Turn of the Century
Teaching Activity PDFs
History Textbooks: “Theirs” and “Ours”: A Rebellion or a War of Independence?
Teaching Activity PDF. By John DeRose. 4 pages.
Analysis of textbook passages from different countries, videos and books are used to explore different perspectives about the same event in history, i.e. “Philippine-American War” vs. “War of Philippine Independence”.
Imperialism, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, World History/Global Studies
What the Tour Guide Didn’t Tell Me: Tourism, Colonialism, and Resistance in Hawai’i
Teaching Activity. By Wayne Wah Kwai Au. 5 pages.
Lesson on the history of Hawai’i and the impact of colonization and tourism.
Asian American, Imperialism, Pacific Islander, Racism & Racial Identity, US Foreign Policy
Exploring Women’s Rights: The 1908 Textile Strike in a 1st-grade Class
Teaching Activity PDF. By Dale Weiss. 3 pages.
A teacher’s reflections about a curriculum unit on women’s rights contextualizes the history of the feminist movement within the broader struggle of people working for greater equality in the United States.
One Country! One Language! One Flag!
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 3 pages.
Discussion questions and teaching ideas for examining the history of the Pledge of Allegiance and the political milieu in which it was written.
Daughter of Earth: Reading, Writing, and Social Class
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow. 7 pages.
Labor Matters
Teaching Activity. By Teaching Tolerance.
Introduces students to the role of the labor movement in securing contemporary benefits such as the 40-hour workweek, the minimum wage, and workplace safety regulations.
Lewis Hine’s Photographs
Teaching Activity PDF. By Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. 4 pages.
Using photographs to spark creative writing and critical thinking about child labor issues and social justice.
Art & Music, Immigration, Labor, Media, Social Class, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Socialists and Wobblies
Teaching Activity PDF. By Gayle Olson-Raymer. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 13 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on the labor movement at the turn of the century.
Vietnam and Beyond: The Historic Resistance
Teaching Activity PDF. By Mike Benbow and Robin Pickering. 17 pages.
Questions and teaching ideas for Chapter 18 of Voices of a People’s History of the United States on opposition to the Vietnam War.
Imperialism, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements
Teaching Guides
Race and Membership in American History
Teaching Guide. By Alan Stoskopf. Facing History and Ourselves. 2002.
Resources for teaching about the eugenics movement in the United States.
Books: Fiction
A Boy from Ireland
Book – Fiction. By Marie Raphael. 2007. 224 pages. Ages 12+.
Historical fiction about the life of the Irish in New York City at the beginning of the 20th century.
A Moment in the Sun
Book – Fiction. By John Sayles. 2011. 968 pages.
Spanning five years and half a dozen countries, Sayles’ novel paints a picture of the late 1890s — from the racist coup in Wilmington, North Carolina, to the bloody dawn of U.S. interventionism in Cuba and the Philippines.
Zora and Me
Book – Fiction. By Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon. 2010. 186 pages.
A coming-of-age story inspired by the early life of Zora Neale Hurston for ages 10 and up.
Books: Non-Fiction
Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement and the Bombing that Divided Gilded Age America
Book – Non-fiction. By James Green. 2007. 400 pages.
History of the late 19th century labor movement.
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 – Present
Book – Non-fiction. By Howard Zinn. 2005. 702 pages.
Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking work on U.S. history. This book details the lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks — an indispensable teacher and student resource.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship, Economics, Education, Immigration, Imperialism, Labor, Laws & Citizen Rights, Native American, Organizing, Racism & Racial Identity, Slavery, Social Class, US Foreign Policy, Wars & Related Anti-War Movements, Women's History
Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell About Life in the Segregated South
Book – Non-fiction (with CD). Edited by William H. Chafe, Raymond Gavins and Robert Korstad. 2008. 346 pages.
African American, Individuals in US History, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity, Social Class
Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship in the Era of Plessy v. Ferguson
Book – Non-fiction. By Blair L.M. Kelley. 2010. 280 pages.
Examines acts of protest and resistance to segregated trains and streetcars during the early Jim Crow era.
African American, Civil Rights Movements, Democracy & Citizenship
Films
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
Film. Producer/Writer: Kristy Andersen. 2008. 84 minutes.
Documentary about the life, literature, and research of Zora Neale Hurston.
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