Today started out rainy (not a big shocker really) and a bit chilly. We boarded our lovely bus and began a really informative day! Our tour guide was lively and gave us so much information about this glorious city. We began with a trip down to see the Haymarket bombing statue and discuss the injustices of that entire trial. Even knowing the history behind this event I found myself getting angry about the complete injustice. I felt rage and sadness as if I was living this tragedy over again. Looking at this I see how a good storyteller can make the history come to life! I want to do this for my students and plan to use the resources and books to draw information and use as visual aides for the kids in class.
After an…interesting…lunch at the Healthy Foods Lithuanian Restaurant, we boarded the bus and headed for Pullman. This is a suburb of Chicago but it wasn’t always. Mr. George Pullman believed that if he separated his factories and workers from the strikes in Chicago (then 5 miles away) he could avoid his workers striking. He planned and built an entire town where there was a lot of room and the classes were divided. It was beautiful and seemed to be the “perfect” town, but that wasn’t true. The workers still got treated unfairly and they were never allowed to purchase their homes. Discontent still troubled the little town and strikes did break out. This would be a great example for my kids of how nothing is perfect. I really enjoyed walking through the factories. I’m not sure how I would use it in my class but for me it was amazing!
This trip has once again given me so many resources, many of which I don’t even know how I will use yet! Thank you Dr. Rees, Dr. Harris, and Scott!
