1938 Pecan Sheller Strike

Studying labor strikes is very important part of American History.   In 1938, twelve thousand pecan shellers went on strike for three months in San Antonio, Texas to protest poor working conditions and low pay.    The mostly Hispanic women worked ten hour days and were paid three dollars weekly.  At the time, company owners preferred human shellers over mechanized shelling for the sake of profit.  After 37 days of protests, both strikers and pecan shelling companies agreed to arbitration.  The three person board ruled in favor of the strikers, ordering higher wages and officially acknowledging the International Pecan Shellers Union.  

Virtual Unsung Heroes Lecture: Segregated Military Units

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Monday November 8th, 2021

7PM

Book Review: Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

Discussing the role of imperialism in American history is crucial to understanding the development of our country in the late eighteenth century.  Lessons involving the acquisition of Alaska, the annexation of Hawaii and the Spanish American War usually revolve around the morality behind colonial empires and the dangers of imperialism. The Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is useful tool when teaching Japanese imperialism. The story of a Zenji Watanabe provides an insiders view of the occupation of the Philippines prior to Pearl Harbor and after. It delves into the struggle behind an oppressive colonial power. The novel includes secret surveillance, the bombing of Corregidor and a brave Hawaiian who perseveres through brutal treatment.

Teaching Tip: If you enjoyed reading When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park, you will be sure to enjoy this historical fiction as well.

Rock Springs Massacre 1885

Thousands of Chinese immigrants worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860's.  The money earned in America was ten times more than what they could earn in China at the time.    Following the completion of the railroad most Chinese immigrants went to work for coal mining companies.  They were willing to work for lower wages than other miners, which fueled the anger between themselves and white miners.  On the morning of September 2nd, 1885 approximately 125 armed white miners viciously attacked the Chinese residents of Rock Springs Wyoming.  Chinese men were dragged from their homes and beaten while others were shot on site.   After the Chinese were gone the homes left standing were looted.  According to  Britannica.org 28 Chinese immigrants died  and 15 were injured.  Hundreds of Chinese miners were forced to abandon their homes and resettle.  

Teaching Tip: Compare the Tulsa Race Riot to the Rock Springs Massacre. It is a lesson worth discussing.               

Abolitionist: David Ruggles

David Ruggles was born in Norwich, Connecticut in 1810.  He believed that abolitionists should not just philosophize about the day slavery would end, but strive to help all the victims of human bondage. At the age of eighteen he opened a grocery shop in New York in order to further the anti-slavery movement growing in the Northeast.   The grocery shop circulated books and Anti-slavery publications for African-Americans who were denied access to the New York public libraries.  In addition to his anti-slavery book store, he served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.  He helped to bring at least six hundred enslaved people to freedom.  His support for abolition made him one of the most hated abolitionists in New York.  

Tien Fuh Wu

Tien Fuh Wu grew up  in Zehjiang, China in the late 1800's.  She was forced to work in a brothel to pay off gambling debts her father generated.  By the age of ten she was sent to San Francisco to continue her life of servitude and physical abuse.  In 1894 she was rescued by a local missionary, who worked to free the imprisoned women.  Her body was covered with burns, cuts, and bruises from years of abuse.  After being rescued Tien Fuh Wu served as a translator for the mission that once rescued her.  She helped Donaldina Cameron liberate Chinese women in San Francisco from a vicious system of servitude.   

Book Review: When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohammed and Victoria Jamieson

   

Kenya is home to the Dadaab Refugee Camp.  It is the home for thousands of refugees that fled Somalia during the Civil War in 1991.   The camp struggles with famine, drought and poverty.  The graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohammed and Victoria Jamieson, describes Omar Mohammed's experience in Dadaab.  Omar spent fifteen years in this "open prison." This is a great novel to teach students appreciation for what they have and to never lose hope even in the darkest times.             

Book Review: Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Teaching the Holocaust can be a very difficult subject to discuss and teach in the classroom.  I often share images of the concentration camps and use document based questions.  Reading and analyzing the young adult novel Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz also conveys the depth of horror. The book includes the starving ghettos, horrific concentration camps, gas chambers, brutal train rides, and unfathomable torture.  This book is a great springboard to a discussion on morality and the dangers of following a ruthless dictator.