Activity: Creating Poster Panels Comparing Different Strikes

Thanks to Caroline Owen, Alta Loma High School in Cucamonga, CA for this activity.

Ask students to create an informative display about one of the other 1934 strikes.

The display could be arranged in the following format:

• Left Panel—Causes/Grievances: This panel describes the cause of the strike. Students should include short bios of the people involved and/or descriptions of their organizations, a strike time-line, pictures or other illustrations. All text should be in the students' own words.
• Middle Panel—The Strike: This panel provides a summary of the strike itself. Students should include at least three quotes from contemporaries (people alive at the time). If possible, encourage students to find newspaper articles and pictures of the strike and to explore the community’s response to the event. How did the local press treat news of the strike? Are the newspaper accounts sympathetic or antagonistic? Where did local support or criticism come from? Students should add a short commentary to each article.
• Right Panel—Results and Effects: This panel explores the results of the strike as well as short-term and long-term effects on the strikers, the community and the nation. All text should be in the students' own words.

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