2008: Conflict and Compromise in History
Analyze a strike in U.S. labor history (for example, the Chicago General Strike of 1867; the Homestead Strike of 1892; the Bread and Roses Strike of 1912; the Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937; the Professional Air Traffic Controllers strike of 1981). Examine the strikers’ demands within the conflict’s broader social, political, and economic context. Discuss the strike’s immediate and long term outcomes for organized labor in particular and workers in general.
2009: The Individual in History
Pick an individual in U.S. labor history (for example, A. Philip Randolph, Mother Jones, or Cesar Chavez), focusing not only on their individual struggles and achievements, but also on the many individual and often anonymous workers in the industries whose working conditions they sought to improve. Do not overlook local activists.
2010: Innovation in History
How has the U.S. labor movement improved working conditions for all workers, organized and unorganized? Select one innovation (for example, the eight-hour day, restrictions on child labor, automation, or health and safety reforms) and discuss it in its historical and contemporary contexts.
2011: Geography in History: Impact, Influence, Change
Examine the role geography plays in union organizing drives. Do organizing techniques differ from region to region and by sector (e.g., service, private, public)? Pick a particular regional campaign (for example, Operation Dixie in the South among industrial workers; the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee work in the Southwest among farm workers; or the Justice for Janitors campaign in California among custodians) and discuss the challenges and obstacles faced by activists organizing workers.
2012: Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History
Explore the aspects of the Industrial Revolution that made child labor an economically viable option for employers. Look at the attitudes and actions of children and adults regarding child labor in the U.S. What social and legislative reforms attempted to abolish child labor; what forces attempted to spread it?
2013: Turning Points in History: People, Ideas, Events
Turning points in U.S. labor history may be either positive (for example, the Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938, established a minimum wage and a forty-hour work week) or negative (for example, the Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947, placed restrictions on union activities and allowed states to enact anti-union “right to work” laws) for workers. Examine a labor leader, union event, or technological change (e.g., the cotton gin, the assembly line, the Bessemer process, etc.) that marked a unique or significant historical change, or one on which important labor developments depended.
2014: Diplomacy and Dialogue in History: Successes, Failures, Consequences
Examine the history of a U.S. government agency such as the National Labor Relations Board or the Department of Labor. What has the role of government been in labor-management disputes (for example, through intervention, mediation, or legislation)? Provide examples of government actions that helped or hurt workers and the social, economic, and political forces that influenced these actions.
2015: Rights and Responsibilities in History
How have workers’ rights improved in the U.S. since the Industrial Revolution? Select one or more examples and examine the social, political, and economic context in which workers won the right(s). What is the correlation between workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities? What is the role of public opinion in securing workers’ rights? What rights still benefit workers today? What are the challenges today’s workers face as they try to preserve long-standing rights?
Visit the official National History Day website.
Find out about the collections at the George Meany Memorial Archives and access the online database.
