Labor Movement Mural: Section X
In preparation for this project, students examined labor movements from the 1840s to the present. These movements included the Atlanta washerwomen strike of 1881, the New York City newsies strike of 1899, the Triangle Shirtwaist strike and fire of 1911, the West Virginia coal miners strike of 1912-1913, the California farm workers’ strikes of the 1930s – for which they read the historical novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan – and many others. After this exploration, students chose a labor movement that they wanted to represent artistically, and they designed and painted individual panels for a collective class mural.
Click on the images below to see larger versions of each mural panel, along with the students’ artist statements explaining their choices. Then, feel free to engage with our discussion board below!
