Students will learn about US social movements through the Economy Furniture strike in Austin, Texas. Students will critically engage with movement materials and create their own social justice campaigns and related campaign materials which may include but are not limited to posters, buttons, pamphlets, and protest signs. The primary sources presented here are from the Economy Furniture Company Strike Collection, 1968-1972, 2004.

Date Range: 1968-1972
Grade levels: 9-12
Country: United States
Course Subjects: Borderland Studies; Mexican American & U.S. Latinx Studies; U.S. History: 1887 to present
Topics: Social movements; labor disputes; Texas history; latinx organizing
Teaching Time Frame: 8, 60 minute lessons

Guiding Questions

  • What is the role of social movements in the United States?
  • What was the Economy Furniture Strike and why is important for understanding class and labor in the United States?
  • How do social movements mobilize support for their projects?

Summative Activities

  1. Students will create campaign materials for the social movement of their choice, which may include but are not limited to posters, buttons, pamphlets, and protest signs.
  2. Student will run their campaign in school to raise awareness about their issues.

Relevant Teaching Standards

Lesson 1-2

TEKS Guidelines

  • United States History Since 1877
    • (c)-(9)-(C) – Describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women’s civil rights.
    • (c)-(25)-(A) – Explain actions taken by people to expand economic opportunities and political rights for racial, ethnic, gender, and religious groups in American society.
  • Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies
    • (c)-(7)-(D) – The student understands domestic issues related to Mexican American population growth, labor force participation, and the struggle to satisfy wants and needs given scarce resources. The student is expected to: analyze the economic contributions of the Mexican American labor force.

C3 Framework

  • Civics
    • D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
    • D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
  • History
    • D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
    • D2.His.9.9-12. Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.
    • D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
    • D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
  • Communicating Conclusions & Taking Informed Action
    • D4.6.9-12. Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.

Lesson 3-5

TEKS Guidelines

  • United States History Since 1877
    • (c)-(9)-(C) – Describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women’s civil rights.
    • (c)-(9)-(D) – Identify the roles of significant leaders who supported various rights movements, including Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
    • (c)-(25)-(A) – Explain actions taken by people to expand economic opportunities and political rights for racial, ethnic, gender, and religious groups in American society.
  • Sociology
    • (c)-(12)-(A) – Analyze how gender roles affect the opportunities available to men and women in society.
  • Ethnic Studies: Mexican American Studies
    • (c)-(4)-(A) – Explain the significance of the following events as turning points relevant to Mexican American history: Bracero Program, Farmworkers strike and boycott.
    • (c)-(7)-(D) – The student understands domestic issues related to Mexican American population growth, labor force participation, and the struggle to satisfy wants and needs given scarce resources. The student is expected to: analyze the economic contributions of the Mexican American labor force.

C3 Framework

  • Civics
    • D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
    • D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
  • History
    • D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
    • D2.His.9.9-12. Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.
    • D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
    • D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
  • Communicating Conclusions & Taking Informed Action
    • D4.6.9-12. Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.

Lesson 6-8

TEKS Guidelines

  • United States History Since 1877
    • (c)-(9)-(C) – Describe the roles of political organizations that promoted African American, Chicano, American Indian, and women’s civil rights.
    • (c)-(9)-(D) – Identify the roles of significant leaders who supported various rights movements, including Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
    • (c)-(25)-(A) – Explain actions taken by people to expand economic opportunities and political rights for racial, ethnic, gender, and religious groups in American society.

C3 Framework

  • Civics
    • D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
    • D2.Civ.14.9-12. Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
  • Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence
    • D3.1.9-12. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.
  • Communicating Conclusions & Taking Informed Action
    • D4.2.9-12. Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or non-linear), examples, and details with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanation given its purpose (e.g., cause and effect, chronological, procedural, technical).
    • D4.3.9-12. Present adaptations of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
    • D4.1.9-12. Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.
    • D4.7.9-12. Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
    • D4.6.9-12. Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.

Downloads

PDF – Unit and lesson plans

PDF – Primary materials

Rights Statement

Creator: Cassie Smith, Doctoral Candidate, Anthropology, University of New Mexico (Fall 2018)
Date: 2018-04-25

This unit is under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License (“Public License”). This license lets others share, remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit the creators and license their new creations under the identical terms.

Activism in America: The Economy Furniture Strike (Unit)