History 491: Mine and Mill
TTH 3:30-4:50PM
Spring 2007
Colorado State University - Pueblo
Professor Jonathan Rees
Office: 124 Psychology
Office Phone: 549-2541
Office Hours: MWF 2-3PM, TTh 1-2PM.
E-Mail: Jonathan [dot] Rees [at] colostate-pueblo [dot] edu
This course will cover the history of the steel and mining industries in the United States, with special emphasis on Pueblo's own Colorado Fuel and Iron Company. Its purpose is both to give you a factual background so that you can better understand the two industries that have defined southern Colorado for the last 100+ years, and to acquaint you with the research process that will result in a large paper of scholarly quality that you will present before an interested audience as your final examination.
In order to achieve these multiple results, class will be conducted in a variety of formats; lectures, films, discussions, guest speakers, etc. The taping of class lectures and discussions is not permitted unless you have my explicit permission. Please turn off your portable phones before class begins.
Access to e-mail is a requirement for this course. If you do not have it currently, you are entitled as a student to set one up through the university. Call the computer help desk at 549-2002 for more information.
This University abides by the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973, which stipulates that no student shall be denied the benefits of an
education "solely by reason of a handicap." If you have a
documented disability that may impact your work in this class and for which you
may require accommodations, please see the instructor as soon as possible to
arrange accommodations. In order to receive accommodations, you must be
registered with and provide documentation of your disability to the Disability
Resource Office, which is located in the Psychology Building, Suite 236.
You are responsible for all the
rules and requirements contained on this syllabus. Failure to learn them will
likely result in damage to your final grade.
Textbooks
Brody, David. Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era.
Freese, Barbara. Coal: A Human History.
Goodell, Jeff. Big Coal.
Linkon, Sherry Lee and Russo, John. Steeltown USA.
McGovern, George S. and Guttridge, Leonard F. The Great Coalfield War.
Misa, Thomas. A Nation of Steel.
All books are available for purchase at the CSU-Pueblo Bookstore.
Grades
Your grade will be based on two sets of questions for the Freese and Misa books (5% each) papers related to the assigned books (15% each), one large research paper (35%) and attendance/class participation (25%).
Graduate students taking this course will meet with me at the end of the first day to discuss amendments to this syllabus to reflect the difficulties and demands of graduate education.
Questions on the Freese and Misa books can be found here (for Freese) and here (for Misa). The answers to these questions are due to me by e-mail at the beginning of the class period when the book is discussed. Answers will be graded on a 0-5 scale. A letter grade will be assigned at the end of the semester based on your performance on all three assignments. If the answers do not arrive by E-mail at the appointed time or they are unacceptable, you will get no credit. No late questions will be accepted. After all, what's the use once the discussion is over?
When determining class participation, I will be interested in the quality of your statements rather than the frequency with which you talk. If your comments demonstrate that you have not done the reading, you are better off not speaking at all. However, failure to talk at all during the class will make an above average grade on class participation impossible.
Grades will be measured on an A-F scale with pluses and minuses. I will do my best to explain the criteria by which each assignment is graded before you undertake them.
The first paper topic will be: Compare and contrast the labor situations at the turn of the Twentieth Centuries in the steel industry and the Colorado coal industry as illustrated in the Brody and McGovern and Gutteridge books? Which workers were in the more favorable situation and why? Evaluate the importance of those factors that determined the power of those workers as opposed to management. Which factors belonged to only one industry and which were common to both?
The second paper topic will be: Using the Goodell and Linkon and Russo books as your guide, compare and contrast the current situations of West Virginia, Youngstown, Ohio, and (using the knowledge you've gained during this course) Pueblo, Colorado. What role did the history of the dominant industries in these areas play in their current hardships? How can the history of these areas help the citizens there plan for a better future?
For more information about your research paper, click here.
Attendance Policy
It is assumed that students will make every effort to
attend each class period, arrive on time and stay for the entire class.
An attendance sheet will be passed around at the beginning of each class.
If you arrive late to class, make sure your name is on the attendance
sheet before you leave. Otherwise,
you will be counted as absent.
You will be permitted TWO unexcused absences during the course of the semester (to account for the random mishaps, mistakes and burdens of everyday life). After that, you will fail the class participation section of this course. All excuses must be presented to me within one week of the absence in question. If you have FOUR unexcused absences, I will either make your final participation grade an F regardless of other performance or drop you from the course.
Any form of academic dishonesty will result in a failing grade for the entire course. This includes plagiarism, the taking of words and/or ideas of another and passing them off as your own. If another person's work is quoted directly in a formal paper, this must be indicated with quotation marks and a citation. Paraphrased or borrowed ideas must be identified in the footnotes of the text.
Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments
Week 1:
January 16: Course Introduction (and Industrialization)
January 18: Introduction to the Mining Industry.
-
Start Freese
Week 2:
January 23: Archives Tour
-
Continue Freese
January 25: Freese Discussion
-
Complete Freese
Week 3:
January 30: Introduction to the Steel Industry (Part 1)
February 1: Introduction to the Steel Industry (Part 2)
-
Start Misa
Week 4:
February 6: Library Day
-
Continue Misa
Meet in the computer room on the second floor of the library.
February 8: Misa Discussion
-
Finish Misa
Week 5:
February 13: Film: Out of Darkness (Part 1)
-
Start McGovern and Gutteridge
February 15: Film: Out of Darkness (Part 2 and Discussion)
-
Continue McGovern and Gutteridge
Week 6:
Research Paper Conference #1 will be scheduled this week.
February 20: The Ludlow Massacre.
February 22: McGovern and Gutteridge Discussion
-
Finish McGovern and Gutteridge
Week 7:
February 27: Steel Mill Tour
(Cut me some slack here, this one is going to run a little longer than the class period.)
March 1: Film: Salt of the Earth
Week 8:
March 6: Film: "People and Power: The Struggle Continues, History of Steel Workers, 1880-1980." (Part 1)
-
Start Brody
March 8: "People and Power" (Part 2 and Discussion).
-
Continue Brody
Week 9:
March 13: Brody Discussion
-
Finish Brody
March 15: Draft Paper #1 Discussion
Week 10:
March 20: The 1927 Strike (Guest Speaker)
March 22: Research Paper Conference #2
-
Start Linkon and Russo
March 26-30: Spring Break
Week 11:
April 3: CF&I Archives Film Screening (Jay)
-
Continue Linkon and Russo
Paper #1 Due
April 5: Linkon and Russo Discussion
-
Finish Linkon and Russo
Week 12:
April 10: Museum Tour (Maria)
Meet at Steelworks Museum of History and Culture
April 12: Class Cancelled
-
Continue Goodell
Week 13:
April 17: Goodell Discussion
-
Finish Goodell
April 19: Paper #2 Discussion
Draft Paper #2 Due
Week 14:
April 24: Deindustrialization
April 26: The Longest Steel Labor Dispute in American History (Guest Speaker)
Paper #2 Due
May 3, 3:30PM: Paper Due along with oral summary at a meeting of the Bessemer Historical Society in the Community Room of the Steelworks Museum of History and Culture.