Glass Factory, Pennsylvania

Out of this Furnace

1. Religion and language both play important roles in immigrant communities. Using examples from two different generations in the novel, discuss the importance of the Slovak church and language in shaping immigrant identity.
2. Describe the interaction between different ethnic groups in the factories, at home, and in public--at markets and through politics. What was the connection between ethnicity and power, and how did it change over time?
3. "Immigrants survived by marshalling all the resources of the household economy to make ends meet. Every family member had to contribute to the household's productive capacity." What do you think this statement means? Give specific examples from the book of such a household economy in action.
4. Describe working conditions in the mills over time. What forms of social control did the mill owners exert? How did workers resist? Were the workers' forms of resistance effective? Give specific examples from at least two different time periods.
5. Think about the workers' aspirations in America. What were the marks of success within the immigrant community? How do they fit within the context of broader social values? Consider the ideology of the Horatio Alger stories and the McGuffey readers in your answer.

Internet Exercise

Begin by browsing the on-line Smithsonian Exhibit, CLOSING: The Life and Death of an American Factory. (The exhibit should open in a separate broswer window.) In this exhibit, "Bill Bamberger chronicles the everyday experiences of the factory worker and documents the demise of the 111-year-old White Furniture Co. of Mebane, North Carolina." Consider the following questions:

1. How do these images of factory life compare with those presented by Bell in Out of this Furnace? What are the similarities and differences between a turn-of-the century steel mill and a contemporary furniture factory?
2. Look at the images and describe what you see. What effect has machinery had on the organization of the shop floor? How do you think this factory compares to other factories in other businesses?
3. Listen to a few of the the voices, especially those describing life after the closing. How have modern labor laws changed the fate of workers who lose factory jobs?
4. Compare and contrast the relationships between workers in Out of this Furnace and the White Furniture Company. What do these relationships suggest about the possibility of creating the Wobblies "One Big Union"?

Internet Resources

The Dramas of Haymarket

History of the IWW

AFL-CIO Short History of American Labor

A German Radical Emigrates to America in 1885

"Labor organizer and newspaper editor Oscar Ameringer - the 'Mark Twain of American Socialism,' - was born in Bavaria in 1870 to a cabinetmaker father and a freethinking mother. In this excerpt from his autobiography, If You Don't Weaken, published in 1940, he talks about his decision to emigrate to America in 1885 as a fifteen-year-old 'hellion.'"

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