Vocabulary
Define "principal"
A person who works as the leader of a school or organization
What was the Women's Trade Union League's goal?
to organize all of the working women in the USA in order to gain better working conditions
How did the Women's Trade Union League feel about how the strikers were treated?
Appalled
Define "Summary"
A short statement that is written in your own words and presents the central idea and important details
Paraphrase the paragraph: Throughout the summer and early fall of 1909, several strikes had erupted. Every day strikers were arrested, fined, and sent to the workhouse, a prison where they served their sentences by scrubbing floors and doing other kinds of labor. In the streets, hired thugs beat the strikers but were never arrested
In 1909, a few strikes began. Strikers were given consequences for their actions, such as being put in jail, being forced to pay money, and being assaulted by criminals.
Define "select"
To choose
What did Agnes Nestor do in the Women's Trade Union League?
traveled to other cities, made speeches
What does Agnes compare herself to when she is called on to help the league organize strikers in Philadelphia?
A soldier
What is a cause?
Why something happens
Paraphrase the paragraph: Soon it became clear that strikes by individual shops would never succeed. Only an industry-wide strike would create change. Pauline Newman, Rose Schneiderman, and several other young women distributed thousands of circulars written Yiddish, Italian, and English. The circulars called the garment workers to a mass meeting at Cooper Union in New York City.
In order to be successful, the strikers needed to organize a meeting that involved the whole industry. Women like Pauline Newman and Rose Schneiderman created and passed around articles. These articles were in different languages and encouraged workers to join them at a meeting in New York City.
Well-off; having success or things that make life comfortable
Who mostly worked in the garment industry: men or women?
Women
Who were the Mink Bridgade?
Groups of well-to-do women who were dedicated to social reform
What is an effect?
What happens as a result of something
Paraphrase the paragraph: The next day, November 23, workers reported to the factories as usual. But they didn't sew. They sat in front of their machines, waiting expectantly. Then, in shop after shop throughout New York City, a union member gave a signal, then pushed off the power button. The lights went out, the machines turned off, and the workers stampeded from nearly five hundred shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. By the end of the day, more than twenty thousand girls and women were on strike
On November 23rd, female workers did not complete their jobs in the factories. Instead, they were idle until a union representative deactivated the machines, which prompted the workers to leave the factories and strike.
Define "exhausted"
Extremely tired
How was Clara Lemlich described?
tiny, fragile, eyes flashing (fierce)
What did the Mink Bridgade do? List 3 examples
set up food kitchens and relief stations, contributed funds, paid for bail, and marched on the picket line
What are 2 questions you ask to write a summary?
1) What is this text mostly about?
2) Is this detail important for my understanding of the text?
Paraphrase the paragraph: The dramatic strike astonished the nation. Who could think that girls had the strength and courage to walk picket lines? Face arrest? Suffer beatings from police and hired thugs? Pay fines? Endure jail? Yet this is what the teenage girls and young women did, day after day, during the bitter winter months of 1909-1910
Many people were shocked by the strike because they did not believe that the female workers were brave enough and capable enough to handle prison and assault. However, the girls were able to do these things and more.
Define "suffix"
A word part that is added at the end of a word
What was the relationship between a person being impoverished and their working conditions?
The more impoverished the worker, the worse the working conditions
How did the garment industries fight back? Give all examples
forming the Association of Waist and Dress Manufacturers of New York.
recruited strikebreakers
hired prostitutes to pick fights with strikers
sent works to other plants
Identify Cause-Effect: In shop after shop throughout New York City, a union member gave a signal, then pushed off the power button. The workers stampeded from nearly five hundred shops in Manhattan and Brooklyn
Cause = Union member gave a signal
Effect: Workers stampeded from shops
Paraphrase the paragraph: Each day Agnes showed up at the magistrate court to pay the fines or the bail of arrested picketers. Most girls were fined five dollars, but some magistrates fined the girls ten dollars or gave them ten days in jail. When necessary, Agnes hired attorneys and followed the cases to court. She found women to replace the arrested girls on the picket lines.
Agnes helped the female workers who were sent to jail for striking by settling their bills, finding lawyers, and hiring new workers.