Lucas' first step in National History Day this year was to pick out a topic. He looked for about a week before the class started to find topics. The first topic Lucas was interested in was FIFA’s stand against racism. Lucas was really excited to do this project because soccer is one of his favorite sports and what FIFA did was a big deal, but the events were not yet historical. Lucas then decided he should find something local because he thought it would be interesting to learn more about Humboldt County. Finally, Lucas found information on the logging strike of 1935. It seemed like an interesting topic and it seemed like it had a big effect on the area of Humboldt. Jacoby then asked to be in the project a couple times and Lucas decided to let him join.
We first started investigating secondary sources so we could get a good overview of the logging strike. For example, Jacoby found a timeline that showed the entire event and we learned about many important events about the logging strike. To find primary sources, we were able to have the Humboldt Historical Society provide us with pictures, newspaper articles, interviews, etc, of the event which was very helpful. We also got emailed a documentary and undertook an interview with Jim Garrison, a historian at the HHS, that helped us understand the unions and what the workers were doing. We found newspaper articles about how over one-hundred people were jailed, many were hurt and even death occurred.
Lucas chose a website because for the last few years of NHD, he has done a website so he knows how to set up one. The website also allowed us to creatively format our site and add online information easily. After combining important information from our sources, we made our pages and inserted the information into the correct places on our website. After, we wrote a thesis statement that provided most of the important parts of our project. Our website had an older sort of theme, mainly consisting of black and white text as well as old photos of loggers.
Our project relates to “Taking A Stand” because loggers took a stand against greedy owners of the logging companies to get fair working ways. This stand ended in a success for the loggers and showed the unions that they have to treat the workers fairly and if the workers wanted something, they can get it. Over 500 workers joined the strike in Humboldt County alone. The strike spread all along the California coast. Eventually, the strike included over 30,000 workers. In the end, the loggers got a raise, fewer hours and safer working conditions. The 1935 logging strike still matters today because it made unions stronger and proved that worker solidarity was a powerful tool.
We first started investigating secondary sources so we could get a good overview of the logging strike. For example, Jacoby found a timeline that showed the entire event and we learned about many important events about the logging strike. To find primary sources, we were able to have the Humboldt Historical Society provide us with pictures, newspaper articles, interviews, etc, of the event which was very helpful. We also got emailed a documentary and undertook an interview with Jim Garrison, a historian at the HHS, that helped us understand the unions and what the workers were doing. We found newspaper articles about how over one-hundred people were jailed, many were hurt and even death occurred.
Lucas chose a website because for the last few years of NHD, he has done a website so he knows how to set up one. The website also allowed us to creatively format our site and add online information easily. After combining important information from our sources, we made our pages and inserted the information into the correct places on our website. After, we wrote a thesis statement that provided most of the important parts of our project. Our website had an older sort of theme, mainly consisting of black and white text as well as old photos of loggers.
Our project relates to “Taking A Stand” because loggers took a stand against greedy owners of the logging companies to get fair working ways. This stand ended in a success for the loggers and showed the unions that they have to treat the workers fairly and if the workers wanted something, they can get it. Over 500 workers joined the strike in Humboldt County alone. The strike spread all along the California coast. Eventually, the strike included over 30,000 workers. In the end, the loggers got a raise, fewer hours and safer working conditions. The 1935 logging strike still matters today because it made unions stronger and proved that worker solidarity was a powerful tool.