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Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement American Jewish History Through Objects

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Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement American Jewish History Through Objects Why Do People Unite? Discovering Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement American Jewish History Through Objects 01 MISHNAH PIRKEI AVOT STREET MEETINGS 09 If there is no flour, there is no Torah; What do the people do when the courts are reluctant to intervene and the other branches of government if there is no Torah, there is no flour. have failed them for so long? A political or social movement can oftentimes accomplish more than Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 3:21 any lawsuit, and it can certainly do so more quickly. Joshua Weishart, “The Ripple Effect of the West Virginia Teachers’ Victory,” 2018 02 BREAD AND ROSES ADMISSION FREE 08 What the woman who of “bread” and of “roses”? of “bread” is the significance What labors wants is the right The teachers’ unions also to live, not simply exist…. assume that a union con- tract is a benefit for every- The worker must have one, and that certainly is bread, but she must not the case. Unions collect have roses, too. dues from these folks even Rose Schneiderman, 1912 though the contract may be a detriment to their person- 03 INDUSTRIAL POINT al interests. OF VIEW Mike Antonucci, “Five Common Teachers Union Arguments That Rely The machines are so wildly noisy on Half-Truths,” 2017 in the shop / That I often forget who I am. / I get lost in the fright- ful tumult — / My self is de- AUDITORIUM 07 stroyed, I become a machine. / I work and work and work end- If you worry about lessly — / I create and create and create / Why? For whom? I crime, you can either don’t know and I don’t ask. / What business has a machine have 10 percent more thinking? cops on the beat or 10 Morris Rosenfeld, “The Sweatshop,” early 1900s percent more neigh- bors knowing one an- 04 PROMINENT TRADE UNIONIST other’s first name, What role do groups play in your life? life? in your play do groups role What attended Schneiderman’s speech? Why or why not? or why Why speech? Schneiderman’s attended have would imagine they do you in Milwaukee, lived had coworkers and her female If Newman Despite inhuman working and all of the evidence in these groups? play do you role What conditions, the workers, suggests that it’s the including myself, contin- neighbors knowing ued to work for this firm. What good would it do to one another’s first change jobs since similar name that has a great- conditions existed in all er influence on crime garment factories of that Poster, “American Suffragettes,” New York, New York, 1912 era? ... One gets to know Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives rate…. The effect of the people you work with. social connectedness You are no longer a strang- on your physical survival is about as great as wheth- er and alone. You have a feeling of belonging which helps to make life in a factory a bit easier to endure. er you smoke or not. Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, 2000 Pauline Newman to Michael and Hugh [Owens], May 1951 05 THE WOMAN WORKER INDIVIDUALISM 06 The manufacturer has a vote; the bosses have votes; the The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being over- foremen have votes; the inspectors have votes. The work- whelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you’ll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no ing girl has no vote. When she asks to have the building price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. in which she must work made clean and safe, the officials do not have to listen. Rudyard Kipling, 1935 Clara Lemlich, “The Inside of a Shirtwaist Factory”, Good Housekeeping, Volume 54, Number 3, 1912 nmajh.org/openbook Teacher Guide 7th – 11th Grade Why Do People Unite? Rose Schneiderman and the Labor Movement Discovering American Jewish History Through Objects The labor movement in the United States developed out of the need to protect the interests of workers. Organized labor unions fought for workers’ rights such as higher wages, shorter workdays, safer working conditions, and financial support for workers injured on the job. Jewish workers who participated often associated political activism with Jewish values. This included cigar maker Samuel Gompers (1850–1924), who became president of both the American Federation of Labor, the largest labor union in the world, and the heavily Jewish International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), which was one of the strongest advocates for improving workers’ lives. Rose Schneiderman (1882–1972) was a cap maker who organized thousands of female workers in one of the largest strikes in American history. In 1904 she became the first woman to hold an office in a national union—as a member of the general executive board of the ILGWU. She led a cap makers’ strike the following year, which led to her election as vice president of the New York branch of the Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL), an organization of working-class and middle-class women. In 1909 Schneiderman helped organize workers on the Lower East Side for what became the “Uprising of the 20,000,” the largest strike by women up to that date. In 1911 Schneiderman spoke the words that made her famous: “The worker must have bread, but she must have roses, too.” She meant that workers needed basic rights such as fair wages, safe working conditions, and access to affordable food and housing, but they also needed to find meaning in their work, and in their lives, by having equal access to professional advancement, education, and culture. The phrase “bread and roses” became a rallying cry for women workers across the country, inspiring a well-known song often sung on the picket lines. This lesson, structured around a 1912 poster announcing a public lecture by Schneiderman, focuses on the development of the Jewish labor movement. The poster quotes her famous words on “bread and roses,” which can be used as a focal point for the lesson. This slogan can also help students to think broadly about the idea of community building. The lesson’s key questions focus on the development of the Jewish labor movement and encourage students to consider the role of political movements, workers’ rights, and female leadership, in history and in our lives today. KEY QUESTIONS: — How did the American Jewish labor movement develop? — What did labor unions and labor leaders like Schneiderman hope to achieve, and what changes to working life did they propose? — What role did women play in labor activism during the first part of the twentieth century? — What is “mutual aid”? How do the labor unions of the early twentieth century help us understand the meaning of community and civil society? — Why did workers in the early 1900s choose to join the labor movement? How do these reasons compare or contrast to our own motivations for joining together in groups, clubs, political movements, and organizations? nmajh.org/openbook 2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of this unit students will be able to: — Explore a historical argument or question by applying inquiry-based methods to interpreting museum objects or primary sources. — Apply critical thinking to analyzing texts, interpreting objects, synthesizing multiple sources, and articulating opinions. — Understand the rise of labor unions, with a focus on the problems faced by workers, like the struggle to make a living and maintain dignity. — Identify contrasting perspectives on events, such as those between employers and employees. — Empathize with the motivations for why people unite in service of a cause and/or community. nmajh.org/openbook 3 Suggested Pre-Lesson Activity 1. On a board or a large piece of paper write the word “community.” a) Tell the class they will have 30 seconds to think about a word, phrase or image that comes to mind when they think of the word, ”community.” Cue them that they should focus on describing a community (e.g. “welcoming”), rather than identifying a specific type of community (e.g. “congregation”). b) Go around the class and have each person share their image, word, etc. Simply record each student’s response; discussion will follow. Depending on time allowed, size of class, etc. you can do this as many times as seems appropriate. 2. Working as a class or in small groups divide the responses into categories (you can choose or let the students choose). Write the categories on the board/ paper. a) Discuss each category and why the words assigned to them seem to go together. b) Ask the group if there are things missing from the list of categories. Ask them to think of communities they belong to or know of and if those communities have anything that is not covered by the categories. As things come up, mention them and put them into the categories. c) Ask: How are communities started? Do they appear organically or do people deliberately establish them? Imagine you move to a new place, what community do you think would be most important? How would you set it up? Which do you think would be easiest, hardest? 3. Ask the students what communities they think they are a part of. Ask them how they know they are part of those communities? In what ways do they show that they are a part of particular community? Does the community do anything to show that they are members? nmajh.org/openbook 4 Procedure 1. Refer to the OpenBook Overview and follow the instructions for the “See, Think, Wonder” activity as a class.
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