Title: The Hidden History of Industrial Plymouth: A Curriculum for Plymouth High Schools

Author: David Clark

Advisor: Judith Smith

Abstract:

The industrial history of Plymouth Massachusetts is a story obscured by a powerful force that is unique to this coastal New England town. It involves the story of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and the use of this event as the foundation for American identity. As a result of this national effort to use the myth of the Pilgrim for political purposes, Plymouth today is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists searching for the origins of American history. The Plimoth Plantation, Burial Hill, Mayflower II, Forefathers Monument and of course the famous "Rock" all serve to perpetuate the myth of American identity. In addition, many of the hotels, restaurants and street names have taken the names of the famous figures of this 17th and 18th century Plymouth. The problem with this emphasis on a "Puritan" Plymouth and its subsequent tourist industry is how it neglects a more recent aspect of American history: Industrialism, Urbanization and Immigration. In other words a larger, more inclusive and certainly more "American" story is largely being ignored or forgotten in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The descendents of this diverse community need to be told the story of their ancestors so that this important part of Plymouth's past and their past do not continue to go unnoticed. Many of the textile mill workers along Plymouth's waterfront are still alive and eager to tell their stories. Three generations of these mill workers attend the public schools and are eager to learn about a Plymouth that does not remind them of the tourists that flood their streets and stores six months of the year. The telling this local story of 19th and 20th century Plymouth will also reveal the more general history of American Industrialization.

What better place to tell this story of local history than in the classrooms of Plymouth, Massachusetts? Studies suggest that students better internalize history when it is brought alive through the voices and images of their own families and community. This project serves to demonstrate ways in which students can gather and interpret evidence that when put all together gives more meaning to both their community and America. Using photos, oral interviews, newspaper articles, census reports and a variety of other primary and secondary sources the students will see, hear and read about this forgotten era. Field trips to local museums, textile museums and downtown Plymouth will serve as a hands-on approach to discovering evidence of an industrial Plymouth resembling that of many other industrial towns in America in the first half of the 20th century. Students will conduct their own research using the curriculum as an example to further enrich the evidence supporting an industrial waterfront in Plymouth. They will analyze, document and categorize their findings for future generations of high school students to use and elaborate on. Finally, it is hoped that teachers in other school communities who undoubtedly have their own unique story to be unveiled could use this curriculum as a model for teaching American history from a local perspective.