The Human Tradition In American Labor History

Assembles biographical stories of famous leaders and unknown activists, covering the 18th century up to 1970. Relates to enslaved artisans, interracial unionism, immigration, Jewish radicalism and gender, the New Black Politics, reverse migration in World War II, the United Farm Workers Union, etc.

Designed as a text for the second half of the U.S. history survey course, The Human Tradition in America from 1865 to the Present is a collection of the best biographical essays from several volumes in SR Books' popular Human Tradition in America series. Like all books in the series, this text presents history from the 'bottom up' by chronicling the lives of ordinary Americans. These brief biographical sketches stress to students that history is created by people, making the subject appealing and vibrant in a way that just names and dates in a standard textbook cannot. Capturing the rich diversity of the United States, The Human Tradition in America from 1865 to the Present includes the stories of a variety of Americans of different races, ethnic groups, sexual orientations, religious affiliations, and genders from many different regions of the country. For this reader, series editor Charles Calhoun has carefully selected biographies of individuals whose lives highlight important themes from this dynamic period of history. The essays included here are sure to engage students, provoke lively classroom discussion, and promote critical thinking.

In The Human Tradition in the New South, historian James C. Klotter brings together twelve biographical essays that explore the region's political, economic, and social development since the Civil War. Like all books in this series, these essays chronicle the lives of ordinary Americans whose lives and contributions help to highlight the great transformations that occurred in the South. With profiles ranging from Winnie Davis to Dizzy Dean, from Ralph David Abernathy to Harland Sanders, The Human Tradition in the New South brings to life this dynamic and vibrant region and is an excellent resource for courses in Southern history, race relations, social history, and the American history survey.

The importance of the South in the development of the United States has always been clear, but in recent decades the rise of the sunbelt-politically, economically, and culturally-has made the significance of the region's history all the more apparent. In The Human Tradition in the Old South, Professor James C. Klotter has gathered twelve insightful essays that explore the region's past and ponder its place in the broader story of the nation. This highly readable volume presents the South's rich and varied history through the lives of a wide range of individuals-men and women, African Americans, whites, and Native Americans from many different Southern states. Written by well-established scholars these mini-biographies collectively range in time from the late colonial/early national period to the present. Filled with lively stories of fascinating Southerners and the times in which they lived, The Human Tradition in the Old South is ideal for courses on Southern history, social history, race relations, and the American history survey course.

American society in the years from 1920 to 1945 experienced great transformation and upheaval. Significant changes in the role of government, in the nation's world outlook, in the economy, in technology, and in the social order challenged those who lived in this tumultuous period framed by the two world wars. This transformation lies at the core of this collection of biographical essays. Written by leading and rising scholars, these never-before-published pieces provide students with a greater understanding of a period that in many ways represents an important last chapter in the creation of modern America.

Rethinking U.S. Labor History provides a reassessment of the recent growth and new directions in U.S. labor history. Labor History has recently undergone something of a renaissance that has yet to be documented. The book chronicles this rejuvenation with contributions from new scholars as well as established names. Rethinking U.S. Labor History focuses particularly on those issues of pressing interest for today's labor historians: the relationship of class and culture; the link between worker's experience and the changing political economy; the role that gender and race have played in America's labor history; and finally, the transnational turn.

Americans in Dissent is designed as a collection of biographical essays written for general readers and undergraduates that focuses on the topic of American dissent during the period from 1830 to 1890. Centered on influential nineteenth-century social critics, this volume shifts the focus of American reform away from “romantic” attempts at reforming the individual to more pragmatic efforts aimed at confronting social, economic, and political problems. Coexisting with what seemed to be a preponderance of romantic idealism during much of the period was an undercurrent of genuine realism. Instead of looking through the prism of a pre-modern society, many of these dissenters focused on how society was becoming increasingly acquisitive and entrepreneurial. They were among the first to question laissez-faire individualism and unrestrained industrial capitalism and anticipated the critiques of later Progressive Era reformers. Representing a wide range of interests, each of the selections features a fascinating and provocative man or woman who offered a fundamental critique of American society and made a significant contribution to the development of the reform ethos that characterized the period.

Compelling and informative, the 14 diverse biographies of this book give a heightened understanding of the evolution of what it meant to be black and American through more than three centuries of U.S. history.