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Teach PA History
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Visit PA Regions
Discovering and Covering the Battle of Homestead
Extensions

1. This lesson explores the perspective of four groups of individuals: the church, management, the strikers/Amalgamated Association, and the Pinkertons. You may wish to bring in additional perspectives as well: e.g., the families of strikers, the sheriff (McCleary), or the troops sent in by the Governor. 2. Research and place this in context with other labor strikes in Pennsylvania. (e.g., Morewood Massacre was one example referenced in the primary source material your students studied.) Create a timeline and synopsis of each event. 3. You may wish to incorporate elements or pair this lesson with two other ExplorePAHistory lesson plans which cover the Development of the Industrial Era (1877-1900) and labor management in particular. One is a middle level lesson entitled Lattimer Massacre: What's Beneath the Surface?. This creates a role play of the Lattimer Massacre events in 1897. (This idea could be easily adapted for Homestead as well.) The second lesson is called Show Me the Money: Labor/Management Issues in Professional Baseball. This looks at the rise of salaries of professional baseball players over the years. Taking a look at the salary of Amalgamated Iron Workers versus non-union workers, or comparing these salaries to management might prove to be an eye-opening exercise. 4. For those students who express themselves well in visual activities you might consider an alternative culminating exercise for this lesson of creating a political cartoon from each of the perspectives studied.

Field Trips

Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area The Bost Building 623 E. 8th Avenue Homestead, PA 15120 412-464-4020
Congress created the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area in 1996 to preserve, interpret, and manage the historical, cultural, and natural resources related to steel and its industries. Several daylong fieldtrips, entitled Big Steel Field Trips, provide students with interactive field experiences and allow them to hone their research skills. One entitled Researching the Region's Steel Heritage, is geared for 10-12th graders. Direct your calls to 412-464-5119.

Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center 1212 Smallman Street Pittsburgh, PA 1522 (412) 454-6304
The Heinz Regional History Center is devoted to the history and heritage of Western Pennsylvania. Its 210,000-square-foot museum and research center offers visitors a chance to interact with original artifacts and historical and cultural exhibits. The Heinz History Center educational program provides a number of field trip options, usually centered on the topic "Points In Time: Building a Life in Western Pennsylvania, 1750-Today." Five thematic tours are available: "The Changing Home," "The African American Contribution," "Movement and Memory," "Transportation and Industry," and "Underground Railroad: Journey to Freedom." In particular, the theme of "Transportation and Industry" might tie in nicely with this lesson on steel.

National Museum of Industrial History 530 East Third Street Bethlehem, PA 18015-1390 (610) 694-6644
This museum, associated with the Smithsonian Institute, will tell the story of this nation's industrial growth and achievements from mid-eighteen hundreds to modern day, steel being an important aspect of this larger theme in history.

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