leading black spokesmen in America. Washington’s speech stressed accommodation rather than resistance to the racist order under which Southern African Americans lived. In 1903, Washington recorded this portion of his famous speech, the only surviving recording of his voice.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“You Would Never Hear People Complain”: Elfido López Recalls Rural Mexican-American Life in the Late 19th century
Elfido López.
The arrival of the railroad in the Southwest in the early 1870s transformed the area’s economy and the lives of its residents. Long-time Mexican residents of the area were quickly drawn into the region’s expanding wage economy. In this selection from his handwritten memoir from 1937 Elfido López recalled his childhood on his family’s modest homestead and his father’s decision to move the family to a small railroad town, and a life of wages, in southern Colorado in 1876.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Elfido López.
The arrival of the railroad in the Southwest in the early 1870s transformed the area’s economy and the lives of its residents. Long-time Mexican residents of the area were quickly drawn into the region’s expanding wage economy. In this selection from his handwritten memoir from 1937 Elfido López recalled his childhood on his family’s modest homestead and his father’s decision to move the family to a small railroad town, and a life of wages, in southern Colorado in 1876.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“The White Man’s Road is Easier!”: A Hidatsa Indian Takes up the Ways of the White Man in the Late 19th century
Edward Goodbird.
Following the passage of the Dawes Act in 1887, which forced Plains Indians to give up communal ways of life for individual family farms, many American Indians struggled to adapt to the new ways of life being dictated to them. But while many suffered under the federal government’s attempt to exorcise Indian customs and beliefs some, like Edward Goodbird, a member of the Hidatsa tribe in North Dakota, embraced the new order. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Goodbird described the often subtle ways in which Indians managed to retain small aspects of their culture.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Edward Goodbird.
Following the passage of the Dawes Act in 1887, which forced Plains Indians to give up communal ways of life for individual family farms, many American Indians struggled to adapt to the new ways of life being dictated to them. But while many suffered under the federal government’s attempt to exorcise Indian customs and beliefs some, like Edward Goodbird, a member of the Hidatsa tribe in North Dakota, embraced the new order. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Goodbird described the often subtle ways in which Indians managed to retain small aspects of their culture.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“The Baby Was Made ’Delegate No. 800’”: Frances Willard Meets Elizabeth Rodgers in the 1880s
Frances E. Willard.
The commitment of the Knights of Labor to equality for women was more than rhetorical, as seen in the career of Elizabeth Rodgers, the Master Workman, or head, of the organization’s giant Chicago District No. 24. This 1889 portrait of Rodgers, offered by leading national anti-liquor activist Frances Willard, underscored the desire on the part of many Knights, both men and women, to connect the struggle for labor reform with a broader vision that included vehement opposition to liquor. It also showed the complex ways in which the Knights managed to simultaneously advocate equal rights for women at the same time they upheld the Victorian ideal of domesticity for women. Thus, although Rodgers presided over a Local Assembly with 50,000 male and female members, she was still listed as a “housewife” when she attended the 1886 Richmond convention.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Frances E. Willard.
The commitment of the Knights of Labor to equality for women was more than rhetorical, as seen in the career of Elizabeth Rodgers, the Master Workman, or head, of the organization’s giant Chicago District No. 24. This 1889 portrait of Rodgers, offered by leading national anti-liquor activist Frances Willard, underscored the desire on the part of many Knights, both men and women, to connect the struggle for labor reform with a broader vision that included vehement opposition to liquor. It also showed the complex ways in which the Knights managed to simultaneously advocate equal rights for women at the same time they upheld the Victorian ideal of domesticity for women. Thus, although Rodgers presided over a Local Assembly with 50,000 male and female members, she was still listed as a “housewife” when she attended the 1886 Richmond convention.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“We Sang Rock of Ages”: Frances Willard Battles Alcohol in the late 19th century
Frances Willard.
Among the social movements joined and led by women in the late 19th century, including unionization and women’s suffrage, none had either the widespread fervor or success enjoyed by the temperance movement. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1873, drew widespread support from labor movements such as the Knights of Labor by linking the fight against liquor with the desire to protect home and family against the ravages of the new industrial order. Frances Willard was one of the leaders of the WCTU who vocally sought the alliance of the temperance movement with Labor. In this selection from her autobiography Glimpses of Fifty Years, Willard described the WCTU’s most widely known tactic, the praying-in-saloons crusade.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Frances Willard.
Among the social movements joined and led by women in the late 19th century, including unionization and women’s suffrage, none had either the widespread fervor or success enjoyed by the temperance movement. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in 1873, drew widespread support from labor movements such as the Knights of Labor by linking the fight against liquor with the desire to protect home and family against the ravages of the new industrial order. Frances Willard was one of the leaders of the WCTU who vocally sought the alliance of the temperance movement with Labor. In this selection from her autobiography Glimpses of Fifty Years, Willard described the WCTU’s most widely known tactic, the praying-in-saloons crusade.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“A Less Reliable Form of Birth Control”: Miriam Allen deFord Describes Her Introduction to Contraception in 1914
Miriam Allen deFord/Sherna Gluck.
Despite major cultural, legal, and medical impediments the use of birth control, including abortion, by American women was widespread at the turn of the century. In their quest to control unwanted pregnancies, American women could be surprisingly resourceful in the methods they used. In this audio excerpt from a 1974 interview with historian Sherna Gluck, Miriam Allen deFord described methods of birth control in vogue in the 1910s, including spermicides, douches, the Dutch pessary (an early diaphragm), and the use of ergot pills to induce abortion.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Miriam Allen deFord/Sherna Gluck.
Despite major cultural, legal, and medical impediments the use of birth control, including abortion, by American women was widespread at the turn of the century. In their quest to control unwanted pregnancies, American women could be surprisingly resourceful in the methods they used. In this audio excerpt from a 1974 interview with historian Sherna Gluck, Miriam Allen deFord described methods of birth control in vogue in the 1910s, including spermicides, douches, the Dutch pessary (an early diaphragm), and the use of ergot pills to induce abortion.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“I Stumbled on the Place by Sheer Accident”: Oscar Ameringer Discovers the Cincinnati Public Library in 1888
Oscar Ameringer.
Libraries in the late 19th century were seen by their founders as instruments of social and cultural uplift, meant to raise the working class out their ignorance and teach them how to be middle class. But men like Oscar Ameringer, who immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was 15 and later became a socialist organizer, humorist, and editor, took away different lessons. In this selection from his 1940 autobiography, Ameringer described his discovery of American history books, translated into German, at the local public library.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Oscar Ameringer.
Libraries in the late 19th century were seen by their founders as instruments of social and cultural uplift, meant to raise the working class out their ignorance and teach them how to be middle class. But men like Oscar Ameringer, who immigrated to the United States from Germany when he was 15 and later became a socialist organizer, humorist, and editor, took away different lessons. In this selection from his 1940 autobiography, Ameringer described his discovery of American history books, translated into German, at the local public library.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“It Was Considered Low Music”: Pianist Eubie Blake on the Birth of Ragtime at the Turn of the Century
Eubie Blake/Max Morath.
Ragtime music, with its syncopated, polyrhythmic style, was born, according to cultural historian Robert Snyder, in the 1890s in the black saloons and brothels of southern and Midwestern cities like Baltimore and St. Louis. By the end of the 19th century ragtime had assumed a place at the center of American popular music and remained there until the 1920s. Ragtime meant a tinkling piano and no one played the ragtime piano any better or longer than Eubie Blake, born in Baltimore in 1887. In this selection from an interview performance conducted in 1970 for public television by musician Max Morath, Blake recalled how he began playing ragtime as a young man at the turn of the century.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
Eubie Blake/Max Morath.
Ragtime music, with its syncopated, polyrhythmic style, was born, according to cultural historian Robert Snyder, in the 1890s in the black saloons and brothels of southern and Midwestern cities like Baltimore and St. Louis. By the end of the 19th century ragtime had assumed a place at the center of American popular music and remained there until the 1920s. Ragtime meant a tinkling piano and no one played the ragtime piano any better or longer than Eubie Blake, born in Baltimore in 1887. In this selection from an interview performance conducted in 1970 for public television by musician Max Morath, Blake recalled how he began playing ragtime as a young man at the turn of the century.
Resources Available: TEXT, AUDIO.
“A Healthy Public Opinion”: Terence V. Powderly Distances the Knights of Labor from the Haymarket Martyrs
Terence Powderly.
The Haymarket Affair, as it is known today, began on May 1, 1886 when a labor protester threw a bomb at police, killing one officer, and ended with the arrest of eight anarchist leaders, three of whom were executed and none of whom was ever linked to the bombing. Some labor organizations saw the executed men as martyrs and tried to rally support but in the end, the hanging of the Haymarket anarchists not only emboldened capitalists, it undercut labor unity. Knights of Labor leader Terence V. Powderly was desperate to distance his organization from the accused anarchists and maintain the order’s respectability. In this excerpt from his 1890 autobiography Powderly explained his decision three years earlier to keep mainstream labor out of the furor that surrounded the Haymarket Affair.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Terence Powderly.
The Haymarket Affair, as it is known today, began on May 1, 1886 when a labor protester threw a bomb at police, killing one officer, and ended with the arrest of eight anarchist leaders, three of whom were executed and none of whom was ever linked to the bombing. Some labor organizations saw the executed men as martyrs and tried to rally support but in the end, the hanging of the Haymarket anarchists not only emboldened capitalists, it undercut labor unity. Knights of Labor leader Terence V. Powderly was desperate to distance his organization from the accused anarchists and maintain the order’s respectability. In this excerpt from his 1890 autobiography Powderly explained his decision three years earlier to keep mainstream labor out of the furor that surrounded the Haymarket Affair.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“His Act is Doublely Despicable”: Albert Parsons Responds to His Condemnation by Terence V. Powderly
Albert Parsons.
In the aftermath of the 1886 Haymarket bombing Knights of Labor leader Terence V. Powderly was desperate to distance his organization from the accused anarchists and maintain the order’s respectability. The day after the bombing he stated that it was the duty of every organization of working men in America to condemn the outrage committed in Chicago in the name of labor. Though there were exceptions, most assemblies of the Knights followed Powderly’s lead. Albert Parsons, a long-time member of the Knights and one of the Haymarket defendants, viewed Powderly’s lack of support with bitterness and wrote the following letter from jail on his tenth anniversary of joining the Knights, July 4, 1886.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Albert Parsons.
In the aftermath of the 1886 Haymarket bombing Knights of Labor leader Terence V. Powderly was desperate to distance his organization from the accused anarchists and maintain the order’s respectability. The day after the bombing he stated that it was the duty of every organization of working men in America to condemn the outrage committed in Chicago in the name of labor. Though there were exceptions, most assemblies of the Knights followed Powderly’s lead. Albert Parsons, a long-time member of the Knights and one of the Haymarket defendants, viewed Powderly’s lack of support with bitterness and wrote the following letter from jail on his tenth anniversary of joining the Knights, July 4, 1886.
Resources Available: TEXT.
“The Bad News From Chicago”: Labor Organizer Oscar Ameringer Describes the Effect of the Haymarket Bombing on the Knights of Labor
Oscar Ameringer.
The Haymarket bombing in 1886 marked a major turning point in the history of nineteenth-century labor. Used by capitalists as an excuse for a crackdown on labor organizations, the bombing also splintered what up had been until then the strongest labor organization in the United States—the Knights of Labor. The anti-labor reaction that followed in the wake of the bombing helped precipitate a rapid decline in membership in the Knights which was eventually supplanted by the American Federation of Labor. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Oscar Ameringer, a Knight himself in 1886, recalled receiving the news about the Haymarket bombing while on strike in Cincinnati.
Resources Available: TEXT.
Oscar Ameringer.
The Haymarket bombing in 1886 marked a major turning point in the history of nineteenth-century labor. Used by capitalists as an excuse for a crackdown on labor organizations, the bombing also splintered what up had been until then the strongest labor organization in the United States—the Knights of Labor. The anti-labor reaction that followed in the wake of the bombing helped precipitate a rapid decline in membership in the Knights which was eventually supplanted by the American Federation of Labor. In this excerpt from his autobiography, Oscar Ameringer, a Knight himself in 1886, recalled receiving the news about the Haymarket bombing while on strike in Cincinnati.
Resources Available: TEXT.