(snippet of of a sample newspaper)Instructional Materials
for Teachers and Students of Labor History
in New York and the United States of America
These materials, which use newspaper accounts from The Albany Argus (1877) and the Buffalo Morning Express (1892), were originally developed and prepared by the Friends of the New York Newspaper Project in 2001.
This instructional packet uses newspaper articles from the nineteenth century to create a case study of a significant event in American labor history, the Railroad Strike of 1877, frequently referred to as the Great Strike. By using newspapers written and published at the time events occur, readers experience the emotion and the events as they unfold, without the filter of time and changing perspective. And, since they were written to be read by a wide variety of citizenry possessing varying levels of literacy, newspapers of any period provide classrooms with documents that may be more accessible to students than legislation, speeches and other textual primary sources.
The packet is designed for teachers and students of New York State and American history, and those wishing to learn more about the beginnings of organized labor in the United States.
Each newspaper image is displayed next to a transcript of the text it contains.
Related Resources:
New York State Library, Archives, Museum:
- Library Digital Collections (opens in new window) - In addition to the histories featured on this page, the State Library's Digital Collections contain New York State Agency publications, digital images, maps, and works of art related to the history of the New York.
- Office of Cultural Education Digital Collections - Images and documents from the State Library, Archives and Museum. (Search opens in new window).
- Visit our home page and use the search box to explore your topic on our site, or search selected databases simultaneously. Or, visit our Databases page to search databases or browse E-Journals, including newspapers. (Database searching requires login for off-site users.)
Previously Featured: |
| September / October 2007: Freedom's Treasures is a collection from the New York State Library, Archives and Museum of some of New York’s most important Revolutionary Era artifacts that have rarely been seen by the public. The collection was displayed in the State Capitol on the Fourth of July and in the State Museum on August 3rd. |
| August 2007: Fred Abele Transportation History Collection -- Making a Manuscripts Collection User Friendly. This online exhibit presents a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of the processing of a recently acquired collection. It shows State Library staff working on a collection of 38 cubic feet of photographs, prints, postcards and other ephemera so that researchers can use it. |
| July 2007: The New York State Summer Reading Program is a free public library reading program for children and teens. Children who join the summer reading program at their local public library have the opportunity to read and share books with others and to join in activities, events and celebrations related to the reading program theme. |
| June 2007: - The New York State Talking Book and Braille Library (TBBL) made their catalog of books available online in January 2007. Anyone can search the catalog, but those who are registered to borrow books from TBBL can also use this online catalog to add books directly to their request list. |
| May 2007: Librarycareersny.org -- Librarycareersny.org is a new Web site for people interested in pursuing a library and information science career, with a particular focus on New York State. The site includes five informational areas: career information; education requirements and opportunities; job search information; career growth involving continuing education, professional organizations, conference attendance, and staying current in the profession; and profiles of librarians currently on the job and recent graduates. |
April 2007: Selected county and town histories from the State Library's collection have been digitized. This group, online in PDF, were recently indexed and are now searchable.
The titles include: Annals of Albany; compiled by Joel Munsell; Pioneer Days and Later Times In Corning and Vicinity 1789-1920, by Uri Mulford; Centennial History of the Town of Dryden 1797-1897, compiled and edited by Geo. E. Goodrich; Schuylerville, New York, "The Historical Village," Official Souvenir Book; Portrait and Biographical Record of Orange County, New York; Troy and Rensselaer County, New York, a History; by Rutherford Hayner. Published in 1925; Stony Point Illustrated, an Account of the Early Settlement on the Hudson with Traditions and Relics of the Revolution; and History of Herkimer County, NY. |
| March 2007: Selected Women's History Collections held by the New York State Library: In honor of Women's History Month, in March the Library featured collections from our Manuscripts and Special Collections division that are related to women's history, particularly those listed in the finding aid, or guide, to Selected Women's History Collections. The finding aid is arranged alphabetically, with a brief description of each collection. Browsing the list will give you a taste of the size and scope of our collections, which may be as small as individual letters and diaries or as large as the 60 boxes of records from the Adirondack Forty-Sixers Club (60 boxes) or the 43 boxes from the Gilead Evangelical Lutheran Church. |
| February 2007: Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation: On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that "all persons held as slaves...shall be free." The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is an earlier version which Lincoln read to his Cabinet on September 22, 1862. Handwritten by President Lincoln, it also contains annotations by Secretary of State (and former Governor of New York) William Seward. One of the nation's greatest documentary treasures, the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation has been part of the New York State Library's collection since 1865. |
| January
2007: Final Report on the Battlefield of Gettysburg - This three-volume set contains New York at Gettysburg by William F. Fox and includes regimental histories of the numerous New York State regiments that fought at Gettysburg. The report also includes information about the monuments erected in honor of the New York regiments at Gettysburg. (The scanned document opens in a new window.) |
| (Note: Beginning in January 2007, the Library's Web Team began to feature NYSL resources or services of interest to New Yorkers.) |
