DC Students Get Up-Close View of Labor History

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)High school students studying US history at the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School learned about labor history during a January 29 Labor Walk led by Metro Council Union Cities Coordinator Chris Garlock. "It was easy to see the now and then relationships for labor movements and other issues," wrote one student after seeing the AFL-CIO lobby mosaics, old CIO headquarters, Bonus Army and Occupy DC sites and hearing Garlock, along with Metro Council Political/Legislative Assistant Alya Solomon and Labor Heritage Foundation Executive Director Darryl Moch outline how unions have contributed to Washington and how they continue to impact worker’s lives. The Labor Walk helped the students “apply their new understandings in a way that was engaging and helped them connect more deeply with their city and its history,” said teacher Barrie Moorman, “something that students often miss if they are only learning from a textbook.” The school connected with the Metro Council through Teaching for Change, which “provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world.” The Labor Walks are based on the DC Labor Map and are offered throughout the year or by request: streetheat@dclaborarchives.org. - photo: (l-r) Garlock, Moch, and Solomon speak to the students in front of the AFL-CIO; photo by Barrie Moorman