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We are adding inquiry-based lessons every week and constantly seeking those that are already out there by others. If you have one to contribute, email us at remedialherstory@gmail.com.
Inquiries are provided in chronological order. Click here for How to Teach with Remedial Herstory Lessons. |
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The Industrial Revolution: Women Laborers
Harris & Ewing, photographer. TARBELL, IDA M. , None. [Between 1905 and 1945] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016859909/.
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Was Tarbell correct about Rockefeller's unjust practices?
Ida Tarbell was one of the world's first investigative journalists, doubbed by Teddy Roosevelt as a "muckraker." Writing for McClure magazine she attempted to expose and take down America's wealthiest man-- John D. Rockefeller. Was she correct? 
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New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]), 26 March 1911. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
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What role should the government play in the relationship between owners and Triangle workers?
This is a double inquiry building to this much larger question. Students will examine primary source material on the Triangle strike and consider the role that socialism played in the effectiveness of the strike. Then, students will look at primary and secondary materials on the trial that followed the Triangle Fire and determine whether the owners deserved manslaughter charges. There are so many primary materials out there on this fire! This lesson could easily be extended and serve as only a launching point from which students research the nuances of this tragedy!
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Lessons from Others
- Triangle Shirtwaist Fire:
- National Women’s History Museum: On the Eve of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, what were the conditions in the sweatshops of Manhattan in 1911 and how were individuals seeking change? The story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is multidimensional. The tragedy, which caused the death of 146 garment workers, highlighted many of the issues that defined urban life in turn-of-the-century America. These topics include, but are not limited to labor unions, immigration, industrialization, and factory girls working in sweatshop conditions in Manhattan’s garment district. March 25, 1911 became a benchmark moment in the Progressive Era that ultimately resulted in drastic changes in labor standards for factories across New York City, and later the nation. However, with the horrifying death toll, mostly young immigrant women, it is a story that highlights early 20th century labor activism, the power of big business, and the emerging voice of women, still silenced at the voting booths. Through this tragic event, we can learn about not only the women who died but the movement that they provoked and the conditions of labor that they forever changed.
- Gilder Lehrman: How did the Industrial Revolution impact the lives of women and what were the causes and effects of the fire? Dramatic change characterized the rapid industrialization of nineteenth-century America. The economy, politics, society and specifically women were all affected. In the early stages of this economic revolution, manufacturing was moved to factories in newly developing urban areas. Young women began working in the textile industry as early as 1820. Later on as goods were increasingly produced by machines run by unskilled labor, the number of women in the industrial workforce grew. Women entered the ranks of industrial workforce as seamstresses who produced ready-made clothing in the city sweatshops. One event, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, helps us to understand the experience of these women.
- National Women’s History Museum: On the Eve of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, what were the conditions in the sweatshops of Manhattan in 1911 and how were individuals seeking change? The story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire is multidimensional. The tragedy, which caused the death of 146 garment workers, highlighted many of the issues that defined urban life in turn-of-the-century America. These topics include, but are not limited to labor unions, immigration, industrialization, and factory girls working in sweatshop conditions in Manhattan’s garment district. March 25, 1911 became a benchmark moment in the Progressive Era that ultimately resulted in drastic changes in labor standards for factories across New York City, and later the nation. However, with the horrifying death toll, mostly young immigrant women, it is a story that highlights early 20th century labor activism, the power of big business, and the emerging voice of women, still silenced at the voting booths. Through this tragic event, we can learn about not only the women who died but the movement that they provoked and the conditions of labor that they forever changed.
- Queen Liliokalani:
- Stanford History Education Group: In 1898, the U.S. officially annexed Hawaii—but did Hawaiians support this? In this lesson, students read two newspaper articles, both hosted on the website Chronicling America, which make very different arguments about Hawaiians' support for—or opposition to—annexation. Students focus on sourcing as they investigate the motivations and perspectives of both papers and why they make very different claims.
- Stanford History Education Group: In 1898, the U.S. officially annexed Hawaii—but did Hawaiians support this? In this lesson, students read two newspaper articles, both hosted on the website Chronicling America, which make very different arguments about Hawaiians' support for—or opposition to—annexation. Students focus on sourcing as they investigate the motivations and perspectives of both papers and why they make very different claims.