Twelfth Night
Description
Colonial Williamsburg historian Lou Powers discusses the holiday season as it existed in the colonial era, as well as touching on calendar systems and class divisions.
Scholars in Action: Analyzing Blues Songs
Article Body
Scholars in Action presents case studies that demonstrate how scholars interpret different kinds of historical evidence. "Two White Horses Standin' in Line" (sung by Smith Cason) and "Worry Blues" (sung by Jesse Lockett), both recorded in 1939 by folklorist Alan Lomax, are known as "blues" songs.
The blues emerged as a musical form among African Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and gained the attention of folklorists and record companies. Historians have studied blues and other African American musical forms to gain insight into the experiences and perspectives of poor and working-class African Americans who left few written records about their lives.
Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor [OH]
Description
The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor provides a dramatic overview of the impact of the iron and steel industry on Youngstown and other Mahoning Valley communities. The building, designed by renowned architect Michael Graves in 1986, houses the museum's permanent exhibit, "By the Sweat of Their Brow: Forging the Steel Valley," which explores labor, immigration, and urban history, using videos, artifacts, photographs, and reconstructed scenes. Objects on display range from workers' tools and clothing to "last heats," the last batches of steel produced at each of the mills before they closed. Hundreds of photographs, some more than 30 feet long, are used throughout the museum. Videos examine topics such as housing, recreation, and urban history. Life-size scenes—including a mill's locker room, part of a company-built house, and a blooming mill, where steel ingots were shaped for further processing—help visitors understand steelmaking and the lives of steelworkers.
The center offers exhibits, tours, research library access, and educational programs.
The Struggle for Civil Rights in the Vietnam Era
Description
Dr. Kent Germany, professor of history at the University of South Carolina, argues that the rise of suburbs and the decline of the inner city factored into the larger struggle for civil rights in the 1960s and 1970s and set up the conditions exposed by Hurricane Katrina.
Diversity, Urbanization, and The Constitution, Part One: The Great Migration, Urbanization, and the Constitution
Description
Eric Arnesen, Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Chicago addresses the interplay between the African-American experience between Reconstruction and the Great Migration, the U.S. Constitution, and shifting democratic ideals.
Audio and video options are available.
The Constitution and Social Justice in the Progressive Era, Part Two
Description
Michael Willrich of Brandeis University investigates the birth of the modern welfare state, exploring a time when so many ideas we now regard as "common sense" found their origins. Willrich pays special attention to two court cases: Lochner v. New York (1905) and Muller v. Oregon (1908).
Audio and video options are available.
The Constitution and Social Justice in the Progressive Era, Part One
Description
Michael Willrich of Brandeis University investigates the birth of the modern welfare state, exploring a time when so many ideas we now regard as "common sense" found their origins. Willrich pays special attention to two court cases: Lochner v. New York (1905) and Muller v. Oregon (1908).
Audio and video options are available.
Diversity, Urbanization, and the Constitution, Part Two: A Conversation
Description
Eric Arnesen, Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Chicago addresses the interplay between the African-American experience between Reconstruction and the Great Migration, the U.S. Constitution, and shifting democratic ideals.
Video and audio options are available.
Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground
Description
Author Robert Kaplan discusses his experiences while writing his book Imperial Grunts, focusing on his impressions on the identity of soldiers. He looks particularly at the representation of the working class in the field and the ways in which warfare and the military are changing today.
Video and audio options are available.
Women's Changing Roles in Immigrant Families
Description
Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY-Binghamton discusses the immigration of Germans and Irish to the U.S. during the antebellum period, to serve as members of the working class. Sklar considers immigrant labor as supporting the development of the new middle class, and also looks at the changing role of women in immigrant families.
To view this clip, select "Women's Changing Roles in Immigrant Families" under "Economic Development and Labor Video."