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Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Industrialization

There are 8 titles in this list.

 

The Colonia Mexicana of Bethlehem Steel
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=922

Lesson plan with activities related to the influx of Mexican immigrant workers employed by Bethlehem Steel during the early 20th century and history in Pennsylvania. The unit is geared to the middle and high school classroom for use in the curriculum areas of history, geography, and the arts and humanities. The unit focuses on Bethlehem Steel's recruitment of workers from Mexico, beginning in 1923, with student activities centering on the analysis of a Mexican corrido and newspaper articles from the time. Background materials include a glossary, resources for teachers and students, and links to primary source materials, including photographs and oral histories, drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and other materials. The lesson plan is correlated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, History, Geography, and Arts and Humanities.

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Geography; Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Primary sources; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities Language: English; Spanish
Subjects: Industrialization; Cultural geography; Steel industry and trade; Immigrant labor; Iron and steel workers; Mexico--Social life and customs; Ballads; Labor history; Immigrants; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; Mexican Americans; Music; Corridos
Geographic locations: Pennsylvania; Mexico

Sponsoring Organization:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1


Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present
by Hunter Library, Western Carolina University
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/index.htm

Educational website documenting the Craft Revival movement in western North Carolina from 1895 to 1945, drawing on a virtual collection of photographs, documents, craft objects, and artifacts maintained by Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library. The site includes over 25 accompanying lesson plans for grades 3-12, which focus on weaving, basketry, pottery, and other mountain crafts and traditions found in the Southern Highlands of North Carolina. Additional lesson plans cover cottage industries, industrialization, the Cherokee presence, and the social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Craft Revival in the Appalachian Mountain South. Curriculum areas covered include language arts, social studies, history, art, and math.

Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Art and Culture; History and Social Studies; Language Arts; Math
Resource Type: Activities; Lesson plans; Primary sources Language: English
Subjects: Textile fabrics; Quilting; Occupations--Folklore; Labor history; Industrialization; History; Crafts; North Carolina--Social life and customs; Pottery; Basket making; Weaving; Social history; Cherokee Indians; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Decorative arts
Geographic locations: North Carolina; Appalachian Region, Southern

Sponsoring Organization:
Hunter Library, Special Collections
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee NC 28723
(828) 227-2499
http://www.wcu.edu/1597.asp


Exploring Diversity in Pennsylvania History
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=74

Resources for teachers related to the diverse ethnic histories of Pennsylvania. Curriculum materials include lesson plans, student handouts, background readings, and links to primary source materials drawn from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Balch collections related to the topics of settlement, community, work and industrialization, and interethnic relations. Geared to the middle and high school classroom, the units include resources for studying the settlement, history, and culture of Germans, Irish, Italians, Chinese, Latinos, South Asians, Africans, and Koreans in Pennsylvania. Lesson plans are correlated to a variety of Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards.

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Performing Arts; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Primary sources; Lesson plans; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Cultural relations; Ethnicity; Geography; Immigrant labor; Asian Americans; Industrialization; Ethnic neighborhoods; Ethnic groups; Cultural pluralism; Korean Americans; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; German Americans; Irish Americans; Italian Americans; Chinese Americans; Arab Americans; Hispanic Americans; East Indian Americans; African Americans; Immigrants; Labor history; Emigration and immigration; Intercultural communication
Geographic locations: Pennsylvania

Sponsoring Organization:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1


Immigrants in Coal Country: Anthracite Mining in Pennsylvania
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=89

Lesson plan with activities related to issues of work and immigration among ethnic workers in the hard coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The unit is geared to the middle and high school classroom for use in the curriculum areas of history, civics and government, geography, performing arts, and reading and writing. The unit focuses on the link between labor and ethnicity in a coal mining region, changes in the mining industry over time, and the culture of anthracite coal miners, including their music, working conditions, and life experiences. Background materials include a glossary, resources for teachers and students, and links to primary and secondary source materials, drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and other materials. The lesson plan is correlated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, History, Geography, and Arts and Humanities.

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Geography; Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Primary sources; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Ethnic groups; Coal miners; Industrialization; Immigrant labor; Ethnicity; Community life; Music; History; Labor history; Cultural geography; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; Ballads; Folk songs; Coal mines and mining; Immigrants; Civics
Geographic locations: Pennsylvania

Sponsoring Organization:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1


Mapping South 4th Street to Fabric Row
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.philaplace.org/resource/468/

Curriculum unit on the interactive PhilaPlace web site, (http://www.philaplace.org/), that offers guidance in exploring maps using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for a older commercial and residential area of inner city Philadelphia that includes many retail fabric stores to help develop interpretive and analytical skills for the study of history. It includes teacher resources, lessons, and classroom activities aimed for the middle and high school grades, aligned with Pennsylvania State Standards. The unit provides information on reading maps using GIS technology in connection with researching primary source material on census and land use to examine historical urban trends in immigration, occupation, ethnicity, and industrial and commercial development. Unit can be adapted to the study of the history of American urban areas other than Philadelphia. (75 p. PDF and 7 Excel spreadsheets with census information)

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: History and Social Studies; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Primary sources; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Family-owned business enterprises; Stores, Retail; Census; Industrialization; Ethnic neighborhoods; Ethnic groups; Land use; Philadelphia (Pa.)--Social life and customs; Maps in education; Textile fabrics; Geography; Inner cities; Business enterprises; City and town life
Geographic locations: Philadelphia (Pa.); Pennsylvania

Sponsoring Organization:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1


Rivers of Steel Curriculum
by Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area
http://www.riversofsteel.com/for-educators/curriculum/

The Rivers of Steel Curriculum offers an introduction to the study of the industrial and cultural heritage of southwestern Pennsylvania. Background information and activities in the curriculum are included in its four units: 1) Coal and Coke; 2) Folklife -- Hidden In Plain Sight; 3) Seeing Pittsburgh, and 4) Steel Heritage, all available in PDF format. Activities can be altered for classroom use as needed, according to age, ability level, or curriculum area. The site also has related video clips of traditional and industrial arts in the region in a section called "Open Hearth 5."

Grade Level: 3-5; 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Science; Math; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Geography; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Video recordings; Activities Language: English
Subjects: Folklore; Coal miners; Coal mines and mining; Industrialization; Iron and steel workers; Pennsylvania--Social life and customs; Steel industry and trade; Community life; Immigrant labor; Neighborhoods
Geographic locations: Pennsylvania

Sponsoring Organization:
Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area
623 E. Eighth Avenue
Homestead PA 15120
(412) 464-4020
http://www.riversofsteel.com/


Woodsmen and River Drivers – Teaching Guide
by Paddy Bowman
http://www.folkstreams.net/context,273

Teaching guide for grades 10-12 to accompany the film “Woodsmen and River Drivers,” created by filmmakers Michael Chalufour, Karan Sheldon, and David Weiss in 1989. The 28-minute film, available as streaming video on folkstreams.net, features men and women who worked for a lumber company in Maine before 1930 and who share their recollections of the logging industry. Documentary footage illustrates the dangerous and exhausting work of cutting trees by hand, hauling logs to the river with horses, and floating them down to the mill. By encountering firsthand accounts of arduous physical labor and the seasonal round of old-time logging in the film and teaching guide, students gain perspective on work and occupations in their own lives and communities, including how occupational folklife contributes to a sense of place.

Grade Level: 9-12 Curriculum: Art and Culture; History and Social Studies; Language Arts
Resource Type: Lesson plans; Primary sources; Activities; Video recordings Language: English
Subjects: Hazardous occupations; Labor history; Log driving; Ethnographic films; Loggers; Oral history; Occupations--Folklore; Maine--Social life and customs; Educational films; Industrialization; Place-based education; Logging; Lumbermen; Seasons
Geographic locations: Maine

Sponsoring Organization:
Folkstreams


http://www.folkstreams.net/


Work and Travel on the Rails
by Historical Society of Pennsylvania
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=850

Educational unit with lesson plans and activities designed to introduce students to the role and experiences of immigrant labor on the railroads in American history and the evolution of railroad travel from the perspective of the traveler. The materials in this guide are geared to the middle and high school classroom for use in the curriculum areas of history, geography, reading, writing, and the arts. The unit has two major areas of focus—Working on the Rails; and Public Space on the Rails. Background materials include a glossary, resources for teachers and students, and links to primary source materials, such as railroad ballads, travel accounts, and railroad reports, drawn from the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and other materials. The lesson plan is correlated to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards for Reading and Writing, History, and Geography.

Grade Level: 6-8; 9-12 Curriculum: Performing Arts; Music; Language Arts; History and Social Studies; Geography; Art and Culture
Resource Type: Primary sources; Lesson plans; Audio recordings; Activities Language: English
Subjects: United States--History; United States--Social life and customs; Railroad construction workers; Railroads; Labor history; Industrialization; Immigrants; Irish Americans; Italian Americans; Immigrant labor; Music; Ballads; Travel; Geography
Geographic locations: United States

Sponsoring Organization:
Historical Society of Pennsylvania
1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia PA 19107
(215) 732-6200
http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=1


 

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