Origins of Organized Labor in America – Brief History of the Mon Valley

This course provides a historical context for the rise of organized labor in the United States with a special focus on the Mon Valley.  Participants in this course will receive information relative to the trends and events that have shaped United States history in a variety of ways while focusing on case studies specific to the Pittsburgh region.  The instructors for this course will engage participants in discussion while utilizing a variety of learning methods such as lecture, film, and primary sources and images.

March 31 – Class 1: Natives and Settlers

“High Muddy Banks,” a Queen and a President, the Battle of the Monongahela, the conquest of the Forks of the Ohio, and a Spirited “Whiskey” Rebellion.

April 7 – Class 2: Working-class Culture

Women, minorities, immigrants to the United States, paid and unpaid labor, “skilled” and “unskilled” labor, the “patch” and the company town.

April 14 – Class 3: The Impact of Industrialization

Farms and orchards, the struggle against slavery, from iron to steel, rebellion on the rails, the Battle of Homestead

April 21 – Class 4: The Non-union Era

Irish, Slavs, and African Americans, 1919: the Great Steel “Hunky” Strike, Mother Jones in the Mon Valley, Mellon Rule, Out of the Furnace

April 28 – Class 5: The Two World Wars

Repression and cooperation, new workers/new roles, an “arsenal of democracy.”

May 5 – Class 6: Organization and Unionization

The rise of the United Mine Workers, the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, the United Steelworkers, Aliquippa

May 12 – Class 7: The Challenges of a Post-World War II World

Prosperity in the valley, Donora smog, 1959 Steel Strike, 1979-1986: A Steeler Nation – remnants and resistance.

May 19 – Class 8: Current Events and the Fate of the Steel Industry

Trade agreements, challenges to organized labor, course conclusion.

* Please see printed Training and Education Guide for  instructor biographies.