As part of its educational outreach program, "Labor in the Schools," the George Meany Memorial Archives offers the following services:
Tours
Gain a rewarding overview of the history of twentieth century American labor by taking a tour of the George Meany Memorial Archives. Bring your class to the official archives of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations where staff archivists and librarians will lead your students in groups on an interpretative walk through our archives, library, and exhibits. Tours that relate to curriculum needs are more effective, so let us know your particular subject interests, for example, "labor and the New Deal," "child labor," "labor and civil rights," etc. The tour generally lasts 1 1/2 hours, but we will consider requests for a lengthier or shorter tour. We provide a snack at the tour's end. [TOP]
Bibliographies
Discover the valuable resources available in our library through use of subject bibliographies on topics such as Labor Leaders, Women at Work and in the Labor Movement, The Black Worker in America, Strikes and Lockouts, Minimum Wage, Guide to Locating Company Information, Labor Education, Organizing and Downsizing, Layoffs, and Plant Closings. Also available is a Selected Bibliography for a Public Library Labor Studies Collection, the majority of which are available in our library. With prior notice, we can provide bibliographies on other labor-related topics. Students can use these bibliographies to supplement class readings and written assignments. Moreover, we advise students about the availability of these books at local public and university libraries. [TOP]
Instructional Activities
In conjunction with articles that have appeared in Labor's Heritage, we have developed a number of teacher's guides:
- "Company Store" (Vol. II, No. 1) is a game simulation about living in a company coal town. $3.00
- "Turkey Work Factory" (Vol. III, No. 1) features family history and oral history projects. $3.00
- "Jewish Labor Committee" (Vol. III, No. 4) features primary source documents and illustrations about the Holocaust. $2.00
- "Seattle General Strike of 1919" (Vol. IV, No. 3) features cassette of folk-rock music labor songs about the strike. $3.00
- "Steelworkers in Aliquippa" (Vol. V, No. 2) features material about the Public Broadcast documentary, "The Great Depression." $1.00
- "Child Labor" (Vol. VI, No. 1) features "Children Without a Childhood" limited poster and text relating child labor in ca. 1910 and in ca. 1990. $3.00
- "Mediating a Strike" (Vol. VI, No. 2) is a role playing simulation about the Paterson silk strike. $1.00
- "Working People and Presidential Candidates" (Vol. VIII, No. 1) features the presidential campaigns of 1840, 1860, 1940, and 1960. $1.00
- "Beyond Textbooks" (Vol. X, No. 1) features 1) National History Day Competition: Student Essay; 2) Origins Project: Student Theatrical Presentation; 3) Working: Student Photographs at Bread and Roses Gallery. $1.00
- "Collecting Labor History in Your Community" (Vol. X, No. 4) features oral history and conducting research into labor history in local communities. $1.00 [TOP]
In connection with our online exhibit on A. Philip Randolph, we have developed "Labor and Civil Rights: Two Movements, One Goal?" to help guide students interested in examining the relationship between the labor movement and the civil rights movement, primarily in the 1940s-1960s.
For more information about "Labor in the Schools," please contact Lynda DeLoach, Archivist - (301) 431-5441.
