Thursday, February 21, 2013

1912 Presidential Election

The four candidates in the presidential election of 1912: William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Eugene V. Debs. Photo from CSPAN.


Look here for detailed information about the Election of 1912. Listen to and/or read both Theodore Roosevelt's speech "The Liberty of the People" and Woodrow Wilson's speech "On Labor." What are the differences between the two candidates for the presidency? How does each reflect the values of the Progressive Era?


Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Progressive Era Labor Struggles

"Bread line outside the Pressed Steel Car plant, McKees Rocks, 1909" Photo from Explore PA History.


Read John Ingham's article on the McKees Rocks strikes in 1909. The article citation is:

Ingham, John N. "A Strike in the Progressive Era: McKees Rocks, 1909." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 3 (1966): 353-77.

You can find the article through JSTOR, a database of scholarly journals.
1. Go to the Hunter Library website
2. Click on "Databases/Articles"
3. Find "JSTOR" in the alphabetical list
4. If you are not on campus, you must enter your Hunter netID and password to access JSTOR
5. Use the advanced search option to find the article with the citation information above.

Consider the following questions:

What is the author's argument?
What examples does he provide to prove his point?
What are the issues and/or conditions that led to the strikes?
How were the McKees Rocks strikes similar to or different from other strikes?