Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

Shirtwaist Maker Strike

Overview

Pair the picture book, Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, with primary sources to have students practice close reading, build vocabulary, and investigate labor activism and one group’s fight for shorter hours, increased wages, and more sanitary working conditions. After, students may share, in words or pictures, an example of something they have done or they hope to do to affect change.

Related Resources

Grade

Elementary

Subjects

Civics, English Language Arts

Length

40-60 minutes

Topics

Clara Lemlich, Shirtwaist Makers, civic action, hours, immigrants, labor, picture books, strike, wages, women's history, working conditions

Author

Tom Bober

More Lessons

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer

By Tom Bober

Dolores Huerta: Building Coalitions to Affect Change

By Citizen U CRF

Dangerous Jane

By Tom Bober

Making a Mark: Marching & Leaping Towards Reform

By Academy of American Poets

Dolores Huerta: Collaborating to Affect Change

By Citizen U CRF

Diana’s White House Garden

By Tom Bober

Congress and Child Labor

By KidCitizen

Alice Paul and Strong Women

By Academy of American Poets

Kids, Collaboration, and Coalitions

By Citizen U DePaul

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down

By Tom Bober

Gun Violence and Next-Generation Coalitions

By Citizen U DePaul

Chinese Citizenship in Hawaii

By Primary Source Nexus

Predicting & Inferring About Woman Suffrage

By Kimberly Heckart

Concerning the American Girl

By Primary Source Nexus

Why We Can’t . . .

By Primary Source Nexus

What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

By Tom Bober