Many changes occurred between the 1950s and the 1970s. Many groups stood out and fought for equal access. There were also some groups who were very wary of the changes going on. Many women, racial minorities, and LGBT fought for many years to gain simple freedoms. “America was rife with discord during the 1960s. Much debate centered on liberalism and its willingness to use the … Continue reading “We Shall Overcome”
Topic: Consider the battles being fought for equal access from the 1950s through the 1970s. Make sure to think about all groups (women, racial minorities, LGBT) involved. How effective were the civil rights movements of that time? Which group gained the most? In what manner? Continue reading Blog Topic #7 for HIS 222 INET
When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1932, he had a job to help the people of America and to reorganize things from the Great Depression. The New Deal was implemented which included a variety of programs to bring relief, recovery and reform. In 1936 when Roosevelt was elected to a second term as president, he carried out the Second New Deal which also included more … Continue reading “When You’re Right You Can’t Lose”
Freedom to work, or the right to work, is the choice to every worker on if they want to join a union. Crazy thought that this had to be established! The right to work was forged by those workers that took a stand by sitting down. The “sit-down” strike was a technique that came out of the rubber workers in Ohio. By the end of … Continue reading Sit Down to Stand Up
When we envision a strike, do we imagine a brutal, blood war? Of course not, and that is thanks in part to the union strikers of the 1937 Flint strike, who challenged how Michigan, and the U.S. as a whole would handle unions, labor laws and the possible strikes that might ensue. The sit down strikes that occurred in Flint in 1937 were “a new … Continue reading The Flint Strikes of 1937, “The Second Great War.”
The 1937 Flint sit-down strikes consisted of multiple peaceful strikes that took place on the property of General Motors in hopes of taking down the leading automotive manufacture in the United States. The UAW formed in 1935 and soon realized their small peaceful rallies were not taking hold and making a big impact. As automotive workers were overworked and underpaid while working in dangerous conditions … Continue reading The New Deal and Unionism in Michigan
Topic: Think about the 1937 Flint strike (reflect both the textbook and chapter 13 of The Great Water). How did the New Deal strengthen unionism? How would the Flint workers have felt during the strike? How did this new type of striking revolutionize employer/employee relations? Continue reading Blog Topic #6 for HIS 237
The Saginaw Valley Lumber Strike paints an all-too familiar picture of American Capitalism: the rich minority wielding power over those who work underneath them, not realizing (or possibly caring) that manual laborers are human, first and foremost, and are the foundation on which their fortunes rest. In the mid-late 19th century, men flocked from all over the country to get a piece of that lucrative … Continue reading Strike Hard
The 1885 Saginaw Valley Strike, “10 Hours or No Sawdust” became the largest strike in Michigan for lumber workers. The Mills were the biggest industry in that area which proved hundreds of jobs from milling, cutting lumber and loading to many more jobs within the company. The Bay City and Saginaw Mills provided lumber to major cities in the country. (Bay-Journal) Over the years the … Continue reading Saginaw Strike of 1885
Imagine working a mandatory 11 to 14-hour day for six days a week. Imagine the lack of family time, sleep or even personal space. Your hands have an extreme amount of calluses and you’re suffering with back pain. You’re not only working all this time with kids or animals or something calm and collected, yet, something very dirty and dangerous, lumber fields. In July of … Continue reading Time To Strike For Laborers
Back in the late 19th Century the lumber industry was the biggest industry in the area. Hundreds of men worked in the industry doing things from cooking, scouting, milling, and cutting lumber. Most men were ok with how their jobs were doing, but some realized that their working conditions were atrocious. These men realized that they were working for upwards of twelve hours a day … Continue reading Lumber Strikes in the Bay Area
Topic: Using my video, the annotated article (notice that I made some remarks where I disagree with the author), and the texts, discuss the 1885 Saginaw Valley Lumber Strike. The Ten Hour Law (1885), which working men (united under the Knights of Labor) fought for, was not effective enough to protect Michigan’s working men. Although a plethora of strikes were waged in numerous industries over long … Continue reading Blog Topic #4 for HIS 237
What does Goesaert v Cleary tell us about gender norms of this time? As veterans returned from WWII, the inevitable fear of a lack of jobs for returning veterans forced law makers into passing legislation they felt would benefit our returning vets. These laws included the decision in Goesaert v Cleary, to prohibit woman from serving liquor as barmaids, unless they were the bar owners … Continue reading Goesaert v Cleary and Gender Norms
Nowadays it is very common for you to be greeted by a female bartender. However, it was not always that way. Along with many others, Detroit Local 562 of the Bartenders’ Union members shared the same view on woman mixing up alcohol beverages. They believed women were not knowledgeable, outgoing, sociable or even physically capable of being a bartender. Although this belief was widely accepted … Continue reading If You Want A Drink, Should It Matter Whose Mixing It?
As with many professions during the second World War, women took the place of men in bartending among many others. After men returned from the war, they demanded that women leave their positions and return to what they thought was the best position for a women in society: being a housewife. It is obvious with the gender norms of the time that women bartenders would … Continue reading Goesaert v. Cleary: Barmaids and the Fourteenth Amendment
Topic: What does Goesaert v. Cleary tell us about gender norms of the time? Use the primary source on p. 699 and my article “Mixing It Up” to answer this question. Continue reading Blog Topic #6 for HIS 225
In the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s, a sharp increase in industrialization and a large wave of immigration reshuffled the working class and made social change a viable movement in urbanized cities. Though still unable to vote, many strong, determined women dared to challenge both government and social norms for the betterment of women’s wage work and labor laws. Florence Kelley, a college educated … Continue reading Women’s Labor Reforms
The laws originally adopted by the American government before women pushed for the organization of the labor movement created harsh divides between the genders and what was expected of each. As men, you were to be involved in our democracy and decision making for the country and you were to be the breadwinner and/or sole provider for your family in whichever occupation you so chose. … Continue reading Women Paving the Way
In light of America’s Industrial Revolution beginning in the 1800’s, the country was exhibiting features of social reform in schools, the workplace, and traditional society. The allowance of white, middle- class women to attend college along with the development of social science prompted a dynamic shift orchestrated by women who wanted revised laws in favor of fair treatment for women and children. And yet, despite … Continue reading Industrial and Social Revolutions
Thinking about the women you read about in this week’s articles and primary sources (350-376 and 377-382), as well as the labor movement and the Industrial Revolution, discuss wage work. Did our laws and social reform programs create gender constructs of men as wage earners? What gender constructs did we make at the turn of the century regarding women? Continue reading Blog Topic #4 for HIS 225
The idea behind what it means to be a witch has been misconstrued for as long as time has told its tale. For example, during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, witches were often believed to be women possessed by the devil. This is a belief found in Carol F. Karlsen’s “The Devil in the Shape of a Woman” essay which will be thoroughly discussed … Continue reading Women & Witchcraft in Puritan America
Why did neighbors or acquaintances launch accusations of witchcraft against particular persons? Neighbors and acquaintances launched accusations of witchcraft against particular persons because according to Anthropologists, witches are defined as people whose behavior enacts the things that the community fears. This is one of the keys to understanding a society during this period and how they associated witchcraft to things they thought wrong or they … Continue reading Women, Gender and Witchcraft
Topic: Thinking about “Devil in the Shape of a Woman,” why did neighbors or acquaintances launch accusations of witchcraft against particular persons? What do you think this tells us about gender and about this time in American history? **Please refer to the blog schedule on eLearning (under Content) to see who is assigned to post a blog for this week. You will need to create your … Continue reading Blog Topic #1 for HIS 225
In our gender history class, different students will blog weekly in response to the material we covered, as well as questions that I (Professor Amy French) posed to them. Everyone in the class is responsible for commenting. Each week, I will post the blog topic for all our readers to see. –Dr. Amy French Continue reading Gender History Posts
History at Delta College 