History 261 Section 4B: Case Studies of Labor Strikes (Discussion Project #1)
Discussion Project (due at the end of Section 4B): Bring to class a one-page, single-spaced, typed summary of your findings about one of the labor episodes below, based on primary document research in the online ProQuest Historical Newspapers database.
In discussion section last week, you should have been assigned to one of these five topics. If you were not present, contact your GSI for the assignment.
**Railroad Strike of 1877 (West Virginia, Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh)
[some additional keywords = Pinkerton Detective Agency, Molly Maguires, Knights of Labor, Workingmen's Party, Rutherford B. Hayes]
**Haymarket Square Bombing [May] + Trial [August] (Chicago, part of the "Great Upheaval" of 1886)
[some additional keywords = McCormick Reaper Works, Knights of Labor, August Spies, Albert Parsons]
**Homestead Strike (Pittsburgh)--1892
[some additional keywords = Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie Steel Company, Henry Clay Frick, Pinkerton Detective Agency, Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers]
**Pullman Strike (Chicago) + Trial of Eugene Debs--1894
[some additional keywords = Railroad Strike, Eugene Debs, American Railway Union, Pullman Palace Car Company, George M. Pullman]
**Triangle Shirtwaist Fire + Trial (New York City)--1911
[some additional keywords = Triangle Waist Company, Waist Factory Fire, Asch Building, Women's Trade Union League, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck (factory owners)]
Lecture 4A on Tuesday and the readings for Discussion Section 4A will provide background for these five episodes. Part of the goal, however, is for you to try to reconstruct events through the trial and error of historical research. If at all possible, please resist the impulse to google the event and report on the data found on a website, and instead explore the topic from the inside out.
First, go to MIRLYN's database: Search Tools
Enter "ProQuest Historical Newspapers" in the "Search" box. Click on that link, and you should be on the main ProQuest site. Under the "Database" option box, scroll down and click on the relevant historical four newspapers whose date range includes the timing of your topic:
The Historical Chicago Tribune (1849-1986)
The Historical New York Times (1851-2004)
The Historical Wall Street Journal (1889-1990)
The Historical Washington Post (1877-1991)
Conduct your online research in at least two newspapers. For example, the Chicago Tribune is the obvious choice for the Haymarket and Pullman topics. The Wall Street Journal, a business newspaper, would be a second good choice for the Pullman Strike (1894) but its database does not cover Haymarket (1886). The New York Times would be the first choice for the Railroad Strike of 1877, the Homestead Strike, and the Triangle Shirtwaist episode. The latter two would also be covered in the Wall Street Journal, while the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Post could be consulted for any of the topics.
For each search, you need to enter a keyword(s) and the date range. After selecting the newspaper from the drop-down box, enter the keyword(s) in the "Basic Search" box and set the date range in the "From . . . To" circles. If you don't find sufficient articles, experiment with different keywords and/or expand your date range. In general, start with a broader date range (such as "01/01/1877" to "12/31/1877") before narrowing it down if necessary. Also, a diligent researcher will look for newspaper coverage in the weeks or months before the beginning of the strike (or bombing or fire) to search for causes, as well as in the weeks/months after to search for effects. And for these three events (Haymarket, Pullman, Triangle Shirtwaist), make sure to find some articles on the subsequent trials.
Scroll through the articles that your keyword searches uncover and find 8-10 good ones from the two papers combined. Print these out and bring them to class for the group discussion on your topic. Read through them for your discussion project and summarize your findings in written form. Some questions to think about:
*How can you reconstruct the particular historical event(s) through these newspaper articles?
*How do the articles portray the various sides involved in the conflicts over "the labor question"? Do the newspapers seem biased toward one position?
*How do the articles portray the relationship between immigration and labor radicalism and patriotism?
*How do they address issues such as capitalism, unions, socialism/anarchism, and/or the need for reform of workplace conditions?
*How do these events shed light on questions of liberty and freedom in post-Reconstruction America?
*What is at stake here, in political and historical terms, in these struggles for power in the late 1800s and early 1900s? Does capitalism seem more contested as the American economic system than it does today?
Although the assignment expects you to base your research in the ProQuest newspaper database, the links below contain additional information and background context if you feel lost or want to find more information.
Great Railroad Strike-Historical Background