Tag: History

Telling School Tales: Rural School History Research

Telling School Tales: Rural School History Research

Casey Thomas Jakubowski

In 1998, my first teaching position in Little Valley Central School District in Cattaraugus County New York, as a social studies instructor led to a career exploring the nooks and hollows of educational history across the Empire State (Jakubowski, 2020; 2023). The former school district is part of the Appalachian region of New York State, which includes 14 counties from Lake Erie to the Catskills. This district was undertaking an annexation study, or school district reorganization attempt in my first year. I knew nothing of these events, and was unaware that there was a nearly 100 year history of rural school reform focusing on creating more urban-like schools in rural areas (Jakubowski, 2020).  The first major community activity surrounding a reorganization, or merger is the Boards of Education voting to undergo a study. After the districts are presented with the study, the Board then votes to accept the study. If this passes both boards, it is sent to the community in a non binding, or advisory vote (straw). When the straw vote passed in both Cattaraugus and Little Valley, people began to protest outside the school every morning and evening, to “save the panthers” or to “save the heart of LV” as I remember the sign read. My students were pulled from extracurriculars by their parents in order to protest the potential merging of the two districts, Cattaraugus to the north, and Little Valley, a one building K-12 district with just under 300 students. When the “binding vote” happened that year, and the Cattaraugus community defeated the proposed measure, we wondered, “What next?”

I left the district that fall, to move to central New York, and once again, a school centralization impacted my life. A family member’s teaching position was abolished, because the five year moratorium had expired. After a few resignations and retirements, the family member was once again employed. This is an all too unfortunate reality across Appalachia’s schools, as decreasing population, and wealth decline usually results in less money for school budgets, and personnel.  I was once again wondering “What next?” This time, I used a Masters level research paper (unpublished, 2004)[1] to begin to pursue what has been a twenty-year scholarly chase through the rural, upstate, and state education department policy of recommending schools which are, according to the 1947 and 1958 Master Plan for School District Reorganization, too small to produce efficient, or effective programming for their children[2]). I also learned that New York State’s policy towards rural districts is as Fulkerson & Thomas (2019) describe it “urban normative” or the urban areas are the norm, and should be promoted as an ideal form of local government.[3] So I dug deep, and researched cases of successfully undertaken and defeated centralizations, or consolidations, or mergers, or reorganizations.[4] The history of why so many reorganizations failed post 1960 became an obsession. I learned from my pursuit of the 20th and 21st century of educational history of New York two major tracks: most educational historians write on the early period (founding of New York as a colony to just after World War I) and second, the state’s citizens have experienced some major fights with the state bureaucratic system in Albany over really basic issues of democracy, local control, and what citizenship means.

Telling tales out of school, as the title implies is often thought of as a negative, and uncivilized approach, yet I view these two tales, about Kiantone and Morganville, as critical, and very necessary to explain some of the basic urban rural divide of New York State, and further the rural anger deployed at government, which observers believe is current, but is actually rooted in Post World War II actions by the the State Education Department.[5]

The State of New York has, as Tracy Steffes writes in her seminal work, been interested since the late 1800s in “reforming” rural schools through strategic aid packages to develop longer terms and more “professional” schools in rural areas.[6] Thomas Mauhs-Pugh described how the local school governing boards were once held as exemplars, because they created “12,000 little republics” that taught governing principles at the local level.[7] Benjamin Justice combed the archive to discover how religious governing practices amongst local Board of Education members often resulted in appeals to the State Education Department.[8] Heffernan’s article on the conflict between State Education Department expectations for school facilities and local board’s realities describe how dissonance started in the early 20th century between the professionals and the public.[9]  Chiles’ work on Progressive era school reform describes how Gov. Smith undertook school reform in rural areas as a signature effort among his governorship, and later presidential aspirations.[10] Loveland’s dissertation on the transition between the State Superintendent for Education to the University of the State of New York’s Commissioner of Education and President is a landmark in describing how the first three leaders at the newly created State Education Department had created a policy of rural school reform[11]. As Parkerson & Parkerson wrote in the crucial book on rurals school reform, the “ABCs” or Assessment, bureaucracy and consolidation, have haunted, especially in New York, rural schools who try to survive in the midst of population decline, decreasing wealth, and state policy which relies on a long standing deficit narrative, which Biddle & Azano expose as more than 100 years old.[12]

Having learned about the New York Master Plan for School District Reorganization (which is still in effect in 2023) I began to explore areas close to where I was living at the time, namely Genesee County, and discovered a huge gap in my understanding of the creation of the present day accepted “Central School Districts.” Many New Yorkers take for granted these post-Depression era created districts, many of which did not assume final form until the midst of the Cold War. These often hyphenated schools recall a vague history, or “mystic chords of memory” as Kammen would call it,[13] of the past, prior to the baby boomers (post World War II) entering school and gaining an affiliation as members of those relatively newly created schools. As Osterude describes in a profound work on the Broome County area, identity, and affinity moved from community to the newly created school districts, often built outside of town, and the social hub of the area.[14]  Yet I know from my own experience (auto ethnographic history?)[15] the process must not have been smooth, or why would perfectly rational people hold so closely to an identity or mascot, as much of the national research claimed was the reason centralizations/ consolidations/ mergers are defeated?

Seeking to understand school history, as Carol Kammen, or David Kyvig[16] calls “nearby history” led me to the Genesee County Archives, where I discovered the Morganville Question. At the bottom of the Byron Bergen Central School District 1958 Master Plan entry was a footnote, which caught my attention:

By alteration of boundary, effective Sept. 17, 1951, all of the property in the Town of Stafford, formerly C2 Stafford, was transferred from CS 1 Byron to CS 1 Le Roy. (p. 301).[17]

After meeting with the Genesee County historian, and reading the records from the New York State Archive on the town of Stafford, I went to the town historian, and museum and learned a bit about this “school tale.”[18]

            Stafford 2, Morganville, was one of the wealthier common schools in the area. A community with a pottery manufacturing center, and a two room schoolhouse, the community provided a grade 1-6 education to their children. In a tuition agreement very common until the creation of centralized school districts, and the birth of a semi modern high school in each C.S.D, Morganville partnered with South Byron by sending their secondary students for instruction. When the Centralization petition was launched, the Stafford 2 district residents overwhelmingly voted no, and wanted to maintain their two room schoolhouse, and independence. In records, memos, telegrams, and newspaper reports of the time period, the fight between Morganville (Stafford 2) and SED heated up, and became a back and forth with the end result of the community locking the South Byron Board of Education employee teacher out of the building. The parents refused to send their children.[19] The local school district superintendent, who is a field based representative of the commissioner of education, was on the side of the Stafford 2 (Morganville) representatives.

            The archival records in Genesee county, and the State Archives in Albany record the back and forth memos and telegrams of the bureaucracy and the local residents trying to enter into a positive, less public solution. What became the clue to a second quest was a note on one of the memos from senior SED officials to the bureau and the local superintendent: “We do not need another Kiantone.”[20] More on Kiantone below.

            What finally concluded the “Morganville question” was a bit of bureaucracy, and the intervention of a neighboring district. LeRoy, a larger village in Genesee County, had a well developed secondary school, as befitting an Erie Canal town home to the creators of Jell-o. The leaders of LeRoy offered free transportation and free tuition for schooling to any family in Stafford 2 who could transport their children to the boundary line. Using this subtle recruiting technique, the narrative from Morganville changed from “independent” to “LeRoy” as their demands for a school centralization destination. In one of the communications between the Morganville leaders and SED, the justification given for the break in the previous relationship with South Byron was the expectation of a better quality of secondary education for children at the LeRoy schools. South Byron was, in the opinion of the Morganville leaders, too small and not robust enough.[21]

            The bureaucratic support arrived in the form of the New York State Thruway Authority, and its construction of the mainline branch from Buffalo to Rochester. The layout of the Eisenhower Interstate system, a divided, limited access highway modeled on the autobahn, was a technology and transportation revolution in the United States post World War II. As the Morganville community and the State were seeking a solution to the “question” of where would the children attend school, the Thruway authority indicated that the disruption caused by construction of the thruway and the needed overpass bridges for state and local routes would be a long term logistical problem for Morganville Children to attend South Byron. The authority provided the State Education Department face saving “cover” to move Morganville (Stafford 2) student population to LeRoy. The Morganville residents celebrated a win, and the State Education Department reaffirmed that the Master Plan was a voluntary policy, and the districts presented in the plan were recommended[22].

            This situation was very different than just five years prior, where the Kiantone community south of Jamestown, in the Northern Appalachian region,  experienced the wrath of State Education Department, while participating in a “farmers rebellion” that brought to the fore questions of democracy, local self determination and the international questions of communism, and totalitarianism post World War II.

            Just south of Jamestown, of the “outlying” urban areas of New York State in the mid 1800s, Kiantone was a farming community along the Kiantone creek, with early settlers engaging in what Fox calls resource clearance in the areas of lumbering and then farming. The Kiantone residents erected seven Common Schools as part of the State enabling legislation. As Jamestown to the north, the residents began a long term tuitioning partnership with the secondary academy in Jamestown. Through World War I, and then World War II, the region provided significant material and manpower, and as a local furniture manufacturing hub in Buffalo, became a large urban center devoted to consumer products, and then the war efforts.  At the Fenton- Chautauqua County historical society, the story of Kiantone is well known, and is a special area to the research people, because it represents the hypocrisy of national policy and local actions.[23]

            During World War II, the Rapp-Coudert commission was charged by the New York state Legislature with rooting out communists among college professors in New York City. It also became the leading committee examining how to create a more efficient and effective public school system, with a focus on rural districts. After the New York State Board of Regents inquiry into the condition of public schools in the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, the report concluded that rural schools were extremely inefficient, and ineffective. Prior to the centralization movements of the 1930s-1970s, New York was home to a large number of smaller common schools, offering grades 1-6, and or tuitioning children out to neighboring districts. The Master Plan for School District Reorganization reported that in 1930, there were over 10,000 districts in New York State. By 1945, there were just over 5,000 (today, there are just under 700). At the secondary or 7-12 levels, parents would send children to villages based or academies for a secondary education focused on the Board of Regents curriculum and end of course exams introduced just after the Civil War, as Beadie describes. The Rapp Coudert commission established minimums to ensure efficient and effective spending on public education in the state. The commission, under the guise of a voluntary or recommended reorganization plan of 1947 (p. 18) created an organized plan to ensure that proposed districts would meet minimums in grades 1-6 and 7-12.  Those minimums include 1500 dollars for elementary programming and 1800 for secondary expenditures. The minimums for pupil enrollment recommended at least 1000 students in a district.[24] As these recommendations emerged during the World War II era (1941-1945) the final report and “Master Plan” was released in 1947.[25] As the Master Plan was established, residents in each proposed district could submit to the local District superintendent of schools a request to begin the centralization process. Kiantone, with its long standing relationship to Jamestown, had been included in the Frewsburg Central School District proposed area. After some initial negotiations, one of the Kiantone schools was moved to Jamestown,[26] but the rest were included with Frewsburg. 

 Trustees of the Common Schools, and residents,  vigorously opposed this arrangement, and felt, at the minimum, two major negatives precluded their inclusion with Frewsburg. First, the long relationship with Jamestown was primary. Second, the program in Jamestown was far superior to Frewsburg offerings. The Common School trustees in Kiantone refused to turn the key to the school over, and in August of 1948, the attorney for the Frewsburg Central School, accompanied by a “Phalanx” of New York State Troopers “crashed into a human barricade “ (Jamestown Post Journal, August 24, 1948).[27]  A scuffle resulted, with a World War I veteran, who was waving an American Flag, pushed to the ground.  In the ensuing media coverage, comparisons with John Paul Jones, a demand for the House Un American Activities Committee to investigate, and a comparison to the totalitarianism of the USSR and Germany were published. Investigations were launched by the American Legion and the New York State Grange into the incident, and then the State Education Department’s response. Deputy Commissioner Jeru, interviewed by the Post Journal, was rather harsh, and described the residents of Kiantone as self-serving, and neglectful of their children’s future.[28] Commissioner of Education Franscis Trow Spaulding, in speeches, referenced troublemakers in rural areas, who did not see the bigger picture of centralization and the need to create more and better training opportunities[29]. Mrs. Potter, of the area, an Albany Normal School trained librarian, became the spokesperson for the community, and led statewide hearings, rallies, and pressures which resulted in some seismic shifts to state law and policy. First, the Kiantone residents created a private school, and the State Appeals court in Buffalo ruled that private, non organization sponsored schools were legal. This legalized schools unaffiliated with formal organizations, such as religious groups to operate. Second the process was altered (after Morganville) so that a majority of voters in the individual, in existence schools were needed to authorize the centralization or consolidation. This home rule precedent was crucial in the slowing down of enabling consolidations.[30]

The story does not end here, as many districts in the Northern Appalachian Region area of New York have experienced this pressure to reorganize, centralize, or consolidate. In every county, districts have faced pressure to examine consolidation. The ongoing drumbeat of efficiency, and effectiveness from the State policy and political leadership is often matched by local and regional media opinions that “bigger is better.” Yet in large urban districts, “smaller is successful” has been supported by politicians, philanthropists, and others. Why this dissonance? As Fulkerson & Thomas have pointed out, the schema of many policy makers supposes that urban is normal, cities are the way, and rural isn’t worth support or investment.

            These two examples of school district reorganization, whose stories exist in local archives, which to this point, have not been extensively researched, help fill a research gap into the rural rage and distrust of state officials. The two examples provide a demonstrable dissonance between the words, deeds, and actions of the United States government towards democracy overseas, and the internal state government downplaying local communities concerns that their rights were violated and should be subjected to state level bureaucratic planning. No wonder rural residents in New York view state government promises as fleeting and empty.[31]

            I would, in this short essay, recommend that scholars, students, and the curious examine these smaller, more local archives as sources of interesting, compelling, and frankly subaltern histories that do not mirror the narrative which explains the creation of our now taken for granted local governing structures.

References

Primary Archives:

Fenton Historical Society of Chautauqua County. Kiantone history files. Jamestown, NY

Genesee County historical society. Local history files. Batavia, NY.

New York State Archives.  Education Department Bureau of School District Organization. File B0477. Albany, NY.

Secondary sources:

Biddle, Catharine, and Amy Price Azano. “Constructing and reconstructing the “rural school problem” a century of rural education research.” Review of Research in Education 40, no. 1 (2016): 298-325.

Chiles, Robert. “SCHOOL REFORM AS PROGRESSIVE STATECRAFT: EDUCATION POLICY IN NEW YORK UNDER GOVERNOR ALFRED E. SMITH, 1919–1928.” The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 15, no. 4 (2016): 379-398.

Fulkerson, G. & A. Thomas. Urban normativity. Lexington, 2019.

Heffernan, Karen M. ““Much more chewing”: a case study of resistance to school reform in rural New York during the early twentieth century.” Paedagogica Historica (2021): 1-19.

Jakubowski, C. Rural school consolidation: A case study. Unpublished seminar paper, SUNY Binghamton, 2004.

Jakubowski, C. Hidden Resistance. Unpublished PhD Dissertation, SUNY Albany, 2019.

Jakubowski, C. School Consolidation. New York State Archives Magazine 20.1, 2020.

Jakubowski, C. A Cog in the Machine.  Alexandra, VA: Edumatch, 2021.

Jakubowski, C. Rural Education History: State Policy Meets Local Implementation.Lexington, 2023.

Jakubowski, C. Schooling for a Fight. Lexington Press (expected publication 2025).

Justice, Benjamin. The war that wasn’t: Religious conflict and compromise in the common schools of New York state, 1865-1900. SUNY Press, 2009.

Kammen, Carol. On doing local history. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.

Kammen, Michael. Mystic chords of memory: The transformation of tradition in American culture. Vintage, 2011.

Kyvig, D. et al.  Nearby History: Exploring the Past Around You, 4th ed. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Loveland, Fred Gerald. Victor M. Rice and Andrew S. Draper: the origins of educational centralization in rural New York State. State University of New York at Buffalo, 1993.

Mauhs-Pugh, Thomas J. “12,000 Little Republics: Civic Apprenticeship and the Cult of Efficiency.” New York History 86, no. 3 (2005): 251-287.

New York State. Master Plan for School District Reorganization. Albany, 1947

New York State. Master Plan for School Districts Reorganization. Second Ed. Albany, 1958.

Osterud, Nancy Grey. Putting the Barn Before the House. Cornell University Press, 2012.

Parkerson, Donald, and Jo Ann Parkerson. Assessment, bureaucracy, and consolidation: The issues facing schools today. Rowman & Littlefield, 2015.

Spaulding, Francis Trow. Addresses and Papers of Francis Trow Spaulding ,President of the University of the State of New York and Commissioner of Education from July 1, 1946-March 25, 1950. University of the State of New York, State Education Department, 1967.

Steffes, Tracy L. “Solving the “rural school problem”: New state aid, standards, and supervision of local schools, 1900–1933.” History of Education Quarterly 48, no. 2 (2008): 181-220.

[1] Jakubowski, 2004 (SUNY Binghamton, History Department Masters presentations).

[2] NYSED, 1958

[3] Fulkerson & Thomas, 2019

[4] Jakubowski, 2019

[5] Initial findings  presented at multiple Researching New York Conference and Jakubowski (2025)

[6] Steffes, 2008

[7] Mauhs-Pugh, 2005

[8] Justice, 2009

[9] Heffernan, 2021

[10] Chiles, 2016

[11] Loveland, 1993

[12] Parkerson & Parkerson, 2015, Azano & Biddle, 2016.

[13] Kammen, 2011

[14] Osterude, 2011

[15] Jakubowski, 2021

[16] Kammen, 2014; Kyvig, et al, 2021.

[17] NYSED, 1958

[18] Genesee County historical society, Batavia, NY. Local history files. NYS Archives, Bureau of District Reorganization files.

[19] See footnote 18

[20] See note 18

[21] See note 18

[22] See note 18

[23] Fenton Historical Society, Kiantone School Consolidation files, Jamestown, NY.

[24] Reports of the New York State Legislative Commission (Rapp-Coldert Commission, 1941-1945)

[25] New York State Master Plan for School District Reorganization, 1947.

[26] Master Plan, 1947 p. 107 & 122.

[27] Fenton Historical Society, Kiantone File, Newspaper clippings.

[28] See note 27

[29] Spaulding, 1967

[30] See note 27

[31] Jakubowski, 2019

Curriculum on “The Arab-Israeli Conflict”

Curriculum on “The Arab-Israeli Conflict”

By Chloe Daikh

Chloe Daikh was a volunteer at a refugee camp in Palestine, served as an AmeriCorps VISTA College Access & Success Coordinator, and taught at a boarding school in Virginia. Following this article is the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) description of the grade 6-12 lessons and links to its resources. The package for “Teaching the History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict” includes lesson plans, a slide deck, learning objectives, essential questions for students to address, primary sources, and links to recommended videos (https://icsresources.org/curriculum/the-arab-israeli-conflict/). Some of the ICS documents are included along with comments on the article and the ICS curriculum by local teachers.

Since Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, there has been an increased interest in helping K-12 students understand the historical background and context of the current violence in Israel/Palestine that has now escalated to a war in Lebanon and the possibility of a regional war involving Syria, Yemen, and Iran. On October 20, 2023, The Office of the Texas Governor encouraged schools to use a list of resources shared by the Texas Education Agency “to increase awareness and understanding of the Israel-Hamas war and root causes of conflict in the region” (Office of the Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, 2023). First in a list of four resources hyperlinked to the press release is a document from the Institute of Curriculum Studies (ICS) titled “Support for Classroom Discussion on the Hamas-Israel War,” which in turn includes a link to ICS’s curriculum, “Teaching the History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict Using Primary Sources.”

The Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) is not new to teacher training. Founded in 2005, their website states that 18,000 teachers have engaged in their workshops, and that all 50 states and D.C. are represented within ICS’s pool of participants. The reach of ICS’s influence in secondary school instruction is further facilitated through cooperation with the National Council of Social Studies and many of their state affiliates and local districts, including New York Department of Education; North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; Iowa Department of Education, among many others (ICS, 2024). ICS published its “Teaching the History of the Arab Israeli Conflict Using Primary Sources” in 2022 and has promoted the curriculum as an effective tool for teachers to help students understand the history of the conflict. In addition to the curriculum, which is accessible for free online and includes worksheets and graphic organizers for students (2022a), ICS offers workshops, both online and in-person in collaboration with public school districts across the country (2024). However, key aspects of ICS’s curriculum are misaligned with standards for the study of history and geography and are not conducive to helping students understand the root causes of Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, nor Israel’s widely condemned response. This curriculum, by providing students with insufficient context and inaccurate information, primes students to uncritically condone and support Israel’s ongoing settler colonial violence and dispossession, and contributes to the dissemination of racist, Islamophobic tropes.

Misalignment with C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards

By using standard curriculum formatting and creating materials and activities that can be easily implemented for class instruction, ICS’s curriculum looks like a credible curriculum, and thus may seem like a legitimate tool for teaching about Israel/Palestine. ICS claims that their curriculum is “guided by, and…in alignment with, state and national standards” (ICS, 2018b). The organization points to the Frameworks in the C3 Framework for Social Studies as supposed guiding principles for the creation of their curricular resources, “with a particular focus on Dimension 2: History and “Dimension 3: Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence” (ICS, 2018b).The National Council for the Social Studies states that the C3 Framework was developed “for states to upgrade their state social studies standards” and “for practitioners…to strengthen their social studies programs” (2013). ICS claims to specifically and particularly align with two Dimensions within the framework: “History” and “Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence” (ICS 2018b). While ICS does not claim to address “Geography,” its substantial use of (political) maps requires attention to the desired learning outcomes of that Dimension as well. An analysis of the ICS curriculum compared to the learning outcomes outlined in the C3 Framework demonstrates the curriculum’s failure to meet standards for social studies education. This article will highlight specific ways in which the ICS curriculum is misaligned with the C3 Framework’s learning outcomes, and will include resources that, had they been included in the curriculum, would meet the expressed skills standards and learning outcomes. The C3 Framework includes learning outcomes which are used as a basis of the critique of ICS’s curriculum.

C3 Framework Learning Outcomes (achieved by end of Grade 12) (National Council for Social Studies, 2013, pp. 42-49) Dimension 1: History Change, Continuity, and Context “Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.” Perspectives “Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during historical eras.” “Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.” Historical Sources and Evidence “Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.” “Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place or origin, intended audience, and purpose” “Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.” “Critique the appropriateness of the historical sources used in a secondary interpretation.” Causation and Argumentation “Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.” “Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.” “Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past” “Critique the central argument in secondary works of history on related topics in multiple media in terms of their historical accuracy.”   Dimension 2: Geography  Human-Environment Interaction “Evaluate how political and economic decisions through time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.” Evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions.”   Human Population “Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.”   Dimension 3: Evaluating Sources & Using Evidence Gathering and Evaluating Sources “Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the source to guide the selection.”  

ICS’s selection and framing of primary source material is misaligned with several learning outcomes outlined within the C3 Framework’s Dimension 2: History. ICS limits the sources provided to official governmental and intragovernmental documents and fails to provide citations for the background information that frames each of the sources and provides the overarching narrative of the curriculum. In this way, ICS fails to provide students with the opportunity to adequately strengthen skills pertaining to the study of history. Furthermore, through their narrow selection of sources, ICS fails to model the effective evaluation of sources and use of evidence for students, as outlined in Dimension 3 of the C3 Framework.

Through its failure to adequately address skills mandates as outlined in the C3 Framework, ICS dangerously misrepresents the historical context and multiple perspectives that are necessary for helping students understand the context of Hamas’s October 7 attack. In order for ICS to meet those standards, it would need to include significantly more primary sources and provide more accurate context. The ICS curriculum implies that Zionist settlers accepted Palestinians as deserving of national sovereignty in their own right and that it was solely Palestinians who rejected Jewish neighbors, beginning with the UN Partition Plan of 1947 (ICS, 2018a). The curriculum emphasizes this implication by providing inaccurate and incomplete information, insufficient, misleading and oversimplified context, and a single perspective of events. Furthermore, it is not grounded in the skills or learning outcomes outlined within the C3 framework, to which ICS claims to adhere.

Inaccurate & Incomplete Information

ICS provides inaccurate and incomplete information within the curriculum, particularly when it comes to the perspectives and experiences of Palestinians. Two serious issues that contribute to this lack of accurate and complete information are the lack of Palestinian-authored sources. Only one source written by a Palestinian is included in the entire curriculum–the Declaration of the State of Palestine (1988), in the final lesson (2022f). The Palestinians are only represented in the curriculum long after decades of representing themselves under the British Mandate. In this way, the designers of the ICS curriculum de-historicize and choose to frame Palestinian “nationalist aspirations” in a document that is comparable to the Israeli Declaration of Independence included in Lesson 4 (2022e). This factually inaccurate portrayal of the inception of the First Intifada misrepresents the most important aspects of the Intifada; namely, that it was a largely nonviolent series of protests and economic boycotts of Israel that were predominantly organized by women, eventually involved the support of Israeli peace organizations and was as much of a surprise to the PLO as it was to the Israeli occupation (Bacha, 2017).

To address the lack of Palestinian perspectives within the curriculum, primary sources that deal with the Palestinian experience of the Nakba should be included to provide an insight into the Palestinian perspective of the 1948 war, particularly given that the Nakba is widely viewed as ongoing to the present day in the context of continued settlement expansion. The Nakba Archive (2002) is a collection of oral history testimony from Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon and provides valuable context for both the Declaration of the Establishment of Israel document and the Arab League Declaration on the Invasion of Palestine, which is the second primary source included in ICS’s Lesson 4 (2022e). Additional incorporation of photographs or videos from the UNRWA Film & Photo Archive, which provides audio and visual documentation of Palestinian refugees since 1948 would provide additional insight into the lived experience of Palestinians during the Nakba and counter the lack of visual representation of Palestinians within the curriculum (UNRWA, 2016).

The inclusion of a wider variety of primary sources such as film, photographs, and posters would provide students with a more accurate representation of the First Intifada and would align with the C3 Framework’s stated learning outcomes. It would also provide insight into the rise of more violent tactics employed by Palestinians since the Second Intifada that would better contextualize the Hamas attack on October 7. ICS states, in framing the First Intifada at the beginning of Lesson 5, that “Palestinians attacked Israelis with improvised weapons and firearms supplied by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which organized much of the uprising” (2022f). This factually inaccurate portrayal of the inception of the First Intifada misrepresents the most important aspects of the Intifada. By inaccurately portraying the First Intifada, ICS legitimizes Israel’s violent response to the uprising and lacks context that would help students understand the cause-and-effect relationship between Israeli military and settler violence and the use of violent tactics by some members and groups of the Palestinian resistance.

Lack of Context

Building on the issues that stem from the lack of accurate and complete information, the lack of sufficient context further strengthens ICS’s implication that Palestinians have only been antagonistic aggressors to Israel and their Jewish neighbors. In Lesson 1 of the curriculum (2022b), the excerpt from Theodor Herzl’s “The Jewish State” (1896) lacks contextualization regarding the existing Palestinian population and their historical ties to the land ignoring the settler colonial nature of Zionism and its impact on the indigenous population of Palestine (ICS, 2022b). In Lesson 3, there is a major gap in source material from May 1948 to June 1967 (ICS, 2022d). This gap leads to a total lack of context for the inception of the 1967 war, as well as the experience of Palestinians in the years between 1948 and 1967. This lack of context makes it impossible for students to investigate Palestinian perspectives and understand cause-and-effect relationships between historical events.

The excerpt from “The Jewish State” highlights Herzl’s concerns about antisemitism across Europe, proposing the establishment of a Jewish state as a solution. The document reflects the persecution faced by Jews in Europe and their quest for a sovereign homeland. However, the document lacks contextualization regarding the existing Palestinian population and their historical ties to the land ignoring the settler colonial nature of Zionism and its impact on the indigenous population of Palestine (see Table 1 2a & 6a). It also omits Herzl’s recognition of the need for support from the Great Powers for the successful establishment of a Jewish state.

The gap in source material and information on events that occurred between May 14/15, 1948 and the June 1967 war conveys an inaccurate and incomplete depiction of the experience of Palestinians in the months and years after the creation of the state of Israel. This erasure functions in service of the curriculum’s portrayal of Palestinians as exclusively antagonistic and unwilling participants in peacebuilding. Of course, the entirety of “The Jewish State” (Herzl, 1896) is too long of a document to present to 6th-12th grade students, the target audience of ICS’s curriculum; however, the excerpt excludes text that highlights important context for the document (see Table 1 2b & 3d). An aspect of early Zionism that is also apparent in Herzl’s text but excluded from ICS’s excerpt is that multiple locations were considered for the Jewish state. Herzl highlights Palestine and Argentina (Argentine in the text). The selection of Palestine or Argentina for the Jewish state would be left to the Powers and Jewish consensus, “we shall take what is given us, and what is selected by Jewish public opinion” (American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946). Herzl mentions “the present possessors of the land” in reference to either or both Palestinians and Argentinians already living in areas proposed for the Jewish state, demonstrating his awareness that there were people living in both areas prior to Zionist colonization. By adding a few sentences to the excerpt, ICS could better contextualize the document regarding the existing Palestinian population, the settler colonial nature of Zionism, and the role of European imperialism’s support for the foundation of the Jewish state. Palestinian nationalism shifted away from “Arab/Ottoman” to “Palestinian/Arab” in the context of “watershed events” that included the British control of Palestine and the Balfour Declaration (Khalidi, 1997/2010). The ICS curriculum frames nationalism as only legitimately developing pre-World War I, which severely misrepresents the historical contexts in which Palestinian nationalism developed (see 1a, 4a & 4b). Herzl expresses the need for Great Power intervention for the Zionist project to be reified: “Should the Powers declare themselves willing to admit our sovereignty over a neutral piece of land, then the [Jewish] Society will enter into negotiations for the possession of this land” (American Zionist Emergency Council, 1946). Herzl further elaborates on the necessity of Great Power subscription to the Zionist project, “The Society of Jews… [will put] itself under the protectorate of the European Powers.” Herzl’s document demonstrates an amenability to the colonial mandate system that eventually came into effect after the ratification of the Covenant of the League of Nations in 1922.

Another useful addition to the collection of primary sources that would provide much-needed context for the time during May 1948 and June 1967 are the UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (1948) and UN Security Council Resolution 242 (1967). UN General Assembly Resolution 194 Article III (1948) codifies the right of return for Palestinian refugees who wish “to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors” and “that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property.” UN Resolution Security Council 242 (1967) of the “withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict,” i.e. the 1967 war. and reaffirms the importance of “a just settlement of the refugee problem.” The Israeli unwillingness to honor this right of return coupled with the continuous expansion of settlements since 1967 and continued occupation of the West Bank (and Golan Heights) are major obstacles to peace that are completely ignored by the ICS curriculum.

Single Perspective

The ICS curriculum privileges Great Power perspectives, from which Zionism as a political project was birthed, without providing sufficient information on their imperial context. This serves to legitimize the Great Power intervention in the region beginning after World War I, and the expansion of Israeli settlements since 1967, without providing sufficient information to nuance or question this perspective.

By relying heavily on primary source documents that advance only the Great Power colonial perspective such as the Balfour Declaration, Sykes-Picot Agreement, and Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, ICS’s curriculum presents the colonial project and interventions advanced by the authors of these documents as legitimate, without giving students the resources or information to question the right or authority of the Great Powers to undermine the sovereignty of people living within the region following the end of World War I. This legitimization of the Great Power’s imperial project in the region after World War I contributes to the portrayal of Palestinians as antagonistic and unwilling to work towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Additionally, the curriculum developers’ decision to use only political maps (themselves crafted by ICS) that do not align with internationally recognized borders and disputed territories, rather than demographic and land use maps, fail to provide information that is essential to understanding Palestinians’ perspectives. ICS’s curriculum completely ignores the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, confiscation of land, demolition of homes, and displacement of civilians, avoiding any discussion of numerous UN resolutions and United States foreign policy over time. By depicting political boundaries that have resulted from military occupation as if they were incontrovertible facts, the maps erase the issue of territorial annexations that have not been recognized under international law. The illegal settlements in the West Bank are legitimized in the video at the beginning of Lesson 4 (ICS, 2019). They are described as “in locations chosen for their strategic security value,” though there is no explanation of what that “value” might be. The video further states that “the number of settlements remained sparse until the late 1970s. They would become a major issue in later negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.” The illegal settlements and settlement expansion are not mentioned again in the curriculum, despite the fact that settlement expansion and settler violence, along with the right of return for Palestinian refugees, are two of the primary concerns in negotiations with Israelis. Furthermore, settlements have been deemed illegal in successive judgements in institutions of international law, human rights and justice (Amnesty International, 2019).

A primary source that would provide useful insight into the perspectives of people living within Palestine contemporaneous with the other sources included by ICS is the Resolution of the General Syrian Congress at Damascus, which was ratified on July 2, 1919. The congress was composed of members from all regions of Ottoman Greater Syria who described themselves as “provided with credentials and authorizations by the inhabitants of our various districts, Moslems, Christians, and Jews” (1919). The resolution provides important insight into how Arab nationalism was shifting as a result of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Of the ten points included in the resolution, five include important context for several of the primary sources included in ICS’s curriculum, namely the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Covenant of the League of Nations, the British Mandate for Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, and the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement. Point three is a protest against Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations; the Congress unanimously rejected the institution of a mandate. Point six addresses the issue of Zionism. It states, “We oppose the pretensions of the Zionists to create a Jewish commonwealth in the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine” and that “our Jewish compatriots shall enjoy our common rights and assume the common responsibilities.” The Congress was not opposed to the millennia-long presence of Jewish people in the land of Greater Syria, but soundly opposed to the Zionist settler colonial project, an important distinction left out of the ICS curriculum. Point eight of the resolution rejects the separation of Greater Syria into Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, as was outlined in the Sykes-Picot agreement. Finally, point ten calls for the annulment of “these conventions and agreements” whose aim is establishment of a Zionist state in Palestine in light of “President Wilson’s condemnation of secret treaties,” seemingly a direct response to both the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration.

The inclusion of demographic and land-use maps would provide needed information to contextualize Palestinian resistance, particularly to settlement expansion since 1967. Alex McDonald of the Texas Coalition for Human Rights, in a video lesson titled “Letting Maps Tell the Story” (2020), is a valuable resource for educators seeking to help students employ geographic studies skills to examine the geopolitical context of the conflict. Additionally, the inclusion of UN Resolution 2334 (2016) would provide useful information on the ways in which Israel’s settlement expansion continues to make a two-state solution unviable. This would provide students valuable information on the Palestinian perspectives of Israel’s policy of expansion, and additional context for discussing causes and effects. The ICS curriculum developers chose to use only politically contested maps, rather than the very demographic and land use maps that would illuminate the situation under the Mandate before 1948, and which indeed formed the basis for the UN Partition Plan. For the period after 1948, land use, demographic information, and water resource maps would better align with the C3 Framework and provide context for discussing causes and effects.

Conclusion

Not only is the curriculum misaligned with standards for skill development in history and social studies, but it also fails in its expressed objectives. The stated goal of ICS’s curriculum, entitled “Teaching the Arab-Israeli Conflict” is that “students will become more knowledgeable global citizens and gain confidence in following current world issues” (2022a). Under the FAQ section of the ICS website, under the drop-down menu titled “What is ICS’s commitment to accuracy and balance?” the organization states that “accuracy is a value in itself. At a time when public discourse in America is becoming less committed to accuracy and facts, we think it is all the more important that we study historical documents and ground our understanding of history in them” (2018b). ICS’s curriculum, by providing students with insufficient context and inaccurate information across all five lessons, primes students to uncritically condone and support Israel’s ongoing settler colonial violence and dispossession rather than helping them become “more informed global citizens” (2022a). It fails to meet both its own professed goals and standards for social studies education and skills acquisition. This curriculum prevents students from engaging with the full historical context of the current situation and implicitly claims that the exclusion and erasure of Palestinian voices is an acceptable form of “accuracy.”

References

American Zionist Emergency Council. (1946). Texts Concerning Zionism: “The Jewish

State” by Theodor Herzl (1896). Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/quot-the-jewish-state-quot-theodor-herzl. 

Amnesty International. Chapter 3: Israeli Settlements and International Law. (2019,

January 30). Amnesty Retrieved on November 14, 2024 from https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/01/chapter-3-israeli-settlements-and-international-law/.

Archive. (2002). Nakba Archive. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://www.nakba-archive.org/#. 

Bacha, J. (Director). (2017, November 12). Naila and the Uprising [Film]. JustVision. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://justvision.org/nailaandtheuprising. 

General Syrian Congress (1919 July 2). The resolution of the General Syrian Congress at Damascus proclaims Arab sovereignty over greater Syria (July 2, 1919). In A.F. Khater (Ed.), Sources in the History of the Modern Middle East, 2nd edition (2011) (pp. 158-160). Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2018a, June 4). ICS Episode 3: A place to belong. Vimeo. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://vimeo.com/273382658. 

Institute for Curriculum Services (2018b, June 27). About Us. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/about-us/#faqs. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2019, September 9). ICS Episode 4: War and Peace. Vimeo. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://vimeo.com/358927133.

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022a, February 23). Teaching the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/curriculum/the-arab-israeli-conflict/. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022b, February 23). Lesson 1: Zionism and Arab Nationalism. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/ICS_Lesson1_Zionism.pdf. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022c, February 23). Lesson 2: Broken Promises.

Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/ICS_Lesson2_BrokenPromises.pdf. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022d, February 23). Lesson 3: The British Mandate

Era. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/ICS_Lesson3_The-Mandate.pdf. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022e, February 23). Lesson 4: From 1948 to the

Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/ICS_Lesson4_1948to1979.pdf. 

Institute for Curriculum Services. (2022f, February 23). Lesson 5: The Continuing Arab-

Israeli Conflict & Peace Process. Retrieved November 14, 2024, from https://icsresources.org/wp-content/uploads/ICS_Lesson5_ContinuingConflict.pdf. 

Responses to Chloe Daikh and the ICS Curriculum

Given the often-contentious nature of the subject discussed in the article above, editors for Teaching Social Studies solicited comments from teachers and preservice educators. Those responses are below.

Alysse Ginsburg, Uniondale (NY) High School: I am a 12th grade history teacher with 25 years of classroom teaching experience. The editors asked me to respond to this essay in 250-500 words. Of course, I can’t possibly respond thoughtfully or comprehensively to a 5,000 word essay in the allotted space, but I do have a few thoughts to share. Prior to reading the essay, I had not used ICS materials in my classroom. A colleague with experience using them had good things to say, so I investigated further. As a history teacher, I believe it is important to carefully examine the sources of content I might bring into my classroom to be sure they are accurate and align with standards and best practices. Here are a few things I concluded about ICS’s lessons:

  • The lessons on the Arab-Israeli conflict align well with both the New York Social Studies Framework and New Jersey’s Learning Standards for Social Studies (which are similar to the C3 Framework).
  • ICS’s lessons rely on primary sources representing different parties. For example, in the lesson on Jewish and Arab nationalism, I noticed the inclusion of primary sources from a mainstream Zionist thinker and a mainstream Arab nationalist thinker and documents from both the first Zionist Congress and the first Arab Congress. The number of sources provided seemed balanced and appropriate for the available time a teacher would have to teach the lesson.
  • ICS has been around for almost 20 years and has professional development partners in many state and local education agencies; 21,000 teachers have elected to participate in ICS programs; and ICS is a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium Member.

I was honestly reluctant to submit this response without knowing even more, so I had a call with ICS and asked them to address some of the author’s comments directly. In addition to patiently answering my questions, they said they looked forward to seeing the essay (and even speaking to the writer) so they could understand her concerns and consider improvements, as they often do with teacher input. For example, they told me that they recently updated one of their PD sessions to further clarify the specific reasons why Palestinians and Arabs were opposed to the United Nations Partition plan. I’m an educator who believes in a growth mindset, so this pleased me. Though I had very limited space and time to respond to the essay, I was impressed by what I saw and heard from ICS, and I encourage you to look at their lessons and materials and judge for yourself. My main critique, which I told them, was that they should modify their materials for students at different reading levels. They said they were working on it. 

Dianne Pari, former social studies chair, Floral Park (NY) High School: As an educator with experience as a social studies teacher, department chairperson, and currently a supervisor of student teachers, I have observed a growing hesitation among today’s teachers to address the Arab-Israeli conflict in the classroom. Many shy away from student questions about the current situation. Why? There are many complex reasons, but it cannot be overlooked that in today’s politically charged climate, even the most neutral or fact-based responses can be misconstrued, criticized, or politicized. There have been cases where educators have faced backlash from parents and school administrations simply for presenting information that challenges students’ or families’ existing beliefs or biases.

This makes it imperative that curriculum materials on this topic are balanced, historically accurate, and free of bias. I support Chloe Daikh’s assertion that the ICS curriculum on “The Arab-Israeli Conflict” lacks this balance, particularly in its limited inclusion of Palestinian voices and perspectives. Such omissions can unintentionally perpetuate a one-sided narrative, portraying Palestinians predominantly as aggressors and Israelis solely as defenders for example. The Daikh article provides a detailed evaluation of the ICS curriculum, and I agree with her conclusions. Unfortunately, she, nor the ISC, touch upon the issue I raised earlier, that teaching the Arab-Israeli Conflict is so polarizing today, that it is often being avoided altogether.

If I were teaching this topic today, I would begin with two foundational lessons to establish historical context, especially of previous conflicts, and then transition to an analysis of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. To ensure a broad and balanced understanding, I would incorporate a range of news sources, including major American outlets and international media such as Al Jazeera that offer valuable resources for classroom discussion. Online, Al Jazeera provides “Israel-Gaza War in Maps and Charts: Live Tracker” (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker).

Students must be provided with balanced, credible, and comprehensive resources that foster critical thinking and informed discussion—especially when addressing complex and emotionally charged global issues such as this one and more importantly, teachers must be supported by school administrators when their lessons are challenged.

John Staudt, The Wheatly School, East Williston, NY: As a teacher and a historian, I largely agree with Chole Daihk’s analysis of the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) curriculum on “The Arab-Israeli Conflict.” There are several significant methodological and historiographical shortcomings, including biases that teachers should explore with students when teaching controversial topics. 

The ICS prioritizes using state-centric sources while overlooking everyday experiences of the people most impacted by the actions of state characters. It leaves out numerous critical primary sources – most egregiously – from Palestinian voices and perspectives. The exclusive inclusion of mostly official documents is a prime example of what the scholar Edward Said called “textual imperialism.” Textual imperialism is a form of revisionist history written from the perspectives of the victors, while overshadowing the personal experiences of those who lost and suffered the most. (Said, 1993) By excluding Palestinian literature before the 1988 Declaration, the ICS distorts the history of Palestinian nationalism and erases decades of Arab political activism. 

The exclusion of nineteen-years of actions, words and events between 1948 to 1967, reveals a broad gap in the literature and obscures crucial historical information including, among other things, evolution of early resistance movements, the formation of Palestinian political consciousness and the fate of Palestinian refugees. These omissions inevitably distort historically crucial links and obscures important continuities underlying present-day controversies and conflicts. These significant oversights also distort the First Intifada as PLO-initiated violence which minimizes its original non-violent, civic nature. 

The geographic mapping options Daikh makes note of demonstrate significant bias. By incorporating political maps that legitimize military occupation, the curriculum normalizes settlements that are recognized as illegal under international law. When coupled with the absence of sources featuring Palestinian perspectives this further exacerbates the historical revisionism in the curriculum. By excluding alternative demographic and land-use maps, students do not grasp the circumstances — displacement, resource distribution, fragmentation — underlying Palestinian perspectives and reasons for resistance. 

The ICC’s narrative makes Palestinian activism appear violently aggressive, while misinterpreting Israeli policy as almost entirely defensive. A good example of the problem is the exclusion of Israeli historian Ilan Pappé’s “1948 paradigm.” Pappe challenges the mainstream Israeli narrative of the 1948 war as a struggle for independence, instead arguing it was a deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing to expel and displace Palestinians — a perspective he claims has been suppressed in historical discourse. The ICC approach further obscures the structural, settler-colonialism of the Israeli-Arab conflict (Pappé, 2006). I think it is significant to mention that Pappé was born in Israel after the 1948 war and is a Jew whose parents fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Pappé teaches in Great Britain after he was pressured to resign his position at the University of Haifa because of his confrontational views of official Israeli government policies. 

As teachers, our goal is to provide students with a range of materials to analyze so they can reach conclusions based on evidence and share with colleagues in respectful conversations. By utilizing selected sources focusing on mostly one perspective of this deeply complicated issue, the ICC’s approach reenforces historical and geographical biases and does a disservice to students and the general public who are interested in learning more about this and other controversial topics. To counter these tendencies, historians and social studies teachers must employ meticulous attention to detail and incorporate perspectives that challenge an educator’s own arguments instead of following preordained interpretive templates. 

Erin Smyth, Social Studies Education Student, Hofstra University: As a graduate student pursuing a degree in secondary social studies education, I was asked to review the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) curriculum on the Arab-Israeli conflict alongside Chloe Daikh’s critique of it. On the whole, I agree with Daikh’s analysis. The ICS curriculum fails to provide a complete historical account of the conflict. It leaves out essential historical events and excludes sources from individuals, particularly Palestinians, directly affected by the conflict. This omission hinders students from developing a nuanced understanding of a complex historical issue.

My biggest issue with the ICS curriculum is the absence of Palestinian-authored sources. Aside from the one late inclusion in the curriculum which Daikh notes, the 1988 Palestinian Declaration of Independence, there are no primary sources that focus on Palestinian perspectives, even though the curriculum repeatedly includes Zionist and Israeli sources. This imbalance results in a distorted narrative which is evident in the way the Nakba is covered. The curriculum gives little attention to the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948 and omits oral histories, failing to convey how the Nakba is experienced by generations of Palestinians. As a result, students are denied the opportunity to understand one of the long-lasting impacts of the conflict on Palestinians.

These omissions not only negatively impact students’ ability to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict, but shape how they understand power, legitimacy, and justice in history. The inclusion of oral histories and more balanced source material is crucial. Without doing so, students cannot fully understand the causes and consequences of the conflict, nor can they evaluate historical claims with the critical thinking skills the C3 Framework demands.

As a future educator, I believe I have a responsibility to teach with integrity and eliminate bias in order to give my students the most complete understanding of history I can. That means resisting overly sanitized or one-sided curricula and ensuring my classroom is a space where multiple narratives are included and analyzed. The ICS curriculum, in its current form, does not meet that standard.

Teaching the Unteachable: The Holocaust and Kids These Days

Teaching the Unteachable: The Holocaust and Kids These Days

Ari Mandel

The Holocaust is one of the most daunting subjects for teachers to tackle, and it grows more challenging as its survivors and their direct memories fade away. Educational approaches to this profoundly significant chapter of history are constantly evolving, often revealing critical issues about how the Holocaust is presented, the consequences of universalizing its lessons, and the need to balance meaningful engagement with the risk of trivialization or desensitization. While Holocaust education remains an indispensable part of modern curricula, current instructional methods sometimes risk diluting its impact by reducing it to an oversimplified lesson on intolerance, rather than treating it as a distinct historical catastrophe shaped by complex historical, social, and political dynamics.

This paper argues that effective Holocaust education requires maintaining a delicate balance between universal lessons and historical specificity while addressing ongoing issues in its presentation. It examines how educational approaches sometimes fall short in emphasizing the Holocaust’s unique characteristics, critiques the risks of trivialization, and underscores the importance of thoughtful engagement. It argues for interdisciplinary and experiential methods to ensure students engage deeply and critically with this critical subject, fostering both historical and moral awareness.

Andy Pearce writes in The Shapes of Holocaust Education in the Early Twenty-First Century (2022)[1] that despite the increase in Holocaust education, many adults today still have an incomplete or even incorrect understanding of what happened. This is a major paradox – Holocaust education is more widespread than ever, with school programs, museums, documentaries, and memorials, yet people’s understanding of the event seems to be declining. Pearce argues that this may be because we are putting too much focus on quantity over quality. Simply adding more content about the Holocaust – more books, more films, more commemorations – does not necessarily lead to deeper understanding. Instead, there needs to be a shift toward more thoughtful engagement that encourages students to question, reflect, and truly understand the gravity and complexity of what happened.

One of the biggest issues in Holocaust education today is the tendency to universalize it – to present the Holocaust as a symbol of general human suffering or to draw broad lessons about human rights and tolerance. While it is true that the Holocaust contains important universal lessons about prejudice, hate, and what can happen when these go unchecked, there is a risk in oversimplifying it. Historian Peter Novick, in The Holocaust in American Life[2] (2000), argues that the Holocaust has become a “moral and ideological Rorschach test,” meaning that people tend to see in it whatever they want to see, often using it to support their political or social agendas. This way of looking at the Holocaust can make it lose its specificity – the particular historical, ideological, and cultural circumstances that led to this genocide. When we use the Holocaust as a general metaphor for evil or intolerance, we can easily lose sight of the particular factors that allowed it to happen in the first place: the racial theories, the bureaucracy, the complicity of ordinary people, and the very specific political and social context of post-WWI Europe. Without focusing on these details, students may struggle to understand how an advanced, seemingly “civilized” society could systematically plan and execute the murder of six million Jews and millions of other innocent people.

Arthur Chapman, in Learning Lessons of the Holocaust[3](2020), also critiques this trend of framing the Holocaust mainly in terms of human rights or as an example of intolerance. He argues that while connecting the Holocaust to other events or to broader human rights issues can make it feel more relevant to students, it can also obscure what made the Holocaust unique. The Holocaust was not just another example of prejudice – it was a carefully planned and executed genocide, driven by specific racial ideologies, supported by modern technologies, and enabled by the collaboration or indifference of millions of people across Europe. When educators draw too many parallels between the Holocaust and other historical atrocities or present it as just another case of human cruelty, they risk minimizing the specific dangers posed by antisemitism.

Edward Rothstein[4] makes a similar point in his critique of the Museum of Tolerance, where he argues that mixing the Holocaust with contemporary issues like bullying or discrimination creates an oversimplified narrative. When the Holocaust is used as a kind of shorthand for any and all forms of prejudice, we end up losing the specificity of what actually happened, and why it happened. This is not to say that the Holocaust does not have broader lessons – it absolutely does – but those lessons need to be rooted in a deep understanding of the historical facts and circumstances.

Another major problem in Holocaust education is that students often come away with a focus on the perpetrators – on Hitler, the Nazis, and the details of how the genocide was carried out – while the voices and experiences of the victims are sometimes lost in the process. It is crucial to remember that the six million Jews who were murdered were not just numbers. They were individuals, each with a story, a family, hopes, dreams, and a culture that was nearly erased. Jewish communities in Europe were diverse, vibrant centers of culture, religion, art, and intellectual life. Yiddish literature, theater, music, religious study – these were all thriving before the war. Thousands of towns and cities were emptied either partially or entirely, and an entire way of life that had evolved over centuries was violently destroyed. When we reduce the Holocaust to numbers or see it only in terms of evil perpetrators, we risk losing sight of what was really lost – the human beings, the families, and the incredible cultural richness that was almost entirely wiped out. By focusing on the stories of individuals – children whose lives were cut short, artists whose work was lost, religious leaders whose wisdom was extinguished – we can help students understand the profound human cost of the Holocaust.

Teaching the Holocaust effectively also means addressing what made this genocide possible. How could it happen? How could so many people be complicit, either actively or passively? How did a modern, industrialized country like Germany become a place where millions of innocent people were murdered in cold blood? These questions are not easy to answer, but they are essential if students are to truly understand the Holocaust. One key factor was the long history of antisemitism in Europe, which paved the way for the Nazi ideology to take root. Antisemitism was not new – it had been part of European society for centuries, and the Nazis were able to exploit existing prejudices and fears. They used modern technology – propaganda, the radio, the press – to spread their hateful ideology and to dehumanize Jews in the eyes of the German public. Bureaucracy also played a huge role. The Holocaust was, to a large extent, a “bureaucratic genocide,” carried out not by a handful of madmen but by thousands of ordinary clerks, railway workers, policemen, and soldiers, each of whom played a small role in the killing machine.

Historiographical debates surrounding the Holocaust add another layer of complexity to the topic. Two of the most prominent debates are the functionalist versus intentionalist interpretations and the Historikerstreit (“historians’ dispute”) of the 1980s. Functionalists argue that the Holocaust evolved gradually and was not the result of a single, premeditated plan by Adolf Hitler. They emphasize the chaotic and improvised nature of Nazi governance, suggesting that local initiatives and bureaucratic momentum led to the escalation of genocidal policies. Historians such as Hans Mommsen and Martin Broszat represent this view, arguing that Hitler’s role, while significant, was not one of a micromanager dictating every step of the Final Solution.

Intentionalists, on the other hand, maintain that the Holocaust was a deliberate plan masterminded by Hitler from the beginning. This perspective emphasizes Hitler’s ideological obsession with antisemitism, as seen in Mein Kampf and his public speeches, where he frequently referred to the “annihilation of the Jews.” Intentionalist historians, such as Lucy Dawidowicz and Eberhard Jäckel, argue that the Holocaust was the culmination of a long-standing plan to eliminate Europe’s Jewish population. These contrasting views shape how we understand the Holocaust – whether as the result of a chaotic and disorganized regime or as the fulfillment of a clear and unchanging ideological mission.

The Historikerstreit further complicated Holocaust historiography by raising questions about how the Holocaust should be contextualized within broader histories of violence and genocide. German historian Ernst Nolte argued that the Holocaust was not unique but part of a larger pattern of twentieth-century atrocities, including Soviet gulags. Nolte’s views sparked intense backlash, with critics like Jürgen Habermas accusing him of relativizing Nazi crimes and diminishing the Holocaust’s moral and historical significance. The debate highlighted deep divisions among historians over how to approach the Holocaust – as an event that stands apart or as one atrocity among many in an age of ideological conflict.

Understanding these debates is critical for educators because they influence how the Holocaust is taught in classrooms. Should the Holocaust be presented as the inevitable result of Hitler’s ideological hatred, or as a complex process driven by bureaucratic chaos and opportunism? Should it be contextualized within global histories of genocide, or treated as a unique event? These questions shape the narratives students encounter and affect how they interpret the Holocaust’s causes, consequences, and lessons.

In recent years, there has been a troubling rise in Holocaust denial and distortion. Surveys by the Claims Conference reveal that many young people are unaware of basic facts about the Holocaust, such as what Auschwitz was or even the number of Jews killed. This lack of knowledge makes students more susceptible to denialist arguments and misinformation. To combat this, it is crucial to teach students not just what happened during the Holocaust but also how we know what we know. Holocaust denial is not just about denying facts, it is about undermining the credibility of survivors, historians, and the very idea of historical evidence. Teaching students how historians verify facts, how we know what happened, and why it matters is essential. This means incorporating lessons on media literacy, primary and secondary sources, teaching students how to critically evaluate evidence, and showing them why denialist arguments are false. This is especially important in the age of social media, where misinformation can spread so quickly and where conspiracy theories thrive.

Jeffrey Glanz[5], in Ten Suggestions for Teaching the Holocaust (1999), advocates for “hands-on” and “minds-on” learning, emphasizing that students should actively engage with the material through reflective analysis rather than passive learning. Educators must focus on the specific aspects of the Holocaust – its historical context, the entrenched antisemitism that enabled it, and the societal structures that allowed it to happen. Holocaust education should go beyond simply transmitting historical facts, encouraging students to critically engage with how systemic hatred, conspiracy theories, and scapegoating can lead to mass violence. By framing antisemitism as the “oldest and most dangerous conspiracy theory,” educators can help students understand the deep roots of this prejudice and its persistence throughout history.

James Joyce once said, “In the particular is contained the universal.” We don’t need to tell students that the lesson of the Holocaust is not to be a bully – they will come to that conclusion themselves if they are given a deep understanding of what happened. The power of Holocaust education lies in the details – the particular stories of individuals, the specific historical circumstances, the choices people made. If students understand these details, they will understand the broader lessons.

Another key aspect of effective Holocaust education is the use of interdisciplinary methods. The Holocaust is not just a historical event – it is also a deeply moral, psychological, and cultural one. Literature, like the works of Primo Levi, Viktor Frankl or Elie Wiesel, can help students understand the emotional and personal aspects of the Holocaust in a way that pure history might not be able to. These personal accounts give a face to the victims, allowing students to see them not as numbers but as people. Psychology can help explain how ordinary people became complicit in such an atrocity. Studies on obedience, such as those by Stanley Milgram, show how people can be influenced to do things they would not normally do. Philosophy and ethics also play a crucial role in Holocaust education. Discussions about moral responsibility, the nature of evil, and the role of individual agency allow students to grapple with the ethical questions raised by the Holocaust. Was it possible for perpetrators to refuse to participate? What motivated bystanders to remain silent? These questions encourage students to think deeply about moral choices and about the factors that influence human behavior.

Experiential learning – such as visiting Holocaust museums, listening to survivor testimonies, or using virtual reality to explore historical sites – can also make a big difference. These experiences bring history to life and make it more immediate and real. Survivor testimonies, whether read, watched, or listened to, are incredibly powerful. They humanize the history and help students connect to it on an emotional level. They help students see the Holocaust not as an abstract historical event but as something that happened to real people, people like them.

The challenges of teaching the Holocaust in high school revolve around maintaining historical specificity while making the content accessible and impactful for students. The risks of universalizing the Holocaust, of losing its specificity, or of overwhelming students with its horrors, require a thoughtful approach. By using interdisciplinary methods, encouraging critical thinking, and providing meaningful engagement, educators can ensure that Holocaust education respects the memory of the victims and provides students with the understanding they need to recognize and combat hatred and bigotry today, equipping them with a nuanced understanding of one of history’s darkest chapters. Ultimately, the goal is to empower students not only with historical knowledge but also with the intellectual tools needed to recognize and combat the forms of hatred and bigotry that continue to threaten society today.

The stakes for Holocaust education could not be higher. In an era of rising antisemitism, misinformation, and historical revisionism, ensuring that students have a deep, critical, and empathetic understanding of the Holocaust is crucial. This means moving beyond superficial narratives and creating a learning environment that respects the complexity of history and honors the memory of those who suffered. Through thoughtful, reflective, and innovative approaches, educators can play a key role in ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust continue to resonate with future generations, fostering a commitment to justice, human dignity, and the prevention of future atrocities.

References

 Aly, G. (2014). Why the Germans? Why the Jews? Metropolitan Books.

Chapman, A. (2015). Learning lessons of the Holocaust. UCL Press.

Cole, T. (1999). Selling the Holocaust: From Auschwitz to Schindler; how history is bought, packaged, and sold. Routledge.

Dawidowicz, L. S. (1975). The war against the Jews: 1933–1945. Bantam Books.

Feinberg, S., & Totten, S. (Eds.). (2009). Essentials of Holocaust education: Fundamental issues and approaches. Routledge.

Glanz, J. (1995). Ten suggestions for teaching the Holocaust. The Social Studies, 86(3), 111–113.

Habermas, J. (1989). A kind of settlement of damages: The Historikerstreit and the past that will not pass. New German Critique, (44), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.2307/488496

Mommsen, H. (1986). The realization of the unthinkable: The “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” in the Third Reich. Contemporary European History, 1(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960777300000045

Novick, P. (1999). The Holocaust in American life. Houghton Mifflin.

Pearce, A. (2018). The shapes of Holocaust education in the early twenty-first century. Holocaust Studies, 24(3), 261–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2018.1444113

Rothstein, E. (2002, November 17). Whose history is it? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/arts/whose-history-is-it.html

Slezkine, Y. (2004). The Jewish century. Princeton University Press.

Stone, D. (2010). Histories of the Holocaust. Oxford University Press.

[1] Pearce, A. (2020). Challenges, issues and controversies: The shapes of ‘Holocaust education’ in the early twenty-first century. In A. Pearce, S. Foster, & A. Pettigrew (Eds.), Holocaust Education: Contemporary challenges and controversies (pp. 1–27). UCL Press. doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv15d7zpf.7

[2] Novick, P. (2000). The Holocaust in American life. Mariner Books.

[3] Chapman, A. (2020). Learning the lessons of the Holocaust: A critical exploration. In S. Foster, A. Pearce, & A. Pettigrew (Eds.), Holocaust Education: Contemporary challenges and controversies (pp. 50–73). UCL Press. doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv15d7zpf.9

[4] Rothstein, E. (2011, April 30). Making the Holocaust the lesson on all evils. The New York Times. nytimes.com/2011/04/30/arts/design/museums-make-the-holocaust-a-homily.html

[5] Glanz, J. (1999). Ten Suggestions for Teaching the Holocaust. The History Teacher, 32(4), 547–565. doi.org/10.2307/494162

Obsolete but Preferable: The Role of Textbooks in the Modern Social Studies Classroom

Obsolete but Preferable: The Role of Textbooks in the Modern Social Studies Classroom

Mitchell Meyer

Introduction

Despite everything we’ve been led to believe over the past two decades, books have not completely disappeared from our society, nor our schools. Indeed, the world has rapidly moved in the direction of technological reliance at a seemingly infinitely higher rate since it entered the 2020s. This is especially true in educational settings, as teachers have begun to use a vast array of online tools, and many students across the country are more and more completing digital assignments. Yet, with all of this progression, texts themselves have not been completely phased out. No analyzation of the American education system can be generalized for every single school, let alone every single teacher. However, it is clear that the majority are still based on or at least reference some form of text. Still, this begs a question regarding the nature of the role that physical textbooks still play in the modern classroom, especially social studies ones considering so much of said subject is based on text interpretation. Ultimately, it is clear that textbooks generally are no longer the sole basis for classes’ entire curricula but are still used as valuable reference points. In addition, there has been a major shift away from traditional physical textbooks, and a move towards more differentiated options. 

Literature Review

To begin my research, I first looked into suggestions on how textbooks could continue to be useful tools. As my research isn’t catered towards one specific grade level, the article “A Content Analysis of Vocabulary Instruction in Social Studies Textbooks for Grades 4-8″ by Janis Harmon, Wanda Hedrick, and Elizabeth Fox from The Elementary School Journal proved a useful starting point. These authors posit that the real issue with the current usage of textbooks is not the book itself, but the way it is used. The primary alternative method of using textbooks regards vocabulary terms. Specifically, the authors claim that “effective practices for promoting vocabulary development stress the importance of instruction that affects comprehension, not just word knowledge alone” (Harmon, Hedrick, and Fox, 254). Thus, textbooks can’t be used to create simple repetition practices, they have to challenge the students in innovative ways which force them to exercise critical thinking skills about the matter at hand. Therefore, vocabulary terms are one of the most essential parts of a textbook, but there must be a dramatic shift away from how this device is being used at present, and how it has been used in the past.

The second article, and perhaps the most important I read, comes from the Georgia Educational Researcher and was written by two professors from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. Amber Reed and Dr. Bailey Brown. Their article “Divergent Representations of Africa: A Qualitative Analysis of Georgia Social Studies Textbooks” explores the complexities of textbook usage in the deep American South, and how inherent biases towards various cultures is manifested in their content. In their research of Georgia’s public schools, they found that these issues are systemic and institutionalized. As such, they claim that “research also finds that educators are often ill-prepared to teach global perspectives in the social studies curriculum and that teachers’ biases and Eurocentric framework for teaching material can reproduce misconceptions about other countries” (Brown and Reed, 26). Thus, the biased nature of textbooks, at least in Georgia, is almost guaranteed for renewal as such misconceptions are carried down from one generation to the next. Therefore, there is likely little malicious intent in textbook bias, but failing to recognize it plays into the Eurocentric attitude that the American education system has long subscribed to. As such, this article doesn’t necessarily argue for doing away with textbooks altogether, but it does explain the need for a serious overhaul of the “traditional” methods they inspire.

The final article I referenced comes from the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Written by Professors Sarah Matthew and Craig McGill, “Honestly, I Had a Very Strong Reaction to This Reading” contrasts to the aforementioned pieces by actually arguing in favor of moving away from traditional textbooks. They explore what the term “graphic” means in a literary context and how it can often be misconstrued. On the one hand, it can immediately act as a scare tactic many use to support banning certain titles as it assumes such content is either violent or pornographic. But in reality, “graphic” doesn’t have to imply any extreme at all, and at its most basic level just refers to the use of imagery or illustrations (Matthew and McGill, 433). As such, Matthew and McGill heavily advocate for the increased use of graphic novels as alternatives for traditional textbooks, arguing that they can bring a new perspective and encourage certain critical thinking skills not found otherwise. Not only that, but they also advocate for teaching banned material itself, in order to show students why titles are challenged, and what implications doing so holds. 

Methodology

After doing my preliminary research into contemporary attitudes towards continuing textbook usage, I developed a two-pronged approach for my own research into this topic. The first prong involved transferring my findings from the articles I found into questions for three teachers I interviewed. While only three teachers’ opinions can be difficult to form conclusions upon, they are from different parts of New Jersey, and all teach at different levels. One teaches ninth and eleventh grade social studies at Ewing High School. Another teaches sixth grade ancient civilizations at Community Middle School in West Windsor. The final teaches sixth grade social studies at West Brook Middle School in Paramus. They were each asked the same five questions, three of which pertain to the above articles, and I have decided to retain their names in order to further encourage honesty in their answers. Moreover, they were not shown the data collected or previous teachers’ answers until after the interview was completed thereby ensuring autonomy in their responses. The five questions I asked these teachers were: overall, what do you believe the role of textbooks should be in the contemporary classroom; what kind of textbooks do you use, if any at all; do you believe textbook vocabulary terms can be beneficial if taught the right way; have you found that textbooks are generally more biased or unbiased; and how do you feel about teaching banned books, is it important that students are exposed to such material?

In contrast, the second prong focused on the student perspective. For this part of my research, I created a survey which I used to sample students in the class of the aforementioned teacher from Community Middle School. I was also able to obtain some responses from outside West Windsor from other students I work with, particularly in Byram and Stanhope in Sussex County. However, about 90% of the responses came from Community. As such, again I approached drawing blanket conclusions from this data with caution, but it still provides valuable insight into the direction at least this type of school is moving in. For the students I also asked five questions, inquiring about what type of texts are most appealing to them, which types they have used before, which types they believe would be most beneficial for them going forward, how positive an impact they believe textbooks have been on their education so far, and how strongly they believe textbooks can still play a positive role going forward.

The Results

Surprisingly to me, and with few exceptions, each teacher shared very similar answers to the five questions. The consensus seemed to be that textbooks should only act as complementary material to otherwise well-constructed lessons. Furthermore, you needn’t actively seek out textbooks for the niche purposes of vocabulary terms or just for the sake of teaching banned material. This can be done more organically, which is more beneficial to the fluidity of the unit at large. And textbooks, at least those in use in New Jersey, generally try to present information in unbiased ways, but as with any written material, biases do poke through. Hence why it is again important to not rely upon textbooks, or any one source for that matter, so heavily. Put most straightforwardly, the teachers I interviewed were in general agreement that textbooks can’t be the basis of an entire class but can still serve as one of many important resources for instruction or reference.

Similarly, the data I received from the students was not what I was expecting. In terms of what they found most appealing, graphic novels took about 1/3 of the responses. However, traditional textbooks achieved nearly the same number. Unsurprisingly, traditional textbooks were overwhelmingly the most used type of text, but eBooks fell not far behind, and graphic novels again took about 1/3 of the responses. Most surprising of all, traditional textbooks took the plurality of the responses for what type of text students believed would be most beneficial for them going forward, receiving about 40%. And finally, most of the responses for the final two questions fell somewhere in the middle, with zero responses indicating that they strongly disagreed, and 15% indicating that they strongly agreed. 

Conclusion

            The twenty-first century so far has seen a dramatic increase in reliance on technology and advancements in this field. And yet despite the seemingly resulting trend that physical textbooks have become obsolete, they can still play a role in the modern classroom. In completing my research, I have found that few have argued that such resources should be done away with entirely. In fact, many authors who have written on this subject have simply made suggestions for alternative practices. In addition, the teachers I spoke to were also generally supportive of continuing usage of textbooks so long as they do not dominate an entire class. Even students, who in general as an entire demographic have long been stereotyped as vehemently anti-textbook, seem not only willing, but happy to continue learning from them going forward. Again, it is important to acknowledge the small sample sizes used to conduct this study, and further research would have to be completed in order to make any type of generalization. But the general conclusion I draw from this project is that not only can textbooks still play a role in the modern classroom, but they must continue to be a commonly used resource.

 Implications

The data I received both from the teacher interviews and the student surveys somewhat contradicted the information I found in the articles. First and foremost, it seems that the educators I talked to have few issues with the systematic bias in textbooks. They don’t negate its existence; rather they just see them as any other type of text which has to be approached with caution. They see the bias actually as useful, because any source is going to include it. Thus, it can be beneficial to have their students look for biases and point them out when they find them. The implication of their lack of hesitation in this regard seems to be that the era of fully textbook-based classes is just about over. A simple reliance on one textbook dooms students to a narrow view of the world, especially in social studies settings. Moreover, running your class as such is a dangerous reversal of the current trend which aims to facilitate critical thinking, rather than simple content knowledge.

Furthermore, continued textbook usage is completely acceptable, but it has to be supplemented with abundant material from other sources. And not only do students see continued textbook usage as necessary, but many even see traditional textbooks as having played a significant and even positive role in their education. Thus, while it is important to supplement traditional textbooks with other material, it seems we cannot be so extreme as to throw them out entirely. They serve as a familiar source of knowledge which many might feel lost without. So, to answer the initial question this research was based off of, textbooks can absolutely play an important and expansive role in the modern classroom. We just have to ensure that they are being used the right way and are not the only type of source students are exposed to. 

References

Brown, Bailey, and Reed, Amber. 2023. “Divergent Representations of Africa: A Qualitative Analysis of Georgia Social Studies Textbooks.” Georgia Educational Researcher 20 (2): 26–44. doi:10.20429/ger.2023.200202.  

Harmon, Janis M., Wanda B. Hedrick, and Elizabeth A. Fox. “A Content Analysis of Vocabulary Instruction in Social Studies Textbooks for Grades 4-8.” The Elementary School Journal 100, no. 3 (2000): 253–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1002154.

Mathews, Sarah A., and Craig M. McGill. 2022. “‘Honestly, I Had a Very Strong Reaction to This Reading’: Social Studies Pre‐Service Teachers’ Application of Literacy Frameworks While Engaging with a Graphic Textbook.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 65 (5): 431–39. doi:10.1002/jaal.1224.

Underground Railroad Sites in New York’s Southern Tier

Underground Railroad Sites in New York’s Southern Tier

By Kalyn Grant for the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin

KCGrant@gannett.com

Source[1] 

The Underground Railroad was a network of churches, safe houses and community centers that led thousands of people escaping slavery to freedom. Northern states like Pennsylvania played a major role in the progression of freedom, and the trail made several stops in New York, including the Southern Tier counties along the Pennsylvania border. Here are some of the local landmarks near Binghamton that played a role in the success of the Underground Railroad, including private homes and churches across the region.

The Seymore Home in Whitney Point, New York 

This Whitney Point home was owned by George Seymore in the late 1850s and was a spot along the Underground Railroad network. During that time most people who lived in the area knew the Seymore home was being used to hide and assist escaped enslaved people. According to former Broome County historian Gerald Smith, the home was later converted into an antique shop called the Underground Antiques and eventually turned into a private residence. 

Cyrus Gates Farmstead in Maine, New York

The Cyrus Gates Farmstead was once used as a sanctuary along the Underground Railroad. On 30 acres in Maine, Cyrus Gates’ home — referred to as “Gates’ white elephant” — was built in the 1850s by a New York City architect. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Gates was a cartographer and surveyor, as well as a vocal abolitionist. Up in the attic, the Gates home had an emergency hiding place. Tucked behind a hidden panel in the back of a cupboard, escaped slaves could crawl into a 10-by-20 foot secret room in the house’s south wing attic, crouching so as not to hit the four-foot-tall ceiling, when they needed to hide.

Park Church in Elmira, New York

Members of Park Church, originally named the First Independent Congregational Church of Elmira, were active participants in the Underground Railroad. They included John W. Jones, an escaped slave who helped over 800 travel to freedom through Elmira and Jervis Langdon, a local financier who helped Frederick Douglass escape from slavery. The church offered shelter, provided food and finances, and took legal action against slavery. They also prepared a petition to officially record their stance as an anti-slavery church and in 1871, it became Park Church. In 2006, the church was added to the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom program. 

Binghamton, New York home of Dr. Stephen D. Hand

During the mid-19th century, the home of Dr. Stephen D. Hand stood at the site of the current Binghamton City Hall. After moving to Binghamton and starting a successful medical practice, he took an active role in the Underground Railroad. Hand opened his doors to those seeking freedom. His home was near two existing African American churches — the Bethel Church and the First Colored Methodist Episcopal Church — which created a trio of spots in close proximity offering help. The home was demolished in the 1960s and Binghamton City Hall took its place. The building has a plaque to recognize the significant role the Hand home placed in the Underground Railroad. 

Trinity AME Zion Church of Binghamton 

The church, founded in 1838, is a stop on the Downtown Binghamton Freedom Trail, recognized for its role in the Underground Railroad. The historic marker at the site shares its history as originally the AME Zion Church, a site that was a place of worship and safe spot to rest and receive help while traveling. Rev. Jermain Loguen, director of the Underground Railroad in Syracuse, was also pastor at the church in the 1860s.

Tulsa Massacre was Erased from History

Tulsa Massacre was Erased from History

By Alan Singer

My partner Felicia Hirata, friends Judy and Ruben Stern, and I were discussing the movie Killers of the Flower Moon and conversation shifted to the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. Felicia, Ruben, and I are all retired New York City high school social studies teachers and we realized we had never taught about the massacre in class, and we were unsure of whether we even knew about it when we were teachers. It had effectively been erased from history.

As a high school teacher, I did introduce my students, almost all African American and Latinx, to post-World War 1 racist attacks on African Americans with the poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay that was first published in the July 1919 of The Liberator coupled with photographs and newspaper headlines of the 1919 Chicago race riot showing white mobs and police attacking Blacks in the street. The McKay poem is especially powerful and resonated with students because it is a call for resistance.

https://alansingerphd.medium.com/the-100th-anniversary-of-the-tulsa-race-massacre-5cee3a689f6f[1]

I now teach social studies methods at Hofstra University in suburban Long Island, New York. After our discussion of Killers of the Flower Moon and the Tulsa Massacre, I decided to review how the post-World War 1 race riots and the Tulsa massacre were covered in the textbooks I used as a high school teacher and in more recent editions used by teachers today, books my students will likely use when they become teachers, books that continue to minimize the role that race and racism played in American history.

Ruben and I both taught United States history at Franklin K. Lane High School in the 1980s using Lewis Todd and Merle Curti’s Triumph of the American Nation as our primary textbook. Chapter 27 “New Directions in American Life Changing Ways (1900-1920)” ignores race, in fact the book’s index does not include race or racism as a category (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986). After discussing World War 1, the authors skipped directly to the “Golden Twenties” where the post-war race riots were ignored. In a later chapter, “Decades in Contrast Changing ways (1920-1939),” “Black migration to the North,” “Disappointed hopes,” and “The riots of 1919” are briefly mentioned, but not what happened in Tulsa. Students learned from the book that “Frightened whites, convinced that black Americans were trying to threaten them and gain control, responded with more violence. Police forces, ill-equipped to deal with riots, usually sided with whites” (751). Perhaps even more disturbing than the omissions, is this justification offered for the white rioters.

I also used Thomas Bailey and David Kennedy, The American Pageant, 7th Edition (1983, D.C. Heath) with a college-level dual enrollment class. A section in Chapter 39, “The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920-1932” titled “The Aftermath of War” includes a paragraph explaining that “Vicious race riots also rocked the Republic in years following the Great War . . . [I]n the immediate post-war period, blacks were brutally taught that the North was not a Promised land. A racial reign of terror descended on Chicago in the summer of 1919, leaving twenty-three blacks and fifteen whites dead. Clashes also inflamed Knoxville, Omaha, Washington, and other cities.” There was also no mention of 1921 and Tulsa massacre in this textbook. Unlike Todd and Curti, Bailey and Kennedy didn’t justify the behavior of the white rioters but by suggesting that these were somehow clashes between Blacks and whites, it takes the onus off white mobs killing African Americans and driving them out of housing and jobs.

Even Howard Zinn’s widely used A People’s History of the United States, first published in 1980 by Harper Collins and reissued most recently in 2015 by Harper Perennial, the most progressive history of the United States that I used as a reference, falls short. Zinn included the post-war strike wave but not the race riots in 1919 or the destruction of the Black community of Tulsa in 1921.

I read From Slavery to Freedom, A History of Negro Americans, 3rd edition by John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr. (1969, Vintage) as an undergraduate at CCNY in a class on American Nego History during the 1968-1969 school year. Unfortunately, it did not have much influence on the American history curriculum.

In the 7th edition (published in 1994 by Knopf), Franklin and Moss have a chapter “Democracy Escapes” about conditions faced by African Americans in the United States in the post-World War 1 era after approximately 380,000 African Americans served in the army and about 200,000 were stationed in the European theater (346-360; Goldenberg, 2022). Despite welcoming parades in major American cities, The Crisis reported “This country of ours, despite all its better souls have done and dreamed, is yet a shameful land. It lynches . . . It disenfranchises its own citizens . . . It encourages ignorance . . .It steals from us . . . It insults us . . . We return. We return from fighting. We return fighting. Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the U.S.A., or know the reason why” (347).

Between June and December 1919, Red Summer, Franklin and Moss estimate there were twenty-five anti-Black race riots in American cities (349). The most serious riot was in Chicago where there were thirty-eight fatalities, over 500 reported injuries, and 1,000 families left homeless (350-351).  The book also briefly describes a “race war” in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 1921 where nine whites and 21 blacks were killed.

On Long Island, New York, the most widely used United States history textbook is Holt McDougal’s The Americans by Gerald Danzer, Jorge Kor de Alva, Larry Krieger, Louis Wilson, and Nancy Woloch. The 2012 edition has two references to the post-World War I racial climate. A “Historical Spotlight” box in a chapter on “The First World War” explains that “Racial prejudice against African Americans in the North sometimes took violent forms. However, the 1917 East St. Louis riot seems to be excused because “White workers were furious over the hiring of African Americans as strikebreakers at a munitions plant.” The 1919 Chicago riot is also blamed on African Americans who “retaliated” when a Black teenager was stoned to death by “white bathers” after he swam into “water off a ‘white beach’” (600). A later chapter on the Harlem Renaissance mentions that “Northern cities in general had not welcomed the massive influx of African Americans. Tensions had escalated in the years prior to 1920, culminating in the summer of 1919, in approximately 25 urban race riots” (659). This section does not explain who was rioting and who was being attacked.

The 12th edition of The American Pageant (2002), widely used in Advanced Placement classes, added Lisabeth Cohen as a co-author. A section on “Workers in Wartime” included the “sudden appearance” of African Americans in “previously all-white areas sometimes sparked interracial violence,” equally blamed on Blacks and whites (711). A photograph of a victim of the 1919 Chicago race riot lying on the ground face down includes the caption “The policeman arrived too late to spare this victim from being pelted by stones from an angry mob” (711). From the picture, it is difficult to tell that the victim was African American and he is not identified as such in the caption, although the police standing above him are clearly white. Members of the mob and its victims are not identified, and the caption inaccurately suggests that white police were trying to protect the Black community. The 16th edition, published in 2015, notes in Chapter 32 “American Life in the Roaring Twenties, 1919-1929” that a “ new racial pride also blossomed in the northern black communities that burgeoned during and after the war,” but contained no mention of the race riots in 1919 or 1921 (749) and the chapter on “The Politics of Boom and Bust, 1920-1932” dropped the reference to “vicious race riots” in the 1983 edition.

The fourth edition of Making America (Houghton Mifflin, 2006) by Carol Berkin, Christopher Miller, Robert Cherny, and James Gormly references the East St. Louis and Tulsa riots in the index and race riots are paired with lynchings as examples of the conditions faced by returning Black veteran after World War 1. Unlike other texts, this book clearly identifies that “white mobs” were attacking African Americans in East St. Louis, Washington DC, Chicago, Omaha, Tulsa, and Detroit (694, 706, 732). It is also one of the few textbooks to list racism in the index.

America’s History 9th edition for the AP Course by James Henretta, Rebecca Edward, Eric Hunderaker and Robert Self, published by Bedford, Freeman & Worth in 2018, includes Chapter 21, “Unsettled Prosperity: From War to Depression, 1919-1932.” This chapter has a section titled “Racial Backlash.” White attacks on Black workers and communities are presented as a response to the Great Migration during World War I and competition for jobs and housing. The section references 1917 riots in East St. Louis, Illinois where white mobs “burned more than 300 black homes and murdered between 50 and 150 black men, women and children”; the Chicago race riot of 1919; the Rosewood, Florida Massacre; and the “horrific incident” in Tulsa. The Tulsa “incident” did receive significant coverage, about half of a paragraph. “Sensational, false reports of an alleged rape helped incite white mobs who resented growing black prosperity. Anger focused on the 8,000 residents of Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood district, locally known as ‘the black Wall Street.’ The mobs – helped by National Guardsmen, who arrested African Americans who resisted – burned thirty-five blocks of Greenwood and killed several dozen people. The city’s leading paper acknowledged that ‘semi-organized bands of white men systematically applied the torch, while others shot on site men of color.’ It took a decade for black residents to rebuild Greenwood” (653-654).

The best coverage of the 1917-1921 anti-Black race riots is probably Eric Foner’s AP text Give Me Liberty (6th edition, Norton). Chapter 19 “Safe for Democracy: The United States and World War I,” has a section on “Racial Violence, North and South.” It reports on the East St. Louis and Chicago attacks by white mobs on Black workers and communities, lynchings in the South targeting returning Black war veterans, a bloody attack on striking Black sharecroppers in Arkansas, and Tulsa. Foner describes Tulsa as “The worst race riot in American history . . . when more than 300 blacks were killed and over 10,000 left homeless after a white mob, including police and National Guardsmen, burned an all-black section of the city to the ground. The Tulsa riot erupted after s group of black veterans tried to prevent the lynching of a youth who had accidently tripped and fallen on a white female elevator operator, causing rumors of rape to sweep the city” (766).

Over one hundred years after the Tulsa Massacre, the United States needs to stop pretending that racism ended with the American Civil War and take steps to address the lingering impact of slavery and systemic racism on American society. An important step would be to ensure that high school students learn about events from the past that continue to shape the present.

Civics – Era 11 The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)

New Jersey Council for the Social Studies

www.njcss.org

Engaging High School Students in Global Civic Education Lessons in U.S. History

The relationship between the individual and the state is present in every country, society, and civilization. Relevant questions about individual liberty, civic engagement, government authority, equality and justice, and protection are important for every demographic group in the population.  In your teaching of World History, consider the examples and questions provided below that should be familiar to students in the history of the United States with application to the experiences of others around the world.

These civic activities are designed to present civics in a global context as civic education happens in every country.  The design is flexible regarding using one of the activities, allowing students to explore multiple activities in groups, and as a lesson for a substitute teacher. The lessons are free, although a donation to the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies is greatly appreciated. www.njcss.org

Era 11 The Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945)

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The beginning of the 20th century marks the foundation of the transformation of the United States into a world power by the middle of the century. In this era industrialization, urbanization, and rapid immigration changed America from an agrarian to an urban society as people lived and worked in cities. The development of the new technologies of electricity, transportation, and communication challenged our long-held traditional policies of limited government, neutrality, and laissez-faire capitalism. The lesson of the Great Depression was that capitalism and free markets did not enable everyone to attain the American Dream. As a result, Americans looked to their government for help with the problems of unemployment, poverty, old age. Housing, and the supply of food.

Activity #1: The New Deal vs. a Five-Year Plan?

During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate was 24.9% in the United States (about 13 million people). Without income, there was very limited private consumption. President Roosevelt identified the South as the number one “problem region” of the U.S. for poverty and economic distress. In 1933, President Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act, a federally funded program to protect  the environment from floods, encourage economic development, and produce electric power.

In 1934, Shareholders of the Alabama Power Company sued to prevent the TVA from acquiring over half of the company’s property and equipment. The sale would allow the government agency to allocate electric power to consumers. The shareholders argued that Congress exceeded its authority.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, held that Congress did not abuse its power. Justice Hughes argued that the Wilson Dam, the location where the TVA was in the business of generating electricity, had been built originally in the interest of national defense because it produced materials involved in the production of munitions. The government could sell excess electricity to consumers without violating the Constitution. The majority concluded that Congress had the authority to construct the Wilson Dam. The majority also found that the disposal of the electric energy generated was lawful. 

This Supreme Court decision is also known for the reasoning of Justice Louis Brandeis regarding conflicts when one branch exceeds its power and infringes on another branch. Justice Brandeis adopted the criteria which has become known as the ‘avoidance doctrine.’ “One branch of the government cannot encroach upon the domain of another, without danger. The safety of our institutions depends in no small degree on a strict observance of this salutary rule.”

The legacy of the Tennessee Valley Authority brought electricity to the southeastern United States increasing the productivity of farming and transforming this region from poverty to sustainable economic development. Before the Tennessee Valley Authority, electric power was generated by private companies. (e.g. Westinghouse, Edison Electric Illuminating Company, Public Service Corporation, etc.) Private companies are concerned with making a profit instead of investing in public areas such as street lights or rural areas. The first buildings to have electricity around 1880 were often hotels and commercial buildings. Wabash, IN, Appleton, WI, Cleveland, OH, and lower Manhattan were some of the first towns and cities to have electric power. Some members in Congress, namely Senator George Norris, favored public utility companies as the most efficient way to bring this new invention to everyone in the United States.

The Soviet Union’s Five-Year Plan: The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine

Since the Russian Revolution of 1917, Lenin prioritized the electrification of the Soviet Union as essential for economic and industrial development.  Each of the 12 Five Year Plans included the expansion of power through the construction of dams, fossil fuels, natural gas, and since 1975, nuclear energy. The Soviet state planning committee, Gosplan, developed these plans with clearly stated production goals.

One of the problems with the energy plan of the Soviet Union is the transmission of electricity from the generating plant to other regions of the country. Russia depends on a unified power system and the complexity of its geography and use of different energy sources (fossil fuels, hydropower, natural gas, and nuclear) makes it difficult to transfer power from one source to another efficiently.  The heaviest demand for electricity is in the western or European side of the country.  However, as electricity became accessible to rural areas, agricultural production became dependent on electricity. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe is on the Dnieper River in Ukraine. It was constructed in 1985.

The Soviet Union could benefit from the computer software used in the United States, but the Five-Year Plan model is dependent on Soviet Union computers and boilers. Some of the Five-Year Plans were completed ahead of schedule, some did not meet their goals, and they also included social changes such as closing houses of worship, providing child care, and using large collective farms. The goals of most of the plans were to transform the Soviet Union into a major industrial and economic power.

The Debate Between Private and Public Electric Companies

Russia’s 12 5 year plans

The Soviet Electric Power Industry

Questions:

  1. How is a market economy different from a command economy? What are the advantages and disadvantages of both models?
  2. Why did the United States and Soviet Union experience challenges or problems with electrifying their countries?
  3. Is a monopoly or market competition the most efficient economic model for providing utilities to the people in a country? (water, electric, phone, education, etc.)
  4. Is a market or command economy the most efficient model to address the expected problems from climate change in the next 25 years?
  5. Which economic model (market, command, or mixed) is the most efficient one to increase worker productivity?

Activity #2: Two Perspectives on World War II: DR’s Four Freedoms Speech and Hirohito’s Decree

On January 6, 1940, about three months after Hitler’s attack on Poland, President Franklin Roosevelt gave his Four Freedoms speech as part of his State of the Union address. This was during a time when many people in America wanted to remain neutral and isolated from the European conflict which expanded in September 1939 with Germany’s blitzkrieg attack and occupation of independent Poland.

1940 was also a presidential election year. In the mid-term election of 1938, the Republican Party became the majority in the House and Senate.  The Republican Party had several contenders for the nomination, notably Governor Thomas Dewey (NY) Senator Robert Taft (OH), and Wendell Wilkie, a businessman from Kansas. When the Republican Party convention was held in June in Philadelphia, Wendell Wilkie’s popularity had increased significantly, while the popularity of Thomas Dewey and Robert Taft was declining. 

Excerpt from the Four Freedoms Speech

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

To that new order we oppose the greater conception–the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.

Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change — in a perpetual peaceful revolution — a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions–without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”

Historical perspectives were important in 1941, and they are important today. The United States, including President Roosevelt, presented a perspective of Japanese superiority and a destiny to rule the world. He also called America’s citizens to accept the importance of a new moral order that included the religious concept of faith in freedom under the guidance of God. This perspective of American superiority is built on a commitment to an idea and an ideal.

American vs. Japanese Civilian Perspectives

A Life Magazine article about Emperor Hirohito in 1937 stated “To Japanese he is, in all seriousness, a divine descendent of the Sun goddess, the incarnate head of the Japanese divinity idea that makes the conquest of Asia a holy destiny for the Japanese race.” For ordinary Americans, the concept of kami in Japanese culture was not comprehendible. Instead of understanding a perspective of divinity as present everywhere, they accepted Hirohito as a son of a god or goddess or someone connected with divinity.

After the bombing at Pearl Harbor tensions between the United States and Japan escalated. Through the lens of war, the Japanese emperor’s god-like status became a more serious issue because they perceived Japan’s war objectives connected with their religious beliefs.  A 1945 United States News story explains, “Shintoism has no religious content and has ethical content to the extent that it is designed to support the idea of the divine origin of the Emperor.”  A 1945 article in Life Magazine stated, “The Emperor of Japan is neither a man nor a ruler. Nor is he simply a god living in Tokyo. He is a spiritual institution in which center the energy, the loyalty and even the morality of the Japanese.” He is supreme in all temporal matters of state as well as in all spiritual matters, and he is the foundation of Japanese social and civil morality.

American and Japanese civilians had very opposite reactions following the events of December 7, 1941. For Americans, Pearl Harbor represented “A Day Which Will Live in Infamy.” For citizens of Japan, Pearl Harbor represented the success of a justified military retaliation. The American and Japanese governments both utilized nationalism to their advantage, and implemented various forms of propaganda as tools for shaping their civilians’ perspectives.  

Excerpt from Japan’s Announcement Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor

     “What an uproar! Japan’s Imperial Forces got things off to a quick start with one splendid strike then another in historic surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, where the bravado of the US Asia fleet met with sudden defeat, and off the Malaya Coast, where the main forces of the British Asia fleet were utterly annihilated. Word has it that Roosevelt and Churchill were shaken up and went pale upon hearing of the defeats. In a third strike, Hong Kong Island, England’s strategic base for its 100-year exploitation of East Asia, fell into ruin in only a matter of ten days. During this time, Churchill was sent reeling, cutting off contact with others and showing up in Washington.

     What these two headstrong countries are striving for will only lead them on a downhill path to military defeat. Our barbaric enemies are already cowering in fear in the Pacific, and the fall of Manila shall mark the day of the Philippines’ subjugation and reversion back to Greater East Asia. The enemy power of Singapore, which was—alas—boasting of its impenetrable stronghold before the Imperial Forces penetrated the jungle area of the Malay Peninsula and advanced southward like a raging tide, shall also vanish into nothingness in the midst of this glorious chapter in history.

     The military gains of the glorious Imperial Forces are truly great, and the army, navy, and air force should be given our heartfelt gratitude. We should also honor our courageous men who are ready to lay down their lives when charging enemy lines, as well as those who went out to conquer but never returned.”

Emperor Hirohito’s Decree

On January 1, 1946, four months after the surrender on September 2, 1945, Emperor Hirohito made the following statement in Japan’s newspapers.

“I stand by my people. I am ever ready to share in their joys and sorrows. The ties between me and my people have always been formed by mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends or myths. Nor are they predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese are superior to other races and destined to rule the world.

FDR Four Freedoms Speech

FDR Annual Message to Congress, January 6, 1940

Japanese vs. American Perspectives on Pearl Harbor

Japan’s Announcement Following Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941

President Roosevelt’s Speech Following Pearl Harbor (video:4:48)

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Radio Address on the Evening of Pearl Harbor (transcript)

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Radio Address on the Evening of Pearl Harbor (audio, 2:57)

Questions:

  1. How was the rise of dictators after World War 1 an existential threat? How did ordinary American citizens understand the conflict in Europe and Asia before and after the attack on Poland and the attack on Pearl Harbor?
  2. If you were the President of the United States in 1940, would you deliver the Four Freedoms speech or one that is similar in content and context?
  3. Do you accept President Roosevelt’s statement following Pearl Harbor that before the attack the United States was at peace with Japan? (see video clip above)
  4. Are elected leaders elevated by people and the press or are they criticized to the extent that their decisions and motives are questioned?
  5. Which government delivered the best message to its citizens based on factual evidence and an understanding of the importance of the attack on Pearl Harbor?

Activity #3: Japanese Internment Camps and Soviet Union Deportation Camps

Japanese Internment Camps

Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 to relocate approximately 117,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast.  At first, the order was voluntary and Japanese Americans had time to sell their property and comply in an orderly manner.

Unfortunately, many did not comply voluntarily, and the relocation became mandatory. Thousands of people lost their homes and businesses due to “failure to pay taxes.” The relocation of Japanese Americans in the United States for safety and security reasons was controversial during World War II and for the decades that followed.  The internment camps provided educational and recreational activities, adequate heat, and a process to hear complaints and address concerns.

There were 12 camps located all over the United States, with the Seabrook Farms camp in New Jersey.

President Truman rescinded the Executive Order on June 25, 1946 allowing the Japanese Americans to return to their homes. They were in relocation camps for more than four years. When they returned home, most found their belongings stolen and their homes and property sold. They also faced prejudice and discrimination for years, even though Japanese Americans were combat soldiers during the war. 

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act. The remaining survivors of the relocation camps were sent formal letters of apology and were awarded $20,000 in restitutions from the United States government.

Soviet Union Deportation Camps During World War II

On February 23, 1944, the Chechens were exiled from their ancestral lands and deported to Siberia and the northern regions of Kazakhstan. The entirety of the Chechen nation was accused of collaborating with the Fascists, even though there is no evidence to support this. The German advance into the Soviet Union never came close to Chechnya. The Chechen deportation of almost 400,000 men, women, and children is the largest Soviet deportation and occurred in a matter of days. Many Chechens had in fact fought on the front lines of the Soviet war against the German aggressor.

On September 1, 1941 the mass evacuation was announced for the approximately 440,000 Volga Germans. Ten days later they began their forced deportation to Kazakhstan and Siberia. Many were forced to work in ‘labor camps’  such as Kolyma. The Volga Germans were then stripped of their citizenship and did not regain their civil rights until after Stalin’s death. Most estimates indicate that close to 40 percent of the affected population perished.

In 1944, Joseph Stalin ordered the deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar community (roughly 200,000), falsely accusing them of collaborating with the Nazis. Reports suggest that nearly half of the deported died during the ordeal. Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Canada have all formally recognized Stalin’s brutal deportation as a crime of genocide. During this same period, the Soviet Union adopted a policy of “Russification” for the peninsula. Crimea was “Russified” and any study of the Tatar’s native language was banned, ancient Tatar names were erased, Tatar books were burned, and their mosques were destroyed. Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine.

Behind Barbed Wire: Japanese American Camps

Japanese American Internment Camps

Soviet Union Deportation of Volga Germans

Soviet Union Deportation of Chechnyas

Soviet Union Deportation of Crimean Tatars

Questions:

  1. Is it possible for a government to correct something it did that was morally or legally wrong?
  2. Do governments need to justify the actions they take during a time of war or a national crisis?
  3. Are there significant differences in the actions of the United States and the Soviet Union in the relocation or deportation of innocent people, many who were citizens?
  4. Do ordinary people have any rights during a war or crisis (i.e. Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Congo, Rwanda, etc.)?
  5. How and who determines if and when a government exceeds its authority?

Activity #4: Weapons of Mass Destruction

In World War II, the Japanese were fighting for the Emperor who convinced them that it was better to die than surrender. Women and children had been taught how to kill with basic weapons. kamikaze pilots crashed their planes into American ships. A land invasion would be costly with estimates of more than one million American lives lost.

After a successful test of a nuclear bomb at Los Alamos, New Mexico on July 16, 1945, the United States, China, and the United Kingdom issued the Potsdam Declaration on July 26 demanding the unconditional surrender of the Japanese government, warning of “prompt and utter destruction.” On the morning of August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The result was approximately 80,000 deaths in just the first few minutes. Thousands died later from radiation sickness. On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The result was 39,000 men, women and children were killed and 25,000 more were injured. Both cities were leveled and Japan surrendered to the United States.

After the news of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, Lieutenant General Leslie R Groves, director of the `Manhattan Project’ that had developed the atomic bomb, commented:

“The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended World War II. There can be no doubt of that. While they brought death and destruction on a horrifying scale, they averted even greater losses – American, English, and Japanese”.

This justification that the use of the bomb saved lives, even though it killed innocent civilians, has haunted the world into our present time.  It was a view that generated controversy then and after as to the justification or otherwise of the use of such weapons on largely defenseless civilian targets, at such Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) that has haunted the world into our present times.

Following World War 2, there was an arms race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Although there were threats of war and conflicts in Korea, Southeast Asia, the Congo and other places, this period was called the Cold War. Other countries also developed nuclear weapons leading to concerns of a global conflict.

The world came close to a nuclear attack during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1962, nuclear weapons could be delivered by airplanes, missiles, and submarines. The Soviet Union placed nuclear warheads in Cuba and the United States had some in Turkey. These missiles could attack cities in both countries within a range of 1,200 miles. Fortunately, the Soviet Union began to withdraw its ships and missiles from Cuba and an agreement was made.

In the 1960s, the military strategy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) was debated, In this strategy, two opposing forces, the Soviet Union and the United States, had enough nuclear weapons to completely destroy each other. This deterrence theory assumed that neither side would initiate a nuclear attack because the resulting retaliation would lead to their own destruction.  The concept, first discussed in the 1960s during the Cold War, is based on the idea that the devastating consequences of nuclear war would outweigh any potential gains for either side. 

As a result, the United Nations initiated the process to limit the production of nuclear testing and weapons.  Since the first test ban treaty, several agreements have been ratified to control the proliferation of nuclear and chemical weapons. The threat from atomic, hydrogen, neutron, and cobalt nuclear weapons is a concern to every person and every country because of the fallout from dangerous levels of radiation. There are still detectable effects of radiation in our atmosphere today from the 1945 explosion. The effects of radiation from a thermonuclear weapon (Hydrogen bomb) will likely last for hundreds of years and affect every living organism and human.

Following the Attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the world became concerned about a terrorist group having access to a smaller nuclear weapon, a dirty bomb, that might be detonated in an urban area. The effects of a dirty bomb would likely be limited to the immediate area of the explosion but the damage to property and the cleanup of radioactive elements would be significant and costly.

Nuclear Arms Race and Treaties: 1949-2021 (Council on Foreign Relations)

Timeline of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Arms Control Association)

Devastating Effects of Nuclear Weapons

Questions:

  1. Why did an arms race between the USA and the USSR begin after 1945?
  2. How sane was the policy of MAD?
  3. What factors sustained the arms race for so long?
  4. Is a limited nuclear war a plausible scenario or would it quickly lead to an all-out war?
  5. What would life on Earth be like after a nuclear war? What geographic regions might have a chance of survival?
  6. Should the civil defense from a nuclear war or dirty bomb explosion be best coordinated by local, state, or the federal government in the United States?
  7. How would the governments of Europe or the Middle East, where there are many countries within a small geographic area respond to a nuclear war or explosion from a bomb or nuclear power plant?
  8. What is the most likely scenario for a nuclear explosion in the 21st century?

Civics Era 9 The Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945)

New Jersey Council for the Social Studies

www.njcss.org

Engaging High School Students in Global Civic Education Lessons in U.S. History

The relationship between the individual and the state is present in every country, society, and civilization. Relevant questions about individual liberty, civic engagement, government authority, equality and justice, and protection are important for every demographic group in the population.  In your teaching of World History, consider the examples and questions provided below that should be familiar to students in the history of the United States with application to the experiences of others around the world.

These civic activities are designed to present civics in a global context as civic education happens in every country.  The design is flexible regarding using one of the activities, allowing students to explore multiple activities in groups, and as a lesson for a substitute teacher. The lessons are free, although a donation to the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies is greatly appreciated. www.njcss.org

Era 9 The Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945)

The Great Depression brought about significant changes in the regulatory power of the federal government of the United States. The reforms of the New Deal were to stabilize the capitalistic economics system of the United States and they also imposed a mild form of welfare state capitalism that was prevalent in European countries. As a result, this era provides students with several opportunities to test their analytical skills regarding presidential power, the effectiveness of a democracy in addressing a major crisis, and the effect of the reforms of the New Deal on racial minorities, women, children and other groups.

Activity #1:  The Packing of the U.S. Supreme Court (1937) and the Supreme Court in Ghana

The Constitution does not stipulate the number of Supreme Court Justices; the number is set by Congress. There have been as few as six, but since 1869 there have been nine Justices, including one Chief Justice. All Justices are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and hold their offices under life tenure. Justices may remain in office until they resign, pass away, or are impeached and convicted by Congress.

After winning a landslide election in 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced the Judicial Procedures Reform Act which would allow the president to nominate an additional judge to the Court for every sitting judge who had served at least ten years and reached the age of 70. The initial reason that was explained by President Roosevelt was that the aging justices could not keep up with their caseload. Roosevelt changed his reasoning when this argument appeared flawed because the additional judges would likely increase deliberations and delay the time to make a decision. The new argument that the appointed justices did not reflect the will of the people at a time when the United States faced unprecedented economic problems was explained to the people in a Fireside Chat.

President Roosevelt continued to advocate for the Judicial Procedures Reform Act until the Senate voted 70-20 to send the bill back to committee in July, 1937. It was never passed.

The individual states determine the number of judges on their state supreme courts. The number varies between five and nine justices. The Supreme Court of New Jersey has seven judges.

The Supreme Court of Ghana

The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the administration of justice in Ghana.

The Court is presided over by the Chief Justice and in his absence the most senior of the Justices of the Supreme Court, as constituted shall preside. Judges who sit in the Supreme Court are referred to as Justices of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and not less than nine Justices. It has exclusive original jurisdiction in all matters relating to the enforcement or interpretation of the 1992 Constitution. It also has supervisory jurisdiction over all the Courts in Ghana. It is located only at the Headquarters in Accra.

Questions:

  1. In the United States, should the final decision on legislation be made by non-elected judges on the U.S. Supreme Court?
  2.  If the United States Congress was to reform the U.S. Supreme Court, what changes would you recommend they consider?
  3. Does the Tenth Amendment best serve the interests of representative democracy by allowing the individual states to make decision on issues not specifically delegated to Congress or is popular sovereignty served through the popular vote of the election of congressional representatives and senators?
  4. Do you prefer the structure of the Supreme Court in Ghana, which establishes a minimum number of judges, to be a better plan for decision making than how the United States structures its Supreme Court?
  5. Can Ghana prevent a president from adding judges with a similar political philosophy?

National Constitution Center

Information on State Supreme Courts

The Structure and Jurisdiction of the Courts of Ghana

To Cap or Not Cap the Justices on the Supreme Court of Ghana

Activity #2: Child Labor Laws in the United States and Côte d’Ivoire

The right of parents to take advantage of the productive capacity of their children was long recognized both in the United States and abroad. The perceived value of the child can be viewed through how the legal system treated the wrongful death of a child and the damages the parents could hope to recover. Courts of that period usually found that the proper amount due was “the probable value of the services of the deceased from the time of his death to the time he would have attained his majority, less the expense of his maintenance during the same time.” The courts recognized that the parent naturally benefited from the productive labors of his child until the child reached the age of majority.

The wages the child earned served the common purpose of supporting the family. The wages of a child generally became the property of the parents and often were the key to survival for many working-class families. Rather than the wife being the secondary wage earner, as became the case in the 1970s, for many families the child performed this role in American history.

Today, states have moved to extending working hours for children, eliminate work permit requirements and lower the age for teens to handle alcohol or work in hazardous industries. At the same time, there has been a 69% increase in children employed illegally by companies since 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.” Source 

New Jersey: 34:2-21.2. Minors under 16 not to be employed; exceptions; nonresidents.

“No minor under 16 years of age shall be employed, permitted, or suffered to work in, about, or in connection with any gainful occupation at any time; provided, that minors between 14 and 16 years of age may be employed, permitted or suffered to work outside school hours and during school vacations but not in or for a factory or in any occupation otherwise prohibited by law or by order or regulation made in pursuance of law; and provided, further, that minors under 16 years of age may engage in professional employment in theatrical productions upon the obtaining of a permit therefor and may engage outside school hours and during school vacations in agricultural pursuits or in street trades and as newspaper boys as defined in this act, in accordance with the provisions of section 15 of this act.”

Except as to the employment of a minor for whom a theatrical employment permit has been issued, no minor under 16 years of age not a resident of this State shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work in any occupation or service whatsoever at any time during which the law of the state of his residence required his attendance at school, or at any time during the hours when the public schools in the district in which employment in such occupation or services may be available are in session.

NLS data show that 52 percent of 12- and 13-year-olds in its 1997 cohort had paid work experience. The work performed at these ages was found to be freelance in nature. Babysitting and yardwork accounted for more than 70 percent of the work they performed.  For 14- and 15-year-olds, the dominant form of work remains freelancing. When children do work, it is most commonly when school is out of session. Children have largely shifted to the service industries.

Child Labor in Côte d’Ivoire

Due to security issues in both Mali and Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire has an estimated 13,214 refugees (2,489 households), of which an estimated 59 percent are children. Children are also brought to Côte d’Ivoire from those countries for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor, including in begging, cocoa production, and mining. Children from Côte d’Ivoire are also subjected to human trafficking for forced labor in domestic work within the country and North Africa. Although the minimum age for a child to work is 16, this law lacks enforcement.

School is mandatory for children ages 6 to 16 in Côte d’Ivoire. Although the Law on Education provides for free education, students are often required to pay for textbooks and uniforms, which may be prohibitive to some families. A shortage of teachers, poor school infrastructure, lack of transportation systems in rural areas, and inadequate sanitation facilities have negatively impacted children’s ability to attend school.  Research also suggests that some students are physically and sexually abused at school, which may deter some students from attending school. Because of this, roughly one in four girls (25%) in Côte d’Ivoire are not able to attend primary school.

The UN Special Rapporteur, Tomoya Obokata, reported in November 2023 on the progress the government is making:

“I commend Côte d’Ivoire for its solid legal and institutional architecture on child labor and trafficking in persons. But the Government needs to do more to lift people, including in rural areas, out of poverty, promote the economic empowerment of women and ensure access to decent work, particularly for young people,” the expert said.

“Despite the efforts undertaken, I was informed that instances of child labor persist in various sectors of the economy including agriculture, domestic work, street vending and in artisanal gold mining. I am also concerned about the fate of girls who have either been trafficked from countries in the region for the purpose of sexual exploitation or who are subject to forced and early marriage in the country,” Obokata said.”

Questions:

  1. Should the state or federal government regulate child labor laws?
  2. Should the government have any authority over parental decisions regarding child labor?
  3. Should children be protected from working in unhealthy or dangerous occupations? (serving alcohol, casinos, nail salons, landscaping, etc.)

History of Child Labor in the United States (Part 1, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

History of Child Labor in the United States, (Part 2, Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Child Labor in America, 1920 (NPR)

The Unjust Cost of Child Labor (Roosevelt Institute)

Hammer v. Dagenhart (U.S. Supreme Court, 1918)

Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports in Côte d’Ivoire  (U.S. Department of Labor)

Child Labor Rises to 160 Million-First Increase in Two Decades (UNICEF)

Activity #3: The Power of Government to Control Private Enterprises in the United States and India

The U.S. government influences private business through compulsory taxes by spending the tax revenues on public functions such as parks, roads and other infrastructure, schools, law enforcement, homeland security, and scientific research, as well as welfare and social insurance programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, and unemployment assistance. The federal government also issues and enforces standards ranging from environmental quality, to consumer protection, business and banking practices, nondiscrimination in employment, Internet privacy, and safety for food, drugs, manufactured products, and the places where people work.

Chinese tech giant ByteDance, in 2017, purchased the popular karaoke app Musical.ly and relaunched the service as TikTok. Since then, the app has been under the microscope of national security officials in Washington fearing possible influence by the Chinese government.

Government Regulation of Private Enterprise in India

India began its regulatory reforms in the early 1990s, reducing state involvement through the privatization of companies, by putting in place independent regulatory mechanisms to boost competition and private-sector-led growth, and to strengthen consumer protection. But the reform efforts lacked coherence and have stalled. Even though the economy grew rapidly over the past decade, the slowing-down of reforms created an image of a country where doing business is difficult.

India lacks a modern regulatory governance regime. Based on the Constitution, all levels of government can regulate, including the Central Government and 29 state governments. Regulatory barriers to competition are high and rule-making in India is complex due to the different layers of government.

India needs to further strengthen the governance of state-owned enterprises, simplify regulations, and reduce administrative burdens on firms. India should develop and implement a regulatory governance system following international good practices such as regulatory impact assessment, public consultation, and administrative simplification. The creation of national Regulatory Commissions since 2005 was a positive move, but there is lack of accountability and consistency of the overall regulatory system.

Establishing a whole-of-government approach to regulation, using international best practice tools and systems such as regulatory impact assessments and public consultation, and building effective institutions for regulatory quality management, are key. In this sense, India needs to catch up with other emerging economies such as China, Mexico and Vietnam, which have already taken important steps in that direction, in line with the OECD’s 2012 Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance.

In 2019, India passed a new Consumer Protection Act which streamlined all methods of exchanges relating to the purchase of merchandise and e-commerce. It also expanded the protections for deceptive trade practices and introduced product liability laws for the first time.

Questions:

  1. Should governments encourage or restrict startup businesses?
  2. Is it possible for governments to regulate the safety of products manufactured and sold withing their country?
  3. Are government requirements for minimum wage, social security, safety, equal opportunity in hiring, necessary or should they be optional?

Examples of Government Regulation of Business in the United States

The Role of the U.S. Government in the Economy

Consumer Protection Act of 2019 in India

Consumer Handbook in India

OCED Regulatory Reform in India

Activity #4: The Roosevelt Corollary in the Caribbean and China’s Hegemony in the South Pacific

The Roosevelt Corollary signaled an important shift in the economic and diplomatic policy of the United States in Latin America at the beginning of the 20th century. In its efforts to ensure that Latin and Central American governments repaid their debts, the United States also used its military power to protect its hegemony or interests. By doing this the Roosevelt Corollary also negatively affected our diplomatic relations with Europe and set a precedent for the foundation for the Fourteen Points after World War I.

There are different perspectives about the impact of the Roosevelt Corollary in policy regarding its history of imperialism, limitations on self-government, and the impact it had on the social order and culture in Latin and Central America.  The U.S. Constitution is silent on a president acting as the international policeman to correct wrong behaviors in another country. President Roosevelt changed the original interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine from keeping foreign powers out of the western Hemisphere to justifying America’s intervention in independent countries in Latin America.

This set a precedent for future presidents who sent American troops into Latin American countries eight times.

China’s Hegemony in the South Pacific

In the beginning of the 21st century, China expanded its naval power and influence in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Since 2016, China has constructed naval ports in an around the Spratly Islands. China’s actions impinge in the maritime entitlements and legal claims of Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam for fishing and oil exploration. The South China Sea may have billions of barrels of untapped oil and trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

China should consider the economic cost of its investments in these small islands as the impact of rising sea levels is likely to limit their economy and increase their debt. Will the economic costs weaken instead of strengthening China in the future?  The security of Australia, Taiwan, and Japan is a concern as military support from the United States may be limited by China’s presence in this area. The distance from the United States to Japan, Taiwan, and Australia is much further than it is for its rivals of North Korea, Russia, and China.

The novel legal argument is that under the Belt and Road Initiative, China is providing economic assistance to these small island in exchange for a ‘good neighbor’ policy with Beijing.

Questions:

  1. Does the Roosevelt Corollary set a precedent for giving the president of the United States too much authority in foreign affairs?
  2. How should situations of violations of international laws regarding financial matters and human rights be addressed in the 21st century?
  3. Is China’s policy of expanding its military and economic influence into the South China Sea a violation of the UN’s Law of the Sea?

President Theodore Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address: The Roosevelt Corollary (1904)

How Theodore Roosevelt Changed the Way America Operated in the World

Council of Foreign Relations Perspective on the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine

Book Review: The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President

Book Review by Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director

The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President

Doris Kearns Goodwin

I decided to read this book after listening to Doris Kearns Goodwin speak about this on television following the inauguration of President Donald Trump. After reading the first few pages, I decided to write a review of this book as it should be ‘required’ reading for every social studies teacher, student, parent, and grandparent.

One reason for encouraging teachers, pre-service teachers. students, parents, and grandparents to read this book is in the truisms that are embedded in the stories about each president. For example, in introducing Abraham Lincoln’s decision to enter politics as a Whig candidate, these few sentences should engage young minds in reflective thinking:

“On March 9, 1832, when he declared his intention to run for a seat in the Illinois state legislature just eight months after he arrived in new Salem. ‘Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition,’ Lincoln wrote in a pamphlet announcing his candidacy, as he sought to earn the respect and votes of his neighbors. ‘I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, be rendering myself worthy of their esteem.  How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is yet to be developed. I am young and unknown to many of you.’” (Pages 25-26)

As a teacher, I would discuss with my class, why did Lincoln join the new Whig Party and not the popular Democratic Party? Why did he announce his decision to run for the assembly in a pamphlet compared to a letter, newspaper, or verbal announcement? How does Lincoln understand public service?

As a parent or grandparent, I would discuss the political parties we have today and what they stand for. How do candidates in our community or state get elected and announce their decision to run for office? Is it possible for elected representatives to represent the interests and needs of the majority in their community or is it best for them to advance their own beliefs on the issues or vote for the position of their political party?

The reading level of The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President is for middle school students. Each chapter is just a few pages and should take a middle school student about 20-30 minutes to read and comprehend. This book is a valuable resource for a student research assignment, teaching about the reliability of sources, civics, an afterschool history club such as Rho Kappa or Phi Alpha Theta, a summer reading list activity, or a Saturday Seminar roundtable discussion. The applications of this book are unlimited.

One of the hidden gems in the life of Lincoln is with his learning style, character, persistence, and ability to handle disappointments. These examples are often only a few sentences, but they are prompts to initiate discussion and empathy between students in your class. For example, “The key to Lincoln’s success as a lawyer was his ability to break down the most complex case or issue ‘into its simplest elements.’ He never lost a jury by fumbling or reading from a prepared argument, relying instead ‘on his well-trained memory. (Page 47)

Another example that I found interesting was the evolution of how President Lincoln’s views changed about the emancipation of enslaved persons by listening to others.

“On August 14, 1862, during the period in which he was preparing the proclamation, Lincoln held the first meeting of Black leaders at the White House so he could make his case for a voluntary emigration of Black Americans to a different country….Later that year, Lincoln made another case for colonization during his second annual message to Congress on December 1, 1862, during which he proposed a constitutional amendment to colonize Black Americans and provide for them better lives in ‘their long-lost fatherland,’ where they would have access to homes and schools.’”  (Pages 79-80)

“Once the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, he abandoned all efforts at colonization and trained his focus on freedom for the enslaved and keeping the Union whole.”  (Page 80)

The second president in Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book is Theodore Roosevelt. There are multiple connections for students in the leadership journey of Teddy Roosevelt. These include living with a disability, coping with personal loss, understanding the issues, the importance of integrity, and the challenges and opportunities of the experiences in one’s life.

Although born into a family with wealth, as a child he faced frightening attacks of bronchial asthma. His childhood and teenage years were limited. By age 10, he had opportunities to be home schooled, enjoy summer vacations on Long Island, and travel to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. However, participating in activities was limited because of his health.

“’But Teedie’s chronic asthma required more and more days of bed rest. Thee worried that without physical activity Teedie’s weak lungs would continue to worsen and that he would lose all physical ability, but Thee also believed that this outcome was not inevitable. His father said to him, ‘Theodore you have the mind but not the body, and without the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should.’” (Page 99)

The lesson of how Teddy Roosevelt voted in the New York State Assembly, especially on the bill to stop the manufacture of cigars in tenement houses is one that will likely engage students in a thoughtful discussion or debate about how elected officials represent constituents today. Roosevelt opposed all government supervision and regulations regarding limiting the hours worked, a minimum wage, or prices. Samuel Gompers invited him to visit the places where the cigars were made.

“Roosevelt was stunned by what he witnessed.: five adults and several children, all immigrants from Bohemia (part of the modern-day Czech Republic) who could barely speak English, living and working in a single room, making cigars sixteen hours a day.” (Page 113)

On February 14, 1884, Valentine’s Day, Teddy Roosevelt place a large X in his diary followed by the words “The light has gone out of my life.”  His mother, Mittie, and his wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, died. He was 25 years old and had been married for less than four years.

“His forty-nine-year-old mother, Mittie, still a youthful-looking, beautiful woman, had been suffering from what was considered to be a severe cold, but which turned out to be a deadly case of typhoid fever. Theodore was at his mother’s bedside at three a.m. when she died. Less than 12 hours later, as he held his young wife in his arms, Alice died from what was later diagnosed as acute kidney disease, its symptoms masked by her pregnancy.” (Page 117)

These are stories students relate to. They encourage discussions about loss, grief, empathy, confusion, resilience, and life. The leaders Doris Kearns Goodwin writes about are very human and their experiences in life are similar to those of many young adults. Abraham Lincoln also lost his mother and fiancé and his son, Willie, died at age 11 in the White House.

Three examples from the book that should interest middle and high school students are Teddy Roosevelt’s use of the Executive Order renaming the Executive Mansion to the White House in 1901, his daily schedule, and a bizarre episode running naked in Rock Creek Park. Source

“Roosevelt began each day in the White House by darting ‘into the breakfast room with a cheerful hail to those already there’; then he rushed to his office before the official workday started to tackle his loads of letters, dictating ‘one letter after another’ to his secretary.  From ten a.m. to noon, except on cabinet days, the second-floor reception room was crowded with senators with whom Roosevelt met for all manner of official and political business. At noon, the White House doors opened to the public, ‘an overflowing stream’ of people eager to see the most colorful president that ever lived. For an hour, Roosevelt moved speedily around the room, giving each person a dazzling smile and a warm handshake. At one p.m., Roosevelt generally excused himself from the crowd for his midday shave.  During the ‘barber’s hour,’ reporters were invited in, permitted to ask questions-or more likely listen-as Roosevelt talked animatedly about any number of subjects while the skillful barber tried not to cut the president’s famous face.” (Pages 151-152)

“Late afternoon was devoted to exercise-a horseback ride or boxing match, a raucous game of tennis or a strenuous hike along the cliffs in nearby Rock Creek Park.  Dragging visitors and friends through the wooded sections of the park, Roosevelt had one simple rule: you had to move forward ‘point to point,’ never going around any obstacle. ‘If a creek got in the way, you forded it.  If there was a river, you swam it. If there was a rock, you scaled it.’ The Frech ambassador Jean Jules Jusserland provided a celebrated account of his first jaunt with the president.  After presenting himself at the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ‘in afternoon dress and silk hat,’ he soon found himself in the countryside following Roosevelt ‘at breakneck pace’ through fields and over rocks. When they approached a broad stream, Jusserand assumed the contest had finally ended. ‘Judge of my horror when I saw the President unbutton his clothes and heard him say, ‘We had better strip, so as not to wet our things in the Creek.’ Then I too, for the honor of France, removed my apparel, except for my lavender kid gloves.’ To be without my gloves, he insisted, ‘would be embarrassing if we should meet ladies.’ (Pages 152,153)

The information on the Spanish American War in 1898, settling the coal strike in 1902, nine-week train trip around the United States in 1903, are also presented in a descriptive narrative that will interest students with events in the social studies curriculum.

Although most middle school students do not study Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of U.S. History, this chapter will engage high school students. The importance of reading is to ignite inquiry through questions and thinking about the historical era, the individual, and American government.

Franklin was born into a wealthy family with a large estate about 90 miles north of New York City, where they also had a home on 65th Street near Fifth Avenue and Central Park.

The chapters about Roosevelt are powerful and insightful because they are filled with stories about his character. While most readers will find value and insights into his youth, college years, marriage and positions in the state legislature and federal government, the chapter on his perseverance regarding his paralysis from polio is unusually compelling. Here is an example of how FDR faced the news of his permanent disability as a 39-year-old man with a promising future:

“Told by doctors that his upper body had the greatest likelihood of recovery, Franklin endured punishing exercises to remake his chest, shoulders, neck, arms, and back.  Hour after hour he pulled himself up on a set of rings installed in ‘a trapeze-like contraption’ above his bed, slowly and painfully strengthening his muscles until his upper body came to resemble that of a champion boxer or wrestler….Day after day he would ask to be lifted from the wheelchair and set down on the library floor so that he could further exercise his back and arms by crawling around the room like a child would. He then proceeded to tackle stairs, grabbing railings on either side with his hands, hoisting up his body-step-by-step-to the top, sweat pouring from his face.’” (Page 197)

In another chapter Doris Kearns Goodwin portrays FDR’s trait of courage.  His courage was both political courage as he risked everything to hide his disability of crippled legs and physical courage.  He was fortunate to have the friendship and guidance of Louis Howe, Sam Rosenman, Frances Perkins, and his wife, Eleanor. Here is an example of how Franklin handled every situation with grace, humor, and strength: (This is six years after he was infected by the polio virus, 1928)

“That Franklin was not yet able to walk unassisted, even with braces and crutches, had been made clear months earlier when he’d ventured forth for the first time since the polio attack to meet with business colleagues at a private luncheon on Wall Street in New York City. An elevator would take him upstairs, but first he had to cross a slippery marble lobby floor to reach the elevator bank.  With his chauffer’s assistance, FDR had reached the halfway mark when a crutch slid out from under him.  He collapsed in a heap, his hat rolling off to the side. Spectators gathered round as he tried to prop himself into a seated position. ‘Nothing to worry about,’ Franklin announced to reassure the concerned onlookers, bursting into a sudden peal of laughter. He then called for help from two young men who eventually pulled him to a standing position. ‘Let’s go,’ he said to his chauffeur.  Someone put his hat on his head. Wearing a big smile, he acknowledged the crowd and made his way toward the elevator.” (Page 207) 

These two excerpts are only an introduction to what is revealed in his campaign for governor, acceptance speech in Chicago as the Democratic Party candidate for president, his inauguration speech at the Capitol, and his leadership as president. Facts and historical examples are important, but FDR’s personality traits will likely have a lasting impact on students.

Although many students are likely less familiar with the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson than the presidency of Lincoln, T.R. or F.D.R., they will identify with his character, commitment to civic engagement, and experience as a teacher. As a young child, he moved from a small cabin in a rural area to Johnson City. For various reasons, Lyndon’s activities changed, and he became interested in the activities of his father who was a member of the state legislature in Texas.

“The only thing Lyndon loved more than accompanying his father to the statehouse was traveling along with him on the campaign trail. ‘We drove in the Model T Ford from farm to farm, up and down the valley, stopping at every door. …When we got tired or hungry, we’d stop by the side of the road. He sliced the bread, smeared it with jam, and split the slices with me. I’d never seen him happier.  Families all along the way opened up their homes to us.  If it was hot outside, we were invited in for big servings of homemade ice cream.  If it was cold, we were given hot tea…sometimes I wished it could go on forever.’” (Page 259)

Lyndon’s Johnson’s role as a teacher and school principal reveals his work ethic and characteristic as a caring and dedicated public servant.

“My students were poor and they often cane to class without breakfast, hungry. And they knew, even in their youth, the pain of prejudice. Because there was no school funding for extracurricular activities, he used half his first month’s salary to buy sports equipment and then badgered the school board to include track-and-field events, baseball games, and volleyball matches in the school budget.” (Pages 265-66)

He was also the debate coach at Sam Houston High School. He coached the debate team through city, district and state tournaments.

“Johnson appeared to his students ‘a human dynamo,’ a steam engine in pants,’ driven by a work ethic and unlimited enthusiasm that proved contagious.” (Page 269)

I enjoyed reading about how he used his social capital in Washington to advance his goals. Lady Bird and Lyndon moved to Washington where he was the chief of staff to a Texas congressman. He became friends with Sam Rayburn who lived alone and invited him to dinner in his home with his wife, Lady Bird. Through this connection, Lyndon became the director of the National Youth Administration in Texas. When his congressman James Buchanan passed away unexpectedly, Johnson campaigned for his seat. Two days before the election he had emergency surgery to remove his appendix. He won, likely on a promise to bring electricity to the farmers in his area of Texas.

Johnson’s personality traits of empathy, enthusiasm, perseverance, and ‘grit’ are important for students to understand, apply to their own experiences, and engage in discussion with their peers. He lost his bid for re-election by 1,311 votes and a few years later won his election as senator by only 87 votes. As a senator, he was the youngest majority leader in the history of the Senate at age 46 and was considered as a presidential candidate for the 1956 election. Then, suddenly everything changed when he had a devasting heart attack. This event transformed his life and behavior.  A lesson about the trait of resiliency.

If a teacher elected to use the resource of this book for just one day, perhaps the most compelling pages are found on pages 317-328. His passion, legislative skill, and personal conviction are important for every student to understand. It is also important for students to understand the long struggle to pass and implement civil rights laws. In our classrooms, the lessons of Freedom Riders, marches, boycotts, and the emotional scars of segregation are too often taught passively through slide presentations and vocabulary terms. Doris Kearns Goodwin captures some of the emotion that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Everyone should read Chapter 24.

“Like a tailor stitching a custom suit, Johnson took measure of Dirksen.  A decade of working together had taught Johnson that Dirksen had no hesitation asking for ‘a laundry list’ of favors in return for his support on legislation.  But this time, Johnson offered Dirksen something far more important than perks and favors; he appealed to Dirksen’s hunger to be remembered, honored. ‘I saw your exhibit at the World’s Fair, and it said, ‘The Land of Lincoln,’ Johnson pointed out. And the man from Lincoln is going to pass this bill and I’m going to see that he gets proper credit. With a gift for flattery equal to Dirksen’s vanity, he assured the senator ‘if you come with me on this bill, two hundred years from now there’ll be only two people they’ll remember from the state of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln and Everett Dirksen!” (Page 321)

I found value in the leadership journey of these four presidents. Although my review focuses on students and teachers, adults will also enjoy reading what Doris Kearns Goodwin has written. In the closing pages, Doris Kearns Goodwin describes a dinner meeting with her “guys.’  What an opportunity to discuss the historical context of 100 years of American history, the goals of the Declaration of Independence, how each president mastered the communication platforms of newspapers, stories, radio, and television. Perhaps the most significant question is what makes a good leader and a good president? What a nice segway to understanding empathy!

Visit the resources of the Miller Center at the University of Virginia to learn about the American presidents.

Presidents and Labor Strikes

The Impact of Economic Decisions by American Presidents Series

Presidents and Labor Strikes

Hank Bitten, NJCSS Executive Director

Most decisions by American presidents and other world leaders do not have an immediate impact on the economy, especially regarding the macroeconomic issues of employment and inflation. For example, President Franklin Roosevelt’s bank holiday, President John Kennedy’s tariff on imported steel, and President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Recovery Tax Act had limited immediate effects on the economy, but their long-term effects were significant. The accomplishments or problems of a previous administration may impact on the administration that follows.

For example, President Biden faced criticism about the economy during his administration. The jobs created with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the interest rate policy of the Federal Reserve Bank to lower inflation did not show results until years later. The drop in Real Disposable Income from the administration of President Trump is another example. Real Disposable Income is a measure of income that is adjusted for inflation. The drop between the administration of President Bident and Trump is the result of extended unemployment benefits, people working from home during the pandemic when businesses were closed, and stimulus checks from the government. The economic transition following the end of the pandemic had a significant impact on the economy.

PresidentGDP GrowthUnemployment  RateInflation RatePoverty RateReal  Disposable  Income
Johnson2.6%3.4%4.4%12.8%$17,181
Nixon2.0%5.5%10.9%12.0%$19,621
Ford2.8%7.5%5.2%11.9%$20,780
Carter4.6%7.4%11.8%13.0%$21,891
Reagan2.1%5.4%4.7%13.1%$27,080
H.W. Bush0.7%7.3%3.3%14.5%$27,990
Clinton0.3%4.2%3.7%11.3%$34,216
G.W. Bush-1.2%7.8%0.0%13.2%$37,814
Obama1.0%4.7%2.5%14.0%$42,914
Trump2.6%6.4%1.4%11.9%$48,286
Biden2.6%3.5%5.0%12.8%$46,682

This series provides a context of important decisions by America’s presidents that are connected to the expected economic decisions under the second administration of President Trump. The background information and questions provide an opportunity for small and large group discussions, structured debate, and additional investigation and research. They may be used for current events, as a substitute lesson activity or integrated into a lesson.

In the case study below, have your students investigate the economic problem, different perspectives on the proposed solution, the short- and long-term impact of the decision, and how the decision affects Americans in the 21st century.

The Economic Problem

One of the first labor strikes in the United States occurred in Paterson, New Jersey on July 3, 1835.  About 2,000 textile workers stopped working in about 20 textile mills demanding better hours. Workers, including women and children worked 13 hours a day six days a week and their wages were reduced as fines for infractions. The strike eventually led to a 12-hour day and a nine-hour day on Saturday.

In 1835 carpenters, masons, and stonecutters in Boston staged a seven-month strike in favor of a ten-hour day. The strikers demanded that employers reduce excessively long hours worked in the summer and spread them throughout the year. In Philadelphia, carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers, masons, leather dressers, and blacksmiths went on strike. In Lowell, MA, women also went on strike. The history of labor complaints and strikes date back to the colony of Jamestown. Although the common law in England provided protection for peaceful demonstrations, the courts in the colonies and states often fined workers because their organization as a group was viewed as a ‘restrain of free trade’ or a violation of the right of property for employers. In 1842, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Hunt was a landmark decision that allowed peaceful demonstrations. “In March 1842, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that labor combinations were legal provided that they were organized for a legal purpose and used legal means to achieve their goals.”

The economic problem was long hours, low wages, and oppressive working conditions. The market revolution led to the demand for consumer goods. The new inventions of the cotton gin, steamboats, locomotives, and factories. The nature of work was changing and this led to profound changes in society. Employers and entrepreneurs believed this was the idea behind the pursuit of happiness in the declaration of Independence and how a republic was governed. Laborers used the press to voice their concerns which led to the organization of trade unions in Philadelphia.

President Andrew Jackson’s decision to let the charter of the Second Bank of the United States to expire had an unexpected and profound impact on ordinary people. Working conditions continued to decline and President Jackson’s decision led to an increase in paper money and inflation. Higher prices led to unemployment and longer hours for those who were employed. Illness or injury and debt led to homelessness and poverty. According to a New York City physician, the laboring poor in the 1790s lived in “little decayed wooden huts” inhabited by several families, dismal abodes set on muddy alleys and permeated by the stench from “putrefying excrement.” Source

In 1840 the federal government introduced a ten-hour workday on public works projects. In 1847 New Hampshire became the first state to adopt a ten-hour day law. It was followed by Pennsylvania in 1848. Both states’ laws, however, included a clause that allowed workers to voluntarily agree to work more than a ten-hour day. Despite the limitations of these state laws, agitation for a ten-hour day did result in a reduction in the average number of hours worked, to approximately 11 by 1850.  On May 19, 1869, President Grant issue Proclamation 182 making an 8-hour day for all federal government employees. This expanded the decision of Congress made in 1868.

After the Civil War, manufacturing and economic growth increased dramatically. There were many strikes as farmers and laborers, both skilled and unskilled, formed associations and unions. Below are examples of larger strikes that are likely part of the high school curriculum.

Haymarket Square:

During the first week of May,1886 workers in Chicago staged demonstrations and strikes demanding an eight-hour day. On May 4 a bomb exploded near Haymarket Square in Chicago.  Several police officers and protesters were wounded or killed by the blast, and 8 individuals were arrested and convicted. Source

A day to recognize the rights of workers was first proposed by Matthew Maguire from Paterson, NJ in 1882. The balance between the right to have peaceful demonstrations under the First Amendment was respected but the Haymarket Riot became violent, strikes were costly to the profits of employers, and violence and strikes were a threat to property. President Cleveland was the first president challenged by the threat of anarchy from socialists. After the Haymarket Riot, a few states, including New York and New Jersey, recognized a Labor Day holiday. This was the fourth federal holiday after Independence Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Congress considered making Labor Day a federal holiday in May, but President Cleveland feared this would become a recognition of the violence of the Haymarket Riot.  President Cleveland was the first president to involve the federal government in resolving issues between labor and business interests or capital.  Source

Newspaper Accounts of the Haymarket Riot, 1886

Questions:

  1. Under what conditions would you support workers on strike? (higher wages, better working conditions, unfair practices by an employer, benefits, job security, etc.)
  2. Are labor strikes a violation of the property rights of employers?
  3. Do workers have a right to disrupt the production of goods or services by a slowdown in the workplace, strict adherence to their contract agreement, coordinating a sick out, making public expressions or statements about their situation, etc.
  4. Do workers need to be paid in wages or can employers also pay them in other ways? (time off, goods produced, etc.)
  5. Should workers receive an annual salary increase based on their months or years of service, inflationary costs of living, or only if they produce more than in the past?
  6. How would you determine a fair wage?
  7. Do the students in your class (or a larger group) support the right to strike workers?

Activity #1

Open the three-day lesson on the 1835 strike in Paterson, NJ. (Update the CPI index from 2012 to the present)

Carnegie Company Strike:

In the months before the presidential election of 1892, President Harrison was faced with a violent strike at the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, PA near Pittsburg. The Knights of Labor and the Amalgamated Association of Iron Workers went on strike on June 30 when their contract expired. Workers in Carnegie’s companies in the area supported the striking workers.  Henry Clay, the manager of the Homestead plant, hired private Pinkerton guards to protect the plant and keep the striking workers away. President Harrison privately sent Whitelaw Reid to mediate the conflict.

The strikers threw rocks at the guards, the crowd size was estimated to be about 5,000, and gunshots were fired. At one point amid the chaos, shots were fired. The Pinkertons surrendered and the strikers continued with verbal abuse and assaulted them with rocks as they marched them to a local Opera Hall.

On July 12, Pennsylvania Governor Robert Pattison sent 8,500 National Guardsmen to end the strike. In less than 30 minutes the Carnegie mill was under martial law, the strikers were arrested. Sixteen of the strikers were arrested for conspiracy, murder, and inciting riots. The strike ended three months later in November with the workers agreeing to lower wages, the elimination of 500 jobs, and a 12-hour day. The labor unions lost, and their membership declined.

Pullman Company Strike:

President Cleveland faced a nationwide railroad strike that began on May 11, 1894. The American Railway Union went on strike against the Pullman Company and the major railroads.  It became a turning point in U.S. labor law. The workers at Pullman protested the layoff of 2,000 workers and wage cuts that amounted to 25%-50% of their wages. The Pullman workers lived in a company town and paid rent to the Pullman Company, which was located near Chicago, Il. The rents were not reduced. The Pullman Company also had a surplus of $4 million at the time of the strike and consistently paid dividends to shareholders.

The Panic or recession of 1893 negatively affected many companies as production declined. The railroads depended on shipping farm products, which were reduced as a result of crop failures. This was the most serious economic recession in the world as investors in Europe purchased gold from U.S. banks, Americans took their savings out of banks, and companies that had speculated in the stock, bond, and commodity markets lost money/ The economic recovery after the recession ended would take several years.

On July 3, 1894, President Cleveland ordered 2,000 armed federal troops to Chicago to end the strike. The strike ended within a few weeks, union leaders were arrested and jailed on charges of conspiracy to obstruct interstate commerce. The justification of using federal troops to move the U.S. mail was based on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. This was not the first time federal troops were used to end a strike. President Jackson used troops in 1834 to end the strike by workers building the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and in 1877 President Hayes send troops to end the violence in Baltimore during the Great Railroad strike.

Coal Strike:

In May 1902 President Teddy Roosevelt was faced with a nationwide strike by coal miners. Many homes were heated by coal and a prolonged strike in the winter could be catastrophic, deadly, and cause riots. On October 3, 1902, with winter weather approaching, President Theodore Roosevelt called a precedent-shattering meeting to negotiate a settlement. The President did not have any legal authority to settle a labor dispute, although Presidents Jackson, Hayes and Cleveland used federal troops to end labor disputes.

President Roosevelt’s administration proposed the Anthracite Coal Commission to complete a fact-finding report and negotiate a settlement.  The strike ended on October 20, 1902, and the Commission recommended in March 1903 increasing miners’ pay by ten percent (one-half of their demand) and reducing the working day from ten to nine hours.

Samuel Gompers wrote: “Several times I have been asked what in my opinion was the most important single incident in the labor movement in the United States and I have invariably replied: the strike of the anthracite miners in Pennsylvania … from then on the miners became not merely human machines to produce coal but men and citizens…. The strike was evidence of the effectiveness of trade unions ….

The victory in the anthracite coalfields breathed new life into the American labor movement.55 It strengthened moderate labor leaders and progressive businessmen who championed negotiations as a way to labor peace. It enhanced the reputation of President Theodore Roosevelt. Sometimes overlooked, however, is the change the conflict made in the role of the Federal Government in important national strikes.” Source

Paterson Silk Strike of 1913:

The silk strike began in February 1913 when twenty-five thousand striking silk workers shut down the three hundred silk mills and dye houses in Paterson, New Jersey, for almost five months. There were several textile strikes that preceded the one in Paterson. The Paterson strike was related to an increased workload and the desire for an eight-hour day. The other strikes occurred because of wages. The Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) were active in organizing the strike and produced the “Pageant of the Paterson Strike” in Madison Square Garden on June 7.  Pietro Botton opened his home to the labor leaders from New York City and on May 25, a rally of more than 20,000 people took place outside his home. These rallies continued on Sundays until the strike ended in July.

The strikers returned to work without any concessions, although the employers did not implement the plan to have one worker operating four looms instead of two.

Questions:

  1. What is a yellow dog contract, scab, collective bargaining, closed shop, and right to work protections
  2. What are the differences between skilled and unskilled laborers?
  3. How is an Association different from a labor or trade union?
  4. Who has the advantage in a strike: labor employees or employers?
  5. How do strikes affect the economy and the lives of people who are not associated with the union?
  6. Why do you think the union and workers failed to achieve their goal in the Paterson Strike of 1913?

Activity #2:

  1. Make a list of labor unions and associations in the United States.
  2. Use these sources to categorize the list of strikes by length of time, size of the unions, and frequency? List of Unions (Wikipedia)   200 Years of Labor History (NPS)

The Seattle General Strike, 1919

The Seattle General Strike of February 1919 was the first 20th-century solidarity strike in the United States to be proclaimed a “general strike.”  Seattle had 101 unions that were part of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). On the morning of February 6, 1919, over 25,000 union workers stopped working to support the 35,000 shipyard workers who were already on strike. Although wartime inflation created a need for higher wages, the goals of the striking workers were not clearly articulated. Mayor Ole threatened to declare martial law and two battalions (about 3,000) U.S. Army troops arrived. The union members had already implemented a plan to provide food deliveries, transport people to hospitals, and patrol the streets to prevent crime. Below is an image of a soup kitchen. Union members distributed 30,000 meals a day during the strike.

The strike lasted six days and was peaceful. There were minimal gains for the workers, but most returned to work. There were several outside agitators who were identified as “Reds” or communists who were arrested. The strike is generally viewed as unsuccessful.

Seattle General Strike Project

History of the General Strike (9-minute Video)

History of the General Strike (4-minute Video)

The Seattle General Strike (Roberta Gold) 

“An Account of What Happened in Seattle and Especially in the Seattle Labor Movement, During the General Strike, February 6 to 11, 1919” 

Slide show 

The Seattle General Strike 

The Boston Police Strike

The Boston Police went on strike on September 9, 1919. Police officers worked long hours, received low wages, and had inadequate working conditions. They worked thirteen-hour days and wanted an eight-hour day. They had to purchase their own uniforms which cost $200 (about two months’ salary), were required to sleep overnight in the police station several nights a month, and they had not received a salary increase in over ten years. They were paid about 25 cents an hour and earned about $1,400 a year.

U.S. Supreme Court Decisions (1905 – 1923)

The three cases below were landmark decisions in the labor movement. The Lochner decision ruled that employers could issue contracts without any restrictions such as an 8- or 10-hour day. The Adkins decision supported this and ruled it was illegal to have a minimum wage for workers. The Muller decision ruled that the hours of women could be less than those of men if their health was at risk.

Lochner v. New York (1905)

The general right to make a contract in relation to one’s business is part of the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, and this includes the right to purchase and sell labor, except as controlled by the state in the legitimate exercise of its police power.

Muller v. Oregon (1908)

The regulation of the working hours of women falls within the police power of the state, and a statute directed exclusively to such regulation does not conflict with the Due Process or Equal Protection Clauses.

Adkins v. Children’s Hospital (1923)

Legislation fixing hours or conditions of work may properly take into account the physical differences between men and women, but the doctrine that women of mature age require (or may be subjected to) restrictions on their liberty of contract that could not lawfully be imposed on men in similar circumstances must be rejected.

Frances Perkins was asked to serve as FDR’s Secretary of Labor. As Secretary, she would pursue: a 40-hour work week; a minimum wage; unemployment compensation; worker’s compensation; abolition of child labor; direct federal aid to the states for unemployment relief; Social Security; a revitalized federal employment service; and universal health insurance. She is the longest serving labor secretary and one of only two cabinet secretaries to serve the entire length of the Roosevelt Presidency.

The Wagner Act (1935) created the National Labor Relations Board to enforce employee rights rather than to mediate disputes. It gave employees the right, under Section 7, to form and join unions, and it obligated employers to bargain collectively with unions selected by a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. 

The U.S. Supreme Court in NLRB v. Washington Aluminum in 1962 upheld the right of employees to go on strike whether they have a union or not. However, workers and unions still needed to be careful to avoid an unlawful strike.

A strike is likely protected by law if it is in response to “unfair labor practice strikers” or “economic hardship from low wages, excessive hours, or difficult working conditions.” 

A strike may be unlawful when it supports an unfair labor practice such as requiring an employer to stop doing business with another company. Workers cannot legally strike if their contract prohibits strikes, although workers can stop working if they are subject to dangerous or unhealthy conditions.

Taft Hartley Act, 1947

After World War II, there were several major strikes and unions were unpopular because of the strikes and fear of the expansion of communism after Churchills’ Iron Curtain speech. The Taft Hartley Act amended the Wagner Act (1935). It was proposed by Rep. Fred Hartley from New Jersey and Senator Robert Taft from Ohio.  The Taft-Hartley Act made major changes to the Wagner Act. It was vetoed by President Truman and required a vote by both houses of Congress to override his veto. The Act was amended to protect employees’ rights from unfair practices by unions by making the closed shop and wildcat strikes to be illegal and prohibiting unions from charging excessive fees for membership.

Questions:

  1. What are the differences between a walkout, lockout, strike, and sit-down strike? Do the definitions or labels matter if work stops?
  2. Should certain employees be prevented from having a union to represent their interests?
  3. Should certain employees who serve the public be prevented by law from being able to strike when the public’s safety or interest is at risk? (teachers, bankers, police, sanitation, transportation workers, nurses, etc.)
  4. What is arbitration, fact-finding, and collective bargaining? What is the purpose of each?
  5. What is back pay?  Should striking workers be compensated for the days or weeks they did not work?

Activity #3

  1. Interview two or three people or groups of people regarding labor conditions they would like to have negotiated in their favor.
  2. Review the contract between teachers and the Board of Education in your district or another district. Discuss the protections in the contract that are not directly related to salary?

New York City

In January 1966, there was a 13-day transit strike in New York City. The buses and trains were shut down. In 1968, the teachers and sanitation workers went on strike. Thousands of New York City teachers went on strike in 1968 when the local school board of Ocean Hill – Brownsville, fired nineteen teachers and administrators without notice. The newly created school district, in a heavily black neighborhood, was an experiment in community control over schools—those dismissed were almost all Jewish. The strike began in September and ended on November 17. There are many important issues relevant to this strike – civil rights, integrated schools, poor performing districts, and local control vs. a central Board of Education. The strike raised the issue if public sector employees (police, fire, teachers, and private sector employees should have the right to strike over unfair business practices.

On the morning of August 5, 1981, approximately 13,000 workers of the air traffic control facilities called a strike.  President Reagan spoke from the Rose Garden at the White House telling them to return to work within 48 hours or be fired. About 2,000 returned to work and the rest were fired. The government used people from the military and retired air traffic controllers to monitor the flights and hired new air traffic controllers. This one event had a proof und effect on the labor movement as workers feared losing their jobs if they went on strike.

The 232-day baseball strike of 1994-95 was the biggest one in professional sports. Although there have been many work stoppages in professional baseball dating back to 1912, the study of this strike is important because of the challenges it presented to labor negotiators. This problem has historical origins and dates back to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. In 1922, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that professional baseball was exempt from the anti-trust protection because it was not considered to meet the definition of trade or commerce. Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore, Inc. v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs et al.  The case was appealed several times but not reversed. The only option for players was to strike. Source

The strike began on August 12, 1994, and the World Series was cancelled on September 14. One of the main issues was the salary cap that owners placed on the players. The cancellation of the World Series prompted some senators to propose legislation to end the anti-trust exemption given to baseball. This divided the Congress because the protection was favored by owners of smaller teams. President Clinton attempted to intervene but was not able to negotiate a settlement. As the 1995 baseball season was about to begin, baseball owners planned to hire non-union replacement players, a tactic used by the National Football League in 1987. On March 31, 1995, U.S. District Judge Sonia Sotomayor issued an injunction, and the baseball players returned to the field.

Chronological History of Labor Strikes in the United States (NPS