Curiosity Kits inspire exploration and learning of history through place. These multi-piece resources include articles that explore historic places and provide educational activities for life-long learners. This kit focuses on the work of labor activists in Chicago and their efforts to organize and fight for better working conditions.
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Article 1: Places of Women’s Labor Activism in Chicago
This article features places associated with working-class women who became labor rights activists. Kate Hyndman, Vicky Starr, and Sylvia Woods came to Chicago to find work during the 1930s, a decade beset by the Great Depression. The economic crisis hit working-class and immigrant laborers the hardest. People became desperate as banks failed, farms and factories closed, and unemployment spiked. Read more
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Article 2: Learning from Women Labor Activists in Chicago
The activities in this lesson explore the history of factory workers in Chicago. Discover how women played a critical role in labor organizing in the early 1900s. Read more