Using Scrapbooks Artifacts and discourse analysisto Preserve Pride and Communicate Events in Five Midwest 20th Century Labor Strikes

Abstract

During periods of conflict, many parties record the events in many ways. This study is a qualitative look at five striking scrapbooks over the course of the 20th century to show similarities and differences through an interpretive lens. A discourse analysis brings to life the positionality of the collector. Here we show that needs, politics, violence, lack of feminism and intense emotions are all wrapped up in the pages of these scrapbooks created in the Midwest during labor conflict. Personal pride, however, seems to be the overriding motivation to collect and save the pieces of scrap that define the voices of the movement. Keywords: strike, unions, labor, management, hierarchy of needs, politics, violence, women, emotions, pride.