Labor History Commons^™

Voices Of Our Past: The Rank And File Movement In Social Work, 1931-1950, Richard William Hunter

Dissertations and Theses

During the period of the late 1920s through the late 1940s, a most remarkable event in the history of American social work emerged: the development of a vital radical trade union organizing effort known as the ''rank and file movement." Born within the growing economic crisis of the 1920s and maturing in the national economic collapse and social upheaval heralded by the Great Depression, the rank and file movement would attract the support and membership of thousands of professional social workers and uncredentialed relief workers in efforts to organize social service workers along the lines of industrial unionism. Within its …

"Stone Of The Most Beautiful Kind": The White Stone Quarry Of Bowling Green, Christy L. Spurlock

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

A history of the White Stone Quarry in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The rise and fall of this quarry from the 1830s to 1930 reflects the changing American economy during this same period.

"For A Healthy America:" Labor's Struggle For National Health Insurance, 1943-1949, Edmund F. Wehrle

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

"For A Healthy America:" Labor's Struggle For National Health Insurance, 1943-1949, Edmund Wehrle

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Land And Labor: The Quest For Black Economic Independence On Virginia's Lower Peninsula, 1865-1880, Edna Greene Medford

History Department Faculty Publications

Until quite recently, most of what we knew about antebellum slavery and the African-American experience in the postwar years resulted from generalizations regarding the cotton South. The tendency to focus on the heart of Dixie failed to take into account certain economic realities in the Upper South that shaped experiences under slavery and influenced freedpeople's adaptation to a new order.

Class Culture And Generational Change: Immigrant Families In Two Connecticut Industrial Cities During The 1930s, Ivan Greenberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Recent social history stresses the autonomy of workers, especially the ways that immigrant families made "lives of their own." However, little attention is focused on the particular experiences of the second generation and the ways they forged their own group identity. This study, by locating the emergence of this generation, highlights an important demographic change within the working class.

Familiar developments of the 1930s take on new meaning. For example, the pivotal role of the second generation in the rise of the CIO helps to recast the early history of industrial unionism. The resurgence of the labor movement parallels the …

Noel J. Kent's Review Of Edward D. Beechert's Working In Hawaii: A Labor History, Noel Jay Kent

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Noel J. Kent's Review Of Ronald Takaki's Pau Hana: Plantation Life And Labor In Hawaii, 1835-1920, Noel J. Kent

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.

Lang And Lee: Two Views Of The Great Depression, Steven M. Gelber

History

During the 1930s, America was the subject of American art. The European expressionism that had influenced so many artists through the 1920s was unceremoniously abandoned in favor of domestic realism. Creative people in all the arts adopted the theme. Virgil Thomson's music and Martha Graham's dance joined the novels of John Dos Passos and the plays of Thornton Wilder in an across-the-board celebration of America, past and present.

Domestic realism, as an artistic style, could take two distinct forms. · On the one hand there was the "documentary style" that sought to illustrate the country's troubles as a first step …

The Impact And Influence Of Indiana Public School Teachers And Teacher Unions On The Political System Of Indiana, 1956-1976, Leo Loughead

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact and influence of Indiana public school teachers and teachers unions on the political system of Indiana, 1956-1976. Method. Legislators were contacted personally durinB the 1976 General Assembly, using a questionnaire to structure a short interview. Those legislators who were not accessible during the thirty-day session of the Legislature were mailed a copy of the questionnaire along with a letter of explanation and two reference letters. Based on the entire population of 150 legislators, 120 legislators responded, representing a return of 80 percent. The responses of both the interview group …

Norfolk In The First World War, Stephen Paul Nasca

History Theses & Dissertations

World War I brought the military establishment in the form of bases and service personnel to Norfolk. Because of Norfolk's close proximity to the various military bases, recruiting for the various branches of the Armed Forces was carried on very diligently. Those Norfolkians who did not volunteer for one of the services, or were not drafted, were encouraged to join the Norfolk Home Guard.

To build the military bases and to work in the various government plants, thousands of workers were needed. This demand for laborers strained Norfolk's public transportation, health, and social services as well as housing accommodations and …

Utterly Visionary And Chimerical : A Federal Response To The Depression : An Examination Of Civilian Conservation Corps Construction On National Forest System Lands In The Pacific Northwest, Elizabeth Gail Throop

Dissertations and Theses

The principal purpose of this study was to discover what tangible evidence remains of the Civilian Conservation Corps construction projects undertaken on the National Forest System lands in the Pacific Northwest Region: to identify, locate, describe and evaluate these historic cultural resources and to ascribe some significance to them. It should be noted that all references to National Forests and to Ranger Districts are to current administrative jurisdictions, unless otherwise specified, for reasons of convenience.

The Evolution Of Child Labor Legislation In Illinois: 1818-1917, Frank Edward Storment

Masters Theses

"The Evolution of Child Labor Legislation in Illinois, 1818-1917" traces the development of social, economic, and political attitudes towards child labor in the State of Illinois. These attitudes evolved from a general acceptance of working children as part of the socio-economic structure to the realization that the industrial employment was causing a moral, social, and economic degeneration of American life. These changing attitudes were reflected in the legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly between 1818 and 1917.

Between 1818 and 1874 most legislation offered token protection to the child, but emphasized the moral well-being rather than the physical and …

The Union Bimetallic Party Of Oregon, 1896-1898, Ludger Mogge

Dissertations and Theses

On March 23 - 26, 1898, Populists, Democrats, and Silver Republicans of Oregon held their state conventions in Portland and agreed upon a common platform and a common state ticket for the elections of June 6, 1898. None of the available works on Oregon history explains that this fusion was the culmination of a two-year effort to unite the reform forces the state. This thesis tries to fill the gap. Because of the lack of secondary works on the subject, the thesis is based mainly on two sources: newspapers on microfilm, especially The Oregonian; and the unpublished correspondence of party …

Art For The Millions: A Pictorial History Of The Wpa Art Project In S.F., Warren Hinckle, Steven M. Gelber, Richard O'Hanlon

History

On the whole, the New Deal was a good deal for California, and San Francisco got the best of the bargain. While some of the more steadfast members of the Pacific Union Club sat around hissing at the very sound of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's voice resonating from their mahogany radio cabinets, the braintrusters of FDR's famous Works Progress Administration (WPA) were busy scouting Coit Tower as the site for the first federally assisted artist's project in American history. Coit Tower was but the first - and the first controversial - of an impressive, unprecedented public art-public works program that put …

The History Of California Agriculture: Focus On Women Farmworkers, Margo Mcbane

Community History

The History of California Agriculture: Focus on Women Farmworkers draws on historical accounts, personal narratives, and photographs to explore the experiences of various labor groups during the development of California’s agricultural system. It shows how gender, race, nationality, immigration laws, economic pressure, and seasonal work were used to control workers and keep wages low. McBane puts special emphasis on women farmworkers, highlighting how women balanced fieldwork with domestic responsibilities while also being paid less and given fewer opportunities.

Oral History Interview: James A. Harmon, James A. Harmon

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

James A. Harmon was born in 1890 on his grandfather’s farm outside of Red House, WV. Mr. Harmon reminiscences about his childhood growing up on a 350-acre farm. He earned a sixth grade education at a two-room schoolhouse. When he was 14 years old, Mr. Harmon started his career on the river on the Steamer Calvert. During his interview, Mr. Harmon focuses on his varied jobs on many steamboats. Although he performed well in all of his duties, his greatest passion was engineering. He received his engineer’s license when he was 21 years old. In the audio clip provided, …

Oral History Interview: Edward C. Jackson, Edward C. Jackson

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Edward C. Jackson was born on January 17, 1911, in Canfield, Braxton County, WV. In 1926, he moved to Fenwick, Nicholas County, WV, to pursue jobs in saw mills. In his interview, Mr. Jackson describes in great detail the design and structure of the log home he lived in as a child. He focuses on growing up on a farm and places emphasis on the type of work he did and food preparation and preservation. Mr. Jackson also discusses the tight-knit community in which he was raised. In the audio clip provided, Mr. Jackson discusses working in the lumber industry. …

Oral History Interview: William T. Arnold, William T. Arnold

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

William T. Arnold (Bill Arnold), a Native West Virginian, lived the majority of his life in Clay County. Mr. Arnold spent his early childhood on a farm on Galon Mountain. After the death of his father, Mr. Arnold moved with his family to various towns within Clay County. In 1911, when he was eleven years old, Mr. Arnold started his first job in coal mining, working thirteen hours a night as a water dipper. When he was eighteen years old, Mr. Arnold began working as a postman and delivered mail on a route near the New River, between the towns …

Oral History Interview: Forrest Atkinson, Forrest C. Atkinson

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

During his interview, Forrest Atkinson reminisces about growing up on a farm in Cabell County, West Virginia. His father was a tobacco farmer and timber cutter. He focuses on food preservation processes and home entertainment, including music and books. He also focuses on changes in technology during his lifetime. In the audio clip provided, Mr. Atkinson discusses raising and selling tobacco.

Oral History Interview: Frank Brooks, Frank Brooks

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Frank Brooks was born in Fayette County, WV, but grew up in Carter County, KY, in the early 1900s. He attended a one room school house through the third grade. Mr. Brooks began working in coal mines with his father in Borderland, WV, when he was 13 years old. In the audio clip provided, he discusses his first time in a coal mine. He focuses on how he tried to appear bigger than he was in order to be able to work. In his interview, Mr. Brooks compares and contrasts the labor conditions in the mines before and after unionization. …

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Tape recordings and transcripts of oral interviews with residents in the West Virginia-Ohio-Kentucky Tri-State region regarding such topics as farming, schools, health care, folk customs, and many others related to life in this Appalachian region.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Marshall University Oral History Collection here.

American Career Of James Connolly, Kara P. Brewer

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

So badly wounded that he had to be propped up in a chair to face the firing squad, James Connolly was executed by the British on May 10, 1916 in Dublin's infamous Kilmainham Jail. He had been one of the leaders of the abortive Easter 'Rising against English control of Ireland. This event in itself was sufficient to guarantee him a significant place in Irish history but Connolly had achieved prominence in other activities as well. Besides being a revolutionary nationalist he had been a Marxist and a labor leader, had founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party and had played …

The Illinois State Federation Of Labor During World War I, Nancy Wilson Owen

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Life Of The Negro Slave In Alabama, Daniel B. Austin

Theses

This paper is an attempt to give an unbiased account of the conditions either good or bad under which slaves lived and worked. Special attention will be given to their housing conditions, the type and quantity of clothing, food and its preparation as well as the labor they performed. Space will also be given to the crimes and punishment of Negro slaves -- additionally the education and religious opportunities will be surveyed.

Child Labor Reform Movement In Virginia: 1890-1938, Yukiko Maritani

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

A History Of The Hampton Roads Longshoreman's Association, Esther Levinson

History Theses & Dissertations

Abstract unavailable.

John H. Walker, Labor Leader Of Illinois, 1905-1933, Anthony Barger Barrette

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Historical Study Of The Role Of The Industrialist In The Tobacco, Flour And Textile Industries Of Virginia 1860-1890, Leslie Winston Smith

Master's Theses

The primary objective of this study is to ascertain what part, if any, the prominent industrialists of Virginia, in the postwar-pretwentieth century period, played in the economic rejuvenation of a state that was ravaged for four years by invaders and defenders alike. Cognizant of the fact that Virginia industry after 1865 was attending a degree of diversification, nonetheless, this study will be limited to three primary industries, namely tobacco, flour and textiles. Even though these three industries, with the possible exception of textiles, were found in most towns and cities throughout the state, only four cities have been selected for …

The Richmond Transit Strike Of 1903, Thomas Jefferson Headlee Jr.

Master's Theses

A general history of the American Labor movement introduces the reader to the mainstream of trade unionism in the United States. It is the purpose of this paper however, to record the events of only one of the less important incidents in the twentieth century. That this experiment of labor in Richmond, Virginia in the year 1903 should have failed, does not detract from its value to the historian, for the study of even an unsuccessful strike may add to our knowledge of the various unions and anti-unionism. In addition, it certainly behooves us, as Richmond's, to learn something further …