California Labor History

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Image, Introductory graphic, California Labor History
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This interactive essay covers 300 years of labor history in California. Powered by Shockwave, the site features a map of California that depicts the locations of labor disputes from 1776 to 1992. Using the scrollbar at the top of the site, users can change the year displayed on the map. On the map itself, small dots indicate the location of a particular event important to California's labor history. Clicking on the dot reveals a chronological list of related "Labor Events." The bottom-left panel, titled "Bigger Picture," provides links to sections of a larger secondary source entitled "Contextual Information" on California labor history relevant to the year and location the user is viewing. 64 700-word essays are mainly excerpts from published books and articles.

Tennessee Electronic Atlas

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Map graphic, Tennessee Electric Atlas
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This site provides information about the state of Tennessee and offers a gateway for learning more about the state. One of the main goals is to disseminate data through thematic maps and interactive mapping (which contains tutorial exercises that introduce the basic concepts involved in geographic information systems). For those interested in utilizing the full capabilities of the site, the Metro GIS service area of the site allows users to look at the main metropolitan regions in the state and to customize the themes (such as churches, golf courses, and hospitals) to their preferences. Included are data concerning agriculture, education, physical landscape, economics, and society. The site includes information from the 2000 national census, as well as state legislative districts. There is also detailed information about education in Tennessee. Visitors can check out the school system report cards to see results of standardized tests, both in raw numbers and in comparative terms versus other districts. Although the site contains no historical maps, the site allows visitors to compare some change over time, and visitors can use the site to compare the size and shape of the 106th and 108th Congressional districts.

The Insanity Retrial of Mary Lincoln

Description

In 1875, Mary Todd Lincoln's son, Robert Lincoln, petitioned to have his mother institutionalized for insanity. Mary Lincoln was declared insane and subsequently detained in Bellevue Sanatorium for four months. One year later, Mary Lincoln underwent another trial; however, this one proved more beneficial to the widow, as she received a formal declaration of sanity and the restoration of control over her assets.

Now, over a century later, various Mary Lincoln historians, legal experts, and mental health professionals have been assembled to discuss the question of Mary Todd Lincoln's insanity. This roundtable examination of Mary's mental state has been broken up amongst two panels—one which focuses on historic interpretations and other other on modern perspectives. Join these two panels as they examine this infamous case of insanity, its ramifications, and its modern interpretations.

Labor Arts

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Lithograph, "John Henry," William Gropper, Between 1897 and 1977
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A modestly-sized exhibition of visual materials from a variety of labor-related organizations that focuses on ways in which artists and others have celebrated working people and labor unions in 20th-century America. Includes 44 photographs, 19 images of leaflets and pamphlets, 13 buttons, badges, and ribbons, 25 examples of cartoon art, eight songbook and sheet music covers, six images from murals, and nine covers from the journal Labor Defender. Covers themes of workers at work, strikes, parades, demonstrations, and the civil rights movement. Provides exhibits on original art depicting labor, the New York City "culture of solidarity," and the early struggles of the Hotel and Motel Trades Council. Materials are identified with short descriptions of up to 100 words. Offers links to 61 related sites. Useful for those studying political uses of visual culture in 20th-century America.

Hard Hat Riots: An Online History Project

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Photo, Construction Workers with American Flag, New York Times
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A well-designed and innovative approach to teaching history, this site, designed by three PhD candidates at New York University, presents multifaceted perspectives on the May 8, 1970, attacks in New York City on Vietnam War protesters by hundreds of construction workers.

Users can enter the site by selecting any of 12 photographs, nine newspaper headlines, three places in the city where rioting occurred, or 10 summaries of views on the events and their meaning by historians and journalists. Selected items link to additional resources, including a police report and interviews with a student and a construction worker. The creators challenge users to fit the riots into wider contexts and to assess variant attempts at historical understanding.

Offers about a dozen suggested activities for high school and college teachers. Though limited in scope and quantity of material, this site is of great value to those studying social class in the Vietnam War era, labor history, and media influence in American life.

Flint Sit-Down Strike

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Photo, Genora Johnson with a very..., c. 1936-1937, Flint Sit-Down Strike
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This rich, multimedia resource provides an introduction to "the greatest strike in American history." The six-week occupation of the General Motors plant at Flint, Michigan, in 1936–37, was led by the recently-formed United Auto Workers. Using the new tactic of remaining in the plant rather than picketing outside, the strikers stopped production and won many demands.

The site begins with a short introductory essay and a small bibliography and webography. The three main sections—organization, strike, and aftermath—provide nearly 100 audio interviews recorded between 1978 and 1984 with former strikers recalling work conditions prior to the strike, experiences during the sit-in, the hostile reaction of Flint residents, the role of the Women's Auxiliary, and conditions following the strike. Each section includes a narrative essay. In addition the site presents slideshows, an audio timeline, and a Flash-generated strike map with textual and audio links.

Digital Resource Guide for the Labor Archives of Washington State

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Photo, Camp Ferry crew on their way to lunch, 1939, WPA, Uni. of Washington
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The Digital Resource Guide for the Labor Archives of Washington State exists for one purpose—to break down and make accessible the contents of the University of Washington's labor collections. To begin, simply scroll down or select "Topics" from the top navigation bar to view five categories within the collections. From there, make your choice, and find a summary of the collection contents alongside links.

"The I.W.W. in the Pacific Northwest" offers access to ephemera, newspaper clippings, personal accounts, and photographs related to the 1916 Everett Massacre and the 1919 Centralia Massacre; letters and documents concerning opposition to the I.W.W.; and local Wobblie charters, letters, and manuscripts.

"The Seattle General Strike and Its Aftermath" includes photographs and documents from the strike; notes, letters, reports, news clippings, and ephemera related to the Central Labor Council of Seattle in the 1920s and 1930s; documents pertaining to the Seattle Union Record, the CLC's newspaper; documents related to Henry Ault, an editor of the paper; and letters, manuscripts, ephemera, and photographs concerning Anna Louise Strong, advocate of laborer and children's rights.

Look to "Anti-Labor Reactions and Labor Espionage" for photos and documents from the Spruce Production Division and the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen; speeches, articles, and letters by the Associated Industries; and 1919 and 1920 reports from spies within the labor movement.

"Labor and the New Deal" leads to photographs only. Here, you can find more than 450 photographs related to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, Civil Works Administration, the CCC, and Works Progress Administration workers at the Grand Coulee Dam and elsewhere.

Finally, "Labor in the Modern Era" emphasizes Cesar Chavez and the farmworkers' movement, as well as protests held at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting. Resources include posters, interviews, fliers, pamphlets, and photographs.

Nazi Technology

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Gwen Wright of PBS's History Detectives introduces Operation Paperclip, which, at the end of World War II, brought Nazi scientists to work for the U.S. Many of the CIA documents related to this project remain classified, despite demands for their release.

Re-enactors

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Gwen Wright of PBS's History Detectives looks at the popularity of historical reenactment and the particular appeal of Civil War reenactment.