As a natural progression in its successful union partnership initiative, the Saturn Corporation and the United Auto Workers commissioned Anchor Education to find a way to celebrate the historic achievements of the working men and women of our country. Anchor Education's response was a classroom program for middle and high school teachers called Heroes of American Labor.
The program covers five centuries of American labor history, from indentured servitude and slavery in the plantation era to the rise of modern professional unions. It consists of:
- A timeline of labor and related events in American history;
- Twelve historic portraits of labor leaders, child laborers and an organization;
- A curriculum guideline for grades 6 through 12;
- An online presence on the Saturn-UAW site, where teachers can download the curriculum, access additional information about labor history and link to other labor history-related Web sites.
The portraits and timeline events were selected to reflect the overall progression of American Labor and to serve as a springboard for students and teachers to further explore Labor's past, present and future.
The Heroes of American Labor curriculum provides materials upon which teachers can build lessons that include the roles of unions in American history and stimulate student discussions, research and discovery. Click here to download the Heroes teaching guide.
(The Heroes of American Labor curriculum is a PDF file. If you need Acrobat Reader to open and to review this file, click here to download this free software.)
The Heroes of American Labor timeline and teacher's guide were prepared by AE's Dr. Gerald Fecht, award-winning history professor and member of the American Federation of Teachers. Dr. Rick Gregory, noted labor historian, also contributed to the program. Anchor Education relied upon the graphic design of David Mejia to create an overall look appealing to teachers and students. Anchor Education partner Karen Whitaker worked with archivists and labor institutes across the country in obtaining historic photos and artwork.
[America's Teaching Zoo] [Boys & Girls Clubs of America] [BritAngel Publishing] [Busch Entertainment/STV] [Education Collateral] [Dr. Ruth Hemming, Community College Trustee] [Learning Community Institutes] [Los Angeles Valley College] [Name the Lion] [Rubicon Financial] [Saturn On Campus] [Saturn/UAW's Heroes of American Labor] [Saturn Union Marketing] [Spring Spectacular] [Theatre of Will]