Why Teach Labor History? by James Green, Fred Glass American
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Why Teach Labor History? By James Green any retired union members I know worry that their struggles have been Mforgotten. They fear that few now understand the sacrifices of their forebears who fought for the eight- hour day and the 40-hour week— “the folks who brought you the week- end,” as one union bumper sticker reads. Like the character in Milan Kundera’s novel,1 who believes the struggle against power “is the struggle of memory against forgetting,” the elder generation of union members and retirees I have spoken with believe that ignorance of labor history will disem- power today’s workers and students. So, the reason for teach- ing labor history in our social Above, the American Labor Studies studies classrooms is obvious Center is dedicated to disseminating labor to these union veterans. They history and curricula. The center maintains want young people to study this site, which features educational the contributions that genera- resources, such as a chronology of tions of union activists have p u s h e d American labor history, information on the made to building a nation and for mine safety laws roles that women and African Americans to democratizing and human- and workers’ compensation laws. They played in the labor movement, labor izing its often brutal workplaces. While fought for the Occupational Safety and quotes and songs, and information on child their predecessors successfully fought for Health Act of 1970, the Pregnancy Dis- labor. www.labor-studies.org monumental changes that benefited all crimination Act of 1978, the Americans Americans (not just union members), with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Fam- such as passing the Social Security Act of ily and Medical Leave Act of 1993.* gain. And so, most of all, our elder workers 1935 and ending child labor, today’s union Of course, their struggles included not hope young people will learn from labor veterans can take pride in their own only legislative activism, but also work-site history that individual workers can accomplishments. For example, they organizing and pushing reluctant state achieve some dignity if they assert their officials, federal officials, and judges to collective power. James Green is professor of history at the Uni- grant workers the right to collectively bar- Looking back, there have been several versity of Massachusetts-Boston and author of obstacles to the inclusion of workers’ his- Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, * Today’s active union members continue in this proud tory in our K–12 classrooms. Until the tradition. In the past couple of years, they helped win the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing 1960s, the history profession included few That Divided Gilded Age America. This article passage of a federal law raising the minimum wage and supported the State Children’s Health Insurance scholars of labor history. Even after the is adapted from Green’s “Why Teach Labor Program. Currently, they are fighting for the passage emergence of the new social and labor History?” in the winter 1997 issue of the OAH of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would Magazine of History. reinforce workers’ right to join a union. history 40 years ago, textbook writers were 30 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2008-2009 Left and below, a virtual museum displaying “the cultural artifacts of working people,” Labor Arts includes powerful images from labor history and culture, as well as works of art representing labor’s struggles using various media such as photography, painting, and sculpture, and organizing paraphernalia including buttons, fliers, and posters. www.laborarts.org WOMEN'S EQUALITY BUTTON, 1978 (IMAGE CourteSY slow to adopt the insights of new scholar- LABOR ArtS) , page COPYRIGHT LABOR ArtS) ship. In other words, for some time, the ASTOR, 2005 specialized studies of labor historians were not incorporated into a wider syn- which outlawed child thesis that fully integrated labor history labor and created the into the national narrative. That challenge 40-hour work week, has now been met by the American Social came after the age of History Project and the excellent text Who industrial violence ALLS," OIL painting BY JOE P Built America?† Moreover, in the past few ended—so too did (IMAGE CourteSY OF Sullivan GOSS Gallery decades, labor historians, teachers, stu- health and safety pro- "RAISING W dents, and activists have created a profes- tection, and the legalization of orga- sional association of their own, the Labor nizing and collective bargaining by and Working-Class History Association, to federal workers and other public promote civic engagement and encourage employees, including school the study of working people’s history.‡ teachers. Nonetheless, to some of the policymak- Neither the conflicts nor the ers and educators who determine our peaceful victories tell the whole social studies standards and influence the content of our textbooks, it seems that labor history is no longer relevant—that it is a bloody story of conflict, a depressing chapter from the dark ages of America— and thus the union story is not told as thoroughly as it could and should be. These conflicts are, of course, worth study- ing. They raise important questions: Why did so many people who demanded their rights suffer from such violent repression in a free society? Why was American labor history so much more violent than the labor history of other industrial nations? The conflict-free events and issues are, of course, also worth studying. In fact, U.S. labor history shows that the most impor- Department ation C U ED , EUM S U M D AN Fame F O HALL ALL B E S BA ational N E H T F O Y S tant achievements unions have gained for Courte working people have been achieved peacefully. Historic accomplishments like the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, Above, this instructional unit, “Hardball and Handshakes,” uses the history of professional baseball to examine the relationship between employer and employee. † To learn more about Who Built America?, go to the Developed by the American Labor Studies Center and the Baseball Hall of Fame, the unit American Social History Project’s Web site at www. ashp.cuny.edu. focuses on collective bargaining and is geared toward high school and college students. ‡ To learn more about the Labor and Working-Class http://education.baseballhalloffame.org/experience/thematic_units/labor_ History Association, go to http://lawcha.org. history.html AMERICAN EDUCATOR | WINTER 2008-2009 31 (DVD digitray goes here)* goes digitray (DVD NEIRRGTPANEL RIGHT INTERIOR NEIRLF PANEL LEFT INTERIOR This documentary is a brief telling of that story. that of telling brief a is documentary This human rights, and justice at home and abroad. and home at justice and rights, human remained steadfast in its fight for workers’ rights, workers’ for fight its in steadfast remained schools to combating AIDS in Africa, the AFT has AFT the Africa, in AIDS combating to schools wages to championing the desegregation of desegregation the championing to wages ship and stature. From fighting the use of scrip as scrip of use the fighting From stature. and ship “union of professionals” has grown in member- in grown has professionals” of “union away with a better understanding of how our how of understanding better a with away after viewing this presentation you will come will you presentation this viewing after and events that have helped shape the union, the shape helped have that events and would be impossible to include all the people the all include to impossible be would AFT has stood for since its inception. Although it Although inception. its since for stood has AFT and the public a sense of the principles that the that principles the of sense a public the and union’s story will provide AFT members, partners members, AFT provide will story union’s tory of America. This second edition of the of edition second This America. of tory T Teachers is rich and intertwined with the his- the with intertwined and rich is Teachers he history of the American Federation of Federation American the of history he A Proud Tradition Proud A The AFT: Committed to Social JusticeHistory... AFT’s The AFT has always been a force for human advance- ment and social justice,A Proud even when Tradition such activities Tradition A Proud rom the Progressive Era to the New were politically unpopular.FDeal, to the 21 Inst century, the thefirst AFT has half of the 20th A Proud Tradition always been willing to meet challenges century, when manyhead on.trade As a union, unions we have foughtexcluded for African women’s rights, human rights and workers Americans from membership,rights. When the American the dream AF wasT notwas one of the available to everyone, the AFT fought to first to extend fullgive allmembership Americans access to ato better minorities. life. African American teachersContains in bonus segregated features, including: Southern school � Both short and a full length version of “A Proud Tradition” AFL-CIO TEACHERS, OF FEDERATION AMERICAN � Chapter Selection districts organized� An interactivetheir AFT historyown timeline locals and readily � Historic photographs, with commentary from AFT Archivist Dan Golodner affiliated with the� Additional AF interviewsT. And African American teach- Contains historic footage, including: ers elsewhere joined� The Albert Shankeron Memorialequal Tribute footing with their � 9/11 white counterparts� Hurricane to Katrina organize Relief Fund integrated AFT � Sandra Feldman in Memoriam locals in their schoolCan be used to districts. inform, motivate, mobilize at: � Conferences � Conventions. In 1918, the �AMembershipFT called meetings. for equal pay for African Excellent for in-depth discussion and training for: American teachers� New Members and the election of African � Executive Boards Americans to local� Worksite schoolRepresentatives This DVD contains over four hours of video and materials relating to the boards.