Discussion Guide
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-10
Grades 11-12

Bisbee '17: Discussion Guide Resources

Resources

Bisbee ’17
The film’s official website.

University of Arizona Web Archive: Bisbee Deportation
An online collection of primary sources about the strike, the deportation, and its aftermath, including news accounts from 1917. See also this summary of events based on documents in the archive.

Industrial Workers of the World
The website of the union that organized the strike that precipitated the Bisbee deportation includes historical documents as well as current policies.

Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum: Shattuck Memorial Research Library
Includes a collection of resources on Bisbee’s industrial and cultural history.

Bisbee Mining & Minerals
A collection of history and geology materials curated by Doug Graeme (who appears in the film and manages Copper Queen Mine tours).

The Undesirables Project
Started in 2015, The Undesirables project is comprised of works on paper, pressed pennies, video vignettes, and four informative pamphlets. The central work in the installation are the 1,196 individual rubbings of a 1917 penny which commemorates each man that was kidnapped and banished. Laurie considers the process of making the rubbings as an endurance piece, and the rubbings themselves the resulting monument, "A labor of love for the love of labor."

Lapham’s Quarterly: Two Ways of Looking at the Bisbee Deportation
Written by Katherine Benton-Cohen, professor of history at Georgetown University who served as historical advisor for Bisbee ’17.

Triangle Fire: PBS American ExperienceThe official website for the PBS documentary, Triangle Fire, with a comprehensive collection of primary sources, photographs, film clips, and insight into the cause and aftermath of the deadliest workplace accident in New York City’s history.

The Library of Congress: Labor for Students
Online activities and background information from the Library of Congress to help students learn more about labor.

American Labor Museum
Offers a range of lesson plans and educational resources on American labor history.

National History Center of the American Historical Association
The NHC offers historical perspectives on current issues, promotes historical thinking, and provides a range of resources for teachers and students

POV Educator Resource for Graven Image – Stone Mountain and Historical Memory: Who Defines the Past?
In this lesson, students use the short film Graven Image to explore the meaning and function of monuments, analyze the role collective historical memory plays in shaping our identities, and engage with monuments in their own communities to better understand the power dynamics that shape public spaces.

“Mexican Workers in the IWW and the PLM. IWW History Project
Excerpt from an essay by historian Devra Weber about indigenous migrants, internationalist workers and Mexican revolutionaries from 1900 to 1920, originally published in an anthology about Mexican Americans in U.S. history.

Sources

About the author:

Faith Rogow

Faith Rogow, Ph.D., is the co-author of The Teacher's Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World (Corwin, 2012) and past president of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. She has written discussion guides and lesson plans for more than 250 independent films.

Faith Rogow