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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

Learn more

  • Secondary source: About tobacco bag stringing This article introduces the concept of tobacco bag stringing and discusses its importance as a source of income for women in North Carolina and Virginia during the Great Depression.
  • Primary source: Tobacco bag stringing: Life and labor in the Depression Images and text from a report in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill documenting tobacco bag stringing work in North Carolina and Virginia in 1939.

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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.

Questions

    “What is tobacco bag stringing?”

    empty tobacco bag with string.

    Empty tobacco bag with string. Photograph from North Carolina Collection gallery, UNC Libraries.

  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.

    President Franklin Delano Roosevelt speaking in Denver, Colorado, circa 1936. Photograph from American Memory, Library of Congress.

  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 — Economics and Civics

  • Goal 4: The learner will explore active roles as a citizen at the local, state, and national levels of government.
    • Objective 4.04: Demonstrate active methods of promoting and inhibiting change through political action.
  • Goal 5: The learner will explain how the political and legal systems provide a means to balance competing interests and resolve conflicts.
    • Objective 5.01: Evaluate the role of debate, consensus, compromise, and negotiation in resolving conflicts.
    • Objective 5.04: Evaluate the role of debate and compromise in the legislative process.
    • Objective 5.06: Analyze roles of individual citizens, political parties, the media, and other interest groups in public policy decisions, dispute resolution, and government action.
  • Goal 6: The learner will explain why laws are needed and how they are enacted, implemented, and enforced at the national, state, and local levels.
    • Objective 6.06: Analyze the role of lobby groups and special interest groups in the enactment of legislation.
  • 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.

Grades 11–12 — African American Studies

  • Goal 7: The learner will assess the plight of African Americans during the Great Depression and World War II.
    • Objective 7.01: Analyze the impact of the Great Depression and the New Deal on the lives of African Americans.

Grades 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.