Maine Artist/Activist Robert Shetterly discusses the importance Civil Disobedience.

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Stan Smith

This clip describes the installation of a safety net during the construction of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on the order of bridge engineer Joseph Strauss. The clip suggests that the safety net - despite its cost - was a good investment as a morale booster, apart from the lives saved. Despite the net, there was a major accident later which caused the net to fall and cost several lives. Overall, the safety record was still better than might have been expected at the time.

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Stan Smith

The Civil War draft riots in New York City and the L.A. riots of 1992 are widely viewed as the most severe urban disturbances in U.S. history. Both involved substantial racial conflict and looting, whatever the initial grievances may have been. In the Civil War case, Irish immigrants were particularly vulnerable to the draft because they could not afford to buy themselves out of it. They blamed African-Americans for the War, especially after the Emancipation Proclamation. In the LA case, African-Americans...

Stan Smith

Ronald Reagan - then a liberal Democrat - campaigns on the radio for President Truman in 1948. He also supports Hubert Humphrey for Senator from Minnesota and opposes the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 which had been passed by the Republican congress over Truman's veto.

Stan Smith

During WW2, substantial numbers of women workers were employed in factory jobs to replace men who were in the military. The intent, however, was that after the War, the men would return to those jobs and women would go back to traditional pursuits. There was a notable drop in female workforce participation after the War, but thereafter female participation rose for the rest of the 20th century. This brief clip made during the War illustrates the intended displacement.

Stan Smith