BreadandRosesResources

History of Lawrence, Massachusetts [] Overview history of the city of Lawrence.
 * Web-based resources on Lawrence and the strike: **

White Fund, Lawrence, Massachusetts [] Description of the White Fund, which still exists.

1912 Bread and Roses Strike [] Overview from the Massachusetts AFL-CIO Website

Lawrence Strike, 1919 [] Overview of the strike from the “Women Working 1800 – 1930” collection at the Harvard University Library. Provides access to primary sources related to the strike.

Camella Teoli Testifies about the 1912 Lawrence Textile Strike [] “The strike began in part because of unsafe working conditions in the mills, which were described in graphic detail in the testimony that fourteen-year-old mill worker Camella Teoli delivered before a U.S. Congressional hearing in March 1912. Her testimony (a portion of which is included here) about losing her hair when it got caught in a textile machine she was operating gained national headlines in 1912—in part because Helen Herron Taft, the wife of the president, was in the audience when Teoli testified.”

Bread and Roses, Too [] Web site with lesson plans and materials for young people’s book on the strike titled //Bread and Roses, Too// by Katherine Paterson. From the site. About the Book: Rosa Serutti just wants the books she needs to do her schoolwork. But books cost money, and her family doesn't have enough even to buy healthy food for her one-year-old brother. During the winter of 1912, Rosa's family and their neighbors struggle to survive on their jobs in the textile mills in the immigrant town of Lawrence, Massachusetts. When the mill owners demand more work for less pay, the mill workers decide they've had enough. Strike! Suddenly, Rosa has more to worry about than going to school. Her mother and older sister join the protest against unfair wages and working conditions; rumors of violence spread; the militia is called in; and money is more and more scarce. As the strike continues, Rosa becomes one of the many Lawrence children who are sent to live in other towns, where strike supporters will provide for them during the lean times. But Rosa doesn't go alone — she is joined by Jake Beale, a troubled boy who pretends to be her brother. Rosa's fears grow as she tries to cover for Jake, misses her family, and receives news of the intensifying labor strike back home. Based on real events, here is a tale of family, courage, and community that conveys the power that everyday people have to help one another and change the world.

Northeast Mass. Digital Library - Digital Commonwealth Collections site: Lawrence, Massachusetts [] Lots of primary source materials and secondary sources on the strike. Very useful site.

Mass Moments: Bread and Roses Strike Begins [] MassMoments site for the strike, which contains a one-minute audio overview of the strike and links to several primary sources. Site has a fantastic timeline of Massachusetts history starting in 1600!

“The Lawrence Strike: A Study” [] Link to May 1912 //Atlantic Monthly// article about the strike.

Bread and Roses Festival [] The festival celebrates Lawrence's labor history and ethnic diversity, and particularly the historic, heroic events of 1912, the Bread and Roses Strike.

National Child Labor Committee Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division [] Search Lewis Hine Lawrence to access over 90 photographs Hine took of city children and workers.

= ‘Bread and Roses’ by James Oppenheim = As we come marching in the beauty of the day, A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray, Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses, For the people hear us singing "Bread and roses, bread and roses." As we come marching, marching, we battle too for men, For they are women's children and we mother them again, Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes; Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread but give us roses! As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead Go crying through our singing their ancient cry for bread. Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew. Yes it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses too! As we come marching, marching, we bring the greater days. The rising of the woman means the rising of the race. No more the drudge and idler - ten that toil where one reposes, But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses!

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