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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity one

This activity for grades 7–12 will help students understand what tobacco bag stringing was and why it was important to communities in North Carolina and Virginia. Students will read and analyze an introductory article about tobacco bag stringing.

A lesson plan for grades 8 and 10–12 Social Studies

By Pauline S. Johnson

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Related pages

  • Tobacco bag stringing: Secondary activity four: In this activity for grades 7–12, students will examine primary source photographs and biographical information that were collected for the Virginia-Carolina Service Corporation to set up a data record.
  • Tobacco bag stringing: Elementary activity one: This activity for grades 3–6 will help students understand what tobacco bag stringing was and why it was important to communities in North Carolina and Virginia. Students will read and analyze an adapted introductory article about tobacco bag stringing.
  • Tobacco bag stringing: Elementary activity four: In this activity for grades 3–6, students will read and evaluate a primary source letter from the Tobacco Bag Stringing collection. This should be done after Activity one, which is the introductory activity about tobacco bag stringing. Students will investigate the influence of technology, and its lack, on the tobacco bag stringers. They will do a role play/debate in which they will assume the roles of owners of companies and other people that were involved in the issue.

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This is one of a series of activities that will help educators use the Tobacco Bag Stringing project materials in their classrooms. Throughout the series students will learn about tobacco stringing, study primary source documents and visuals, and practice critical thinking and analysis skills.

Learning outcomes

  • Students will learn about the activity of tobacco bag stringing.
  • Students will evaluate the importance of this activity to the economics of the families involved.
  • Students will develop historical empathy.
  • Students will evaluate the impact of the Fair Labor Standards Act on the tobacco bag stringing jobs.
  • Students will assess the methods that are used to effect change in legislation.
  • Students will recognize and discuss the place of bias in historical investigation of primary sources.

Teacher planning

Materials needed

Time required for lesson

20–40 minutes

Procedure

  1. Put the students in groups of four. Alternatively, this can be done as a whole class activity.
  2. Assign each group to read the first section of the article “About tobacco bag stringing.” (”What is tobacco bag stringing?”)
  3. Put question sheet on the overhead, or pass out copies to the class.
  4. Give students time to discuss questions 1–8 and develop group consensus.
  5. Allow time for class discussion.
  6. Assign each group to read the second section of the article (”Tobacco bag stringing and the minimum wage”).
  7. Give students time to discuss questions 9–14 and develop group consensus.
  8. Allow time for class discussion.

Assessment

Assess by clarity of student understanding as evidenced during discussion.

Analysis questions

    What is tobacco bag stringing?

    empty tobacco bag with string.

  1. What is tobacco bag stringing?
  2. Why was it necessary to hire workers to sew drawstrings into the tobacco bags?
  3. What was the approximate amount of money a tobacco bag stringer would earn per bag?
  4. Very little income was earned from the stringers. Why was this small amount of money so important to the families of the stringers? Why
    particularly in 1939?
  5. Why do you think that the Golden Belt Manufacturing Company did not share its method of mechanically inserting the strings with the other two companies?
  6. What do you believe “running short time” means? Why would that affect the tobacco bag stringing jobs?
  7. How could the position of bag agent become a powerful one? Why is this significant?
  8. In what possible situations would you have wanted to be a tobacco bag stringer?

    9. Tobacco bag stringing and the minimum wage

    Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Denver, Colo. in 1936.

  9. What was the minimum wage required by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1938? What was the average hourly wage estimated to have been made by tobacco bag stringers?
  10. Why was the Virginia-Carolina Service Corporation hoping to get an amendment to the FLSA?
  11. What methods did the corporation use to argue for the amendment?
  12. Do you think these methods would be effective? Why or why not?
  13. Do you think most of the tobacco bag stringers were for or against the minimum wage required by the FLSA? Why or why not?
  14. “Report on Tobacco Bag Stringing Operations in North Carolina and Virginia” was produced for what purpose? Why is it necessary to remember that when you begin to read and analyze these documents and visuals? How does that influence your evaluation of these primary sources materials?

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies (2003)

Grade 8

  • Goal 5: The learner will evaluate the impact of political, economic, social, and technological changes on life in North Carolina from 1870 to 1930.
    • Objective 5.01: Identify the role played by the agriculture, textile, tobacco, and furniture industries in North Carolina, and analyze their importance in the economic development of the state.
  • Goal 6: The learner will analyze the immediate and long-term effects of the Great Depression and World War II on North Carolina.
    • Objective 6.01: Identify the causes and effects of the Great Depression and analyze the impact of New Deal policies on Depression Era life in North Carolina.

Grade 10

  • Goal 9: The learner will analyze factors influencing the United States economy.
    • Objective 9.02: Describe the impact of government regulation on specific economic activities.
    • Objective 9.08: Analyze the influence of environmental factors, economic conditions, and policy decisions on individual economic activities.

Grade 11–12 — United States History

  • Goal 9: Prosperity and Depression (1919-1939) - The learner will appraise the economic, social, and political changes of the decades of "The Twenties" and "The Thirties."
    • Objective 9.02: Analyze the extent of prosperity for different segments of society during this period.
    • Objective 9.05: Assess the impact of New Deal reforms in enlarging the role of the federal government in American life.