Brave Girl by
From acclaimed author Michelle Markel and Caldecott Honor artist Melissa Sweet comes this true story of Clara Lemlich, a young Ukrainian immigrant who led the largest strike of women workers in U.S. history. This picture book biography includes a bibliography and an author's note on the garment industry. It follows the plight of immigrants in America in the early 1900s, tackling topics like activism and the U.S. garment industry, with handstitching and fabric incorporated throughout the art. When Clara arrived in America, she couldn't speak English. She didn't know that young women had to go to work, that they traded an education for long hours of labor, that she was expected to grow up fast. But that didn't stop Clara. She went to night school, spent hours studying English, and helped support her family by sewing in a shirtwaist factory. Clara never quit, and she never accepted that girls should be treated poorly and paid little. Fed up with the mistreatment of her fellow laborers, Clara led the largest walkout of women workers the country had seen. From her short time in America, Clara learned that everyone deserved a fair chance. That you had to stand together and fight for what you wanted. And, most importantly, that you could do anything you put your mind to. Supports the Common Core State Standards.
The Child Labor Reform Movement by
It's the 1800s, and you are a child from a poor family. You have to go to work to keep from starving. Will you: Work as a pauper apprentice in an English factory? Emigrate from Ireland in order to work in the New England cloth mills? Make your living on the streets of New York City selling newspapers? Everything in this book happened to real people. And YOU CHOOSE what you do next. The choices you make could lead you to opportunity, to wealth, to poverty, or even to death. nbsp;
Children of Ellis Island by
Burdened with bundles and baskets, a million or more immigrant children passed through the often grim halls of Ellis Island. Having left behind their homes in Europe and other parts of the world, they made the voyage to America by steamer. Some came with parents or guardians. A few came as stowaways. But however they traveled, they found themselves a part of one of the grandest waves of human migration that the world has ever known. Children of Ellis Island explores this lost world and what it was like for an uprooted youngster at America's golden door. Highlights include the experience of being a detained child at Ellis Island--the schooling and games, the pastimes and amusements, the friendships, and the uneasiness caused by language barriers.
Children of the Gold Rush by
Describes in vintage photographs, individual stories, and related historic material what life was like for the indomitable children of the Alaska and Canada gold fields.
Digging a Hole to Heaven by
At 12 years old, Conall has already worked in the coal mines of West Virginia for two years. He spends his days deep underground with his faithful mule, Angel, carting loads of coal back and forth between the coal seams and the main shaft, where elevators take the coal up to the surface. One day a tunnel collapses, and his brother is trapped with others on the wrong side! How can Conall and Angel help to save them? Mixing archival images with his original artwork, in this historical fiction picture book acclaimed author and illustrator S. D. Nelson gives voice to the poverty, grueling labor, and dangerous conditions experienced by child laborers across our nation in the past, echoing conditions today, especially for migrant fieldworkers. Praise for Digging a Hole to Heaven "Nelson's acrylic-paint illustrations are gritty and realistic; more evocative still are the historical photographs that appear on nearly every page. A useful and thorough piece of work combining fiction and nonfiction, with an extensive author's note detailing the history of coal mining." --Kirkus Reviews
Growing up in Coal Country by
Through interviews, newspaper accounts, and other original sources, Bartoletti pieced together a picture of life in the Pennsylvania coal mines at the turn of the century.
Immigrant Children by
Picture the American Past uses short, simple text linked to large historical photographs to bring to life the unique ways in which children lived and worked in an earlier era. Supports the national curriculum standards Culture; Time, Continuity, and Change; Individual Development and Identity; and Individuals, Groups, and Institutions as outlined by the National Council for the Social Studies. The entire Picture the American Past series is available on Accelerated Reader.
Immigrant Kids by 
Immigrants, Migration, and the Growth of the American City by
This book focuses on the Industrial Revolution and the changes it brought to America, including the rise and growth of factory cities and towns, child labor, and the use of immigrant workers to build the railroads.
Kid Blink Beats the World by
"It was all for a penny. They left their cramped and crowded tenement apartments for a penny. They scurried beside the pushcart peddlers for a penny. They dodged street trolleys and horse drawn wagons for a penny. And in the summer of 1899, Kid Blink, Race Track Higgins, Tiny Tim, Crutch Morris, and Crazy Arborn battled the world for a penny." The story of the newsboys (and girls) who took on the world's most powerful press barons - and won. In the summer of 1899, the hundreds of newsboys who sold Randolph Hearst's Journal and Pulitzer's World on the streets of New York and surrounding cities went on strike. The issue was a penny-the extra penny that the press owners wanted to charge the newsboys to buy the papers. To the press owners it didn't seem like much, but to the newsboys it was a living, and they fought. Led by kids with colorful names like Kid Blink, Race Track Higgins, Tiny Tim, and Crutch Morris, they refused to sell the papers, staged rallies-and finally brought the newspapers to the negotiating table.
Kids During the Industrial Revolution by
Show your students that times weren't always so easy for children. Mary will tell them what it was like to live in a tenement and work in a dangerous textile mill while new and improved machinery was being invented every day.
Kids on Strike! by
Kids on Strike! tells the story of children who stood up for their rights against powerful company owners, from a "turn-out" in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1836 led by eleven-year-old Harriet Hanson to the dramatic strike of 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. By the early 1900s nearly two million children were in the United States work force. Their tiny fingers, strong eyesight, and boundless energy made them perfect employees. But after years and years of working long hours every day under harsh and inhumane conditions, children began to organize and make demands in order to protect themselves. They fought for better wages, fairer housing costs, and safer working environments. Susan Campbell Bartoletti tells of labor strikes led by young people throughout the United States. Illustrated with more than one hundred photographs from newspapers and journals as well as with the work of photographer Lewis Hine, this book provides an inside look at the individual and gripping events that shaped t
Kids at Work by
Photobiography of early twentieth-century photographer and schoolteacher Lewis Hine, using his own work as illustrations. Hines's photographs of children at work were so devastating that they convinced the American people that Congress must pass child labor laws.
Tenement Stories by
Read this book to find out what life was like for immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side. Explore the sights and sounds of crowded immigrant neighborhoods. Learn more about the people who came to the United States in search of a better way of life.
97 Orchard Street, New York by
Imagine growing up on Orchard Street in 1916. If you were a member of the large Confino family you’d be living in 325 square feet of space. The only fresh air and natural light would come from the two windows in the front room. No heat, no water, no bathtub, no shower. Toilet in the hall. The Confinos’ apartment is only one part of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, an extraordinary facility in New York City. The Museum has restored 97 Orchard Street to provide us with an opportunity to understand the immigrant experience shared by millions who have come to North America. In text and with archival photos, Linda Granfield tells the story of four families, including the Confinos, who called 97 Orchard Street home, and provides information about the period, the history of the house, and the neighborhood, bringing to life conditions that were familiar to immigrants in many of North America’s big cities. The stories and archival materials are beautifully complemented by Arlene Alda’s sensitive photographs that evoke the hardship, the dignity, and the hope encompassed in 97 Orchard Street. The book includes useful facts, information about the Museum and its efforts to help new immigrants who share similar experiences. Whether or not the reader can visit the Museum itself, this book is a valuable resource in understanding our own histories in North America.
Tenement by
Life on the Lower East Side was bustling. Immigrants from many European countries had come to make a better life for themselves and their families in the United States. But the wages they earned were so low that they could afford only the most basic accommodations—tenements. Unfortunately, there were few laws protecting the residents of tenements, and landlords took advantage of this by allowing the buildings to become cramped and squalid. There was little the tenants could do; their only other choice was the street. Though most immigrants struggled in these buildings, many overcame a difficult start and saw generations after them move on to better apartments, homes, and lives. Raymond Bial reveals the first, challenging step in this process as he leads us on a tour of the sights and sounds of the Lower East Side, guiding us through the dark hallways, staircases, and rooms of the tenements.
Ellis Island Guide with Lower Manhattan by