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The Outrage of Ordinary Men: Pennsylvania's Role in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877
Further Reading

Brecher, Jeremy. Strike! : Revised and Updated Edition. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999.

In his work Brecher looks at the unique moments in history when general strikes occurrred. He describes these strikes and brings the events to life using the perspective of the workers.

Bruce, Robert W. 1877: Year of Violence. Chicago, IL: Quadrangle Press, 1970.

Foner, Philip S. The Great Labor Uprising of 1877. Atlanta, GA: Pathfinder Press, 2002.

Known for his numerous writing contributions to the study of Labor History, Foner writes an insightful, well-researched book on The Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

Licht, Walter. Industrializing America: The Nineteenth Century. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.

This book takes a wider look at the effects of industrialization in the nineteenth century. It is a great book to contextualize the railroad strikes of 1877.

Stowell, David O. Streets, Railroads, and the Great Strike of 1877. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States, 1492-Present. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.

This wide-ranging historical work is well-written, readable prose that has provoked some controversial reviews.


Web Sites

Catskill Archive, The Great Strike http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/sk7711.Htm

This is “The Great Strike” article from Harper’s Weekly, August 11, 1877, with illustration links provided at the end.

Digital History, Industrialization and the Working Class - The Great Railroad Strike http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=224...

After setting the context of how many miles of railroad tracks were created in its heyday, this digital text describes the events of The Great Railroad Strikes of 1877, focusing specifically on Baltimore and Pittsburgh strikes with quotes and detailed statistics. Additional pages of the website continue to talk about the influence of the Molly Macguires’ hanging in stemming labor unions’ strength for awhile, as well as the birth of new labor unions.

Libcom, 1877: The Great Railroad Strike http://www.libcom.org/history/1877-the-great-railroad-strike

This excellent summary of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 was taken from Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States.

The Historical Society of Berks County, The Reading Railroad Massacre http://www.berkshistory.org/articles/railroad.html

This article, written by Douglas L. Humphrey, was originally published in the Fall 2000 issue of The Historical Review of Berks County. Humphrey takes a look at the specific events of the Reading Railroad Massacre and argues of the central significance of Franklin Gowen, president of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, to the overall chain of events in the strikes of 1877. Humphrey also explores the subsequent organization of labor unions which followed the Reading Railroad Massacre in 1877.

University of Nebraska, Railroads and the Making of Modern America http://segonku.unl.edu/railroads/documents/search.php?views%5B0%5D=Str...

This project by the University of Nebraska seeks to examine the social effects of the railroad on the United States. It offers an excellent array of primary sources of the Great Strike of 1877.

University of Pittsburgh, Labor Legacy-Great Strike of 1877 http://www.library.pitt.edu/labor_legacy/rrstrike1877.html

This resource at the University of Pittsburgh Archives offers a list of stereographs of multiple areas and viewpoints taken after the rioting and fires of The Great Strike of 1877 (or as the card publisher, S. V. Albee, calls it "The Railroad War at Pittsburgh, July 21-22, 1877").

Virginia Tech - Digitial History Reader-Module 5-Industrialization and Its Discontents, The Great Strike of 1877 http://www.dhr.history.vt.edu/modules/us/mod05_industry/context.html

This teaching module created by the faculty and students at Virginia Tech does an excellent job at exploring the reasons why The Great Strike of 1877 began and what were some of its enduring legacies.


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