First Year Seminar Final

First Year Seminar

Frances Perkins

• Secretary of Labor under FDR in the 1930's

• First women to serve as cabinet secretary

• Advocate for American workers rights

International Ladies Garment Workers Union

• Called for a General Strike in November 1909 and this became known as the Rising of the Twenty Thousand

• Advocated for shorter hours and better pay

• Labor union that represented women working in the clothing industry

Clara Lemlich

• Organizes Local 25 of International Ladies Garment Workers' Union.

• In November, 1909, calls for a General Strike.

• This becomes known as the "Rising of the Twenty Thousand."

• Wins tangible results. But working conditions remain hazardous at Triangle.

NYS Factory Investigating Commission

• Legislative committee that investigated factory safety and health conditions in NYS

• Established in response to the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

• Recommended ways to improve worker protection, investigated wages and living conditions, and recommended new legislation

• Established Bureau of Fire investigation in 1911

Dillingham Commission

• "New immigration as a class is far less intelligent than the old..."

• Believed eastern and southern Europeans would not assimilate.

• Argued that the supply of unskilled labor kept native-born unskilled and semiskilled in poverty.

Eugenics

Proposes a three-tiered racial hierarchy:

• Nordics

• Mediterraneans.

• Alpines.

Madison Grant

• Publishes Passing of the Great Race in 1916, which gains popularity in the 1920's.

• Never scientifically proves that such classifications are meaningful. However, he gains influence with leading restrictionists, such as Rep. Albert Johnson (R).

Booker T. Washington

Not part of the Harlem Renaissance but his ideas influenced the movement, believed that Black people should focus on economic progress and education rather than challenging Jim Crow laws

W.E.B. DuBois

co founded the NAACP and his ideas conflicted with Booker T. Washington’s, he was the most important Black protest leader in the United States during the first half of the 20th century, he fought against inequality in education

Sharecroppers

farmers who were granted to small plots of land and it was a system that kept many Black farmers in poverty and debt which lead them to leave the South during the Great Migration

Boll Weevil

insects that infected and destroyed cotton crops leading to job losses among African Americans

Systemic Racism

racially unequal opportunities and outcomes are inbuilt or intrinsic to the operation of a society’s structures - processes and outcomes of racial inequality and inequity in life opportunities and treatment

Racial Covenant

restrictive clauses that were inserted into property deeds to prevent people who were not White from buying or occupying land 

Redlining

discriminatory practice that denies financial services to neighborhoods based on race or ethnicity - deprived people of resources and opportunities, led to racialized poverty and enforced racially restrictive covenants

Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

international organization that worked to reduce alcohol consumption and promote social reform

Anti-Saloon League

US organization that campaigned for alcohol prohibition, lobbying organization, control the margins and influence who people vote for in the government - pushed for dry candidates (more male leadership)

Mullan-Gage Law

NYS law that required local police to help federal agents enforce prohibition - mirror federal Prohibition law

Volstead Act

U.S law enacted in 1919 to provide enforcement for the eighteenth amendment - illegal to manufacture, sell, transport, or possess alcohol 

Dobbs Decision

The decision was a 6-3 decision. It was really important because it is eliminating the right that was given in Roe v. Wade case. This case overturned a case that was 50 years old. It led the way for states to ban abortion. It’s become a state issue. 

Margaret Sanger

formed the American Birth Control League further known as PLanned Parenthood which gained the right to prescribe birth control. She led the fight for access of birth control 

Katherine Bement Davis

conducted a survey questioning women on topics like contraceptives and human sexuality and concluded that sex can be described in positive terms

Comstock Laws

banned mailing obscene materials including contraceptives, abortion items, and pornography. It placed a restraint on women's reproductive rights and made it illegal to mail information about birth control. 

Sigmund Freud

opposed to the women’s emancipation movement and believed that women’s lives were dominated by their sexual reproductive functions, portrays sexuality in positive terms but homosexuality becomes seen as a perversion

Climate Change

Induced Demand (related to auto traffic)

expanding road capacity like widening highways leads to an increase in vehicle miles traveled and increase drivers than decreasing congestion

Broken Windows Theory

Stop and Frisk

Dick Leitsch

LGBT rights activist, he was the president of gay rights group the Mattachine Society 

Mattachine Society

influential gay rights organization known for its secret meetings and advocacy for the rights of gay men

Daughters of Bilitis

first lesbian rights organization and were instrumental in the formation and growth of women’s rights movement

Gay Liberation Front

goals to confront sexism and male supremacy which were sources of LGBT oppression

Wet Bulb Effect

Ed Koch

What are the problems caused by widespread automobile usage in our society? What are some remedies to those problems?

Problems: Air pollution, traffic congestion, car accidents, greenhouse gases, economic costs, international violence, inflated costs of goods and services, climate change, global housing crisis and homelessness

Remedies: Public transit, cleaner technologies such as electrical vehicles, urban planning, stricter vehicle emissions standards, reduced traffic speeds, congestion charges

What were the causes and consequences of the Stonewall uprising?

The Stonewall uprising was triggered by the harsh treatment and attitudes toward the gay community. Police arrested homosexuals, and many lost their jobs simply because of their sexual orientation. Homosexuals were dehumanized and treated as aliens in their own homes. There was a violation of privacy and invasive tactics of entrapment. This tension and treatment were among the key factors that initiated the Stonewall uprising. On Friday night, when police were supposed to raid the Stonewall Inn, people rioted instead. The timing and setting of this movement are also critical in understanding the escalation of the movement. The first night of the riot was on Friday night in the summer. The timing of a late Friday night means a larger crowd/ audience and greater tension. This movement aimed to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and challenged the ongoing police raids at the Stonewall Inn targeting homosexuals. This led to the formation of Pride parades, which symbolize LGBTQ representation and pride. Many gay rights organizations were established in response to this movement.

What caused the "Great Migration"? How did the lives of black people change once they reached northern cities like New York?

Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation making life extremely oppressive and difficult for African Americans. Also, people moved to the North for more economic opportunities. The Great Mississippi Flood in 1927 caused mass displacement and Boll Weevil infestations destroyed cotton crops which lead to the decline in job openings. People moved to the North and experienced major cultural differences. In Harlem, Black Americans created a community full of music and art. However, there were still segregation and racial violence. Black Americans were treated with violence and racism.

How did the lives of women change in the 1920's

• 1920’s women’s lives experienced increased employment opportunities, more freedom, and new fashion trends

• More women joined the workforce in factories, offices, and department stores

• Educated women would be teachers, nurses, and social workers but had trouble getting into higher status professions like medicine and law

• women professions increased to 14.2% in 1920

• National Women's Party: fought for equal rights amendment

• Sheppard Towner Act in 1921: gave women the right to preventative care, but was opposed by the American Medical Association. This was repealed in 1929

• gained the right to vote in 1920 and there was an introduction to “new morality” where female sexuality was accepted, freedom to discuss sexual issues

• Women and men started having sex before marriage but the fertility rate was still declining.

• average marriage rate of women increased and homosexuality was viewed as “perversion” so close relationships between women were suspicious

• Margaret Sanger formed the American Birth Control League which is known as Planned Parenthood to prescribe birth control but many people were against her.

  Changes: style (flapper girl - hat, drove a car, dark clothes vs Gibson Girl - long white dress) introduction to contraceptives/sex education, factory jobs, sex before marriage, formation of American Birth Control League by Margaret Sanger, and the approval of birth control in 1965 for married couples and 1972 for unmarried couples)

Origins of immigration restriction in the 1920's

• Chinese Exclusion Act 1882: banned Chinese laborers from entering the country. Americans viewed Chinese immigrants as a threat to their jobs and livelihoods 

• Dillingham Commission 1907: Believed new immigrants were far less intelligent, South and East European Immigrants would not assimilate, argued that the supply of unskilled labor kept native born unskilled and semiskilled labor in poverty

• Madison Grant 

• Espionage Act & Sedition Act: Reduced freedom of speech and press, arresting for disloyalty or insubordination (adding to previous events, it made it impossible for anyone to dispute the previous anti immigration acts)

• Blank Tom 1916: German plants blow up US which leads to the Espionage Act. It was a sabotage attack on a munitions depot in NY Harbor 

• American federation of labor: Samuel Gompers said immigration would worsen unemployment and overwhelm the nation’s ability to unify and americanize new immigrants 

• KKK Parade: racist sentiment, peak membership in 1920s, more powerful in the North, Anti immigrant, anti- jewish, Anti-catholic 

Lusk Committee: required loyalty oath from teachers (in fear of Red Scare), making anti Russian Immigrant sentiment higher (as well as promoted to their students)

Why did prohibition "fail"?

There were many unintended consequences of prohibition including the increase in criminality, organized crime, restaurant revenue decreased, tax revenues fall, people made wine at home from grapes, policy corruption, job losses in the liquor industry and associated industries,  

Causes and consequences of the Triangle Fire

Causes: In the mid 19th century, NYC was the center of the U.S garment industry. Sewing machines were invented and a number of workers (mostly teen women) from Russia and Italy immigrated over to NY to work in the factories. Max Blanck and Isaac Harris started a sweatshop and was known as the largest blouse making operation in NYC. A cigarette was dropped on the 8th floor of the Asch building and the fire spread to the 10th floor. Cotton and garments easily catch fire so the fire spread quickly. Many workers died due to locked doors, lack of sprinklers, and poor fire prevention precautions. The factories were unsanitary and overcrowded. Fire Trucks were only able to reach 6 floors and the fire lasted nearly 20 minutes.

Consequences: Blanck and Harris were acquitted of manslaughter. The factory investigating commission was This event led to the development of labor laws and safety regulations. The NYS factory investigating commission established the bureau of fire investigation in 1911. Civil trials awarded $75 to each of the victim's families. Frances Perkins becomes Secretary of Labor under FDR in the 1930's. Safety measures were put in place to maintain worker safety.