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The village: Life in Georgia's mill villages during the 1920s and 1930s
Melba Moon
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Students will explore life in Georgia's mill villages during the 1920s and 30s. Students will learn what life was like for mill workers before, during, and after the Great Depression. Students will compare life in the mill village of this era with their own knowledge of life in the village today.
Village Pictures Show_SI2 Moon
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Picture 8_SI2 Moon
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Picture 1_SI2 Moon
Handouts:
Life in the Village worksheet 1_SI2 Moon
LaGrange Reporter 2 and graphic shuttle articles_S
LaGrange In The Depression_SI2 Moon
History of the Town of Hogansville_SI2 Moon
Crossword Puzzle_SI2 Moon
Callaway Textile Mill Strike_SI2 Moon
Callaway Mill Strike_SI2 Moon
51 Questions and Answers About Callaway Mills_SI2
50 minutes (1 class period)
1S2
What changes occurred in life in Georgia's mill villages during the 1920s and 1930s?
Step 1. A small blurb on the board will explain that certain parts of the cities of Hogansville, LaGrange, and West Point are referred to as "the village." Most students will know about the village. (West Point can be included, if needed) Allow students to tie this lesson to prior knowledge about "the village" without offering any more explanation. The idea is for the students to discover the differences between today and yesterday as the lesson unfolds. Give students a blank card on which they will write one of the following sentences and complete it.
What I know about "the village"
Blurb: In the early 19th century certain areas of the cities of LaGrange, Hogansville, and West Point were referred to as "the village." You may now live in a part of the village or your parents or grandparents might have lived there. Take a card and complete one or more of the following sentences:
1. I live in ____________________________, it is __________________________________________________.
2. My parents lived in ________________________, they told me ____________________________________.
3. My grandparents lived in ___________________, they told me ____________________________________.
4. I have never been to the village, but I think ___________________________________________________.
Step 2. Beneath the completed sentence the student will draw a picture representing life in the village.
Step 1. Arrange pictures of buildings from the mill villages in LaGrange and Hogansville on a standing chart, bulletin board or other area students can have access to. (See Linked Files).
Step 2. Students will help each other identify the pictures and where the buildings are located.
Step 3. Students will write a one line sentence of what the building is used for today and what they think it might have been during the 20s and 30s.
Step 4. When students have labeled all pictures, a second set of labels should then be placed on the pictures to identify the buildings and their purposes from the time period being studied.
(This exercise could also be done by having pre-printed labels which the students would place on the pictures and the teacher could help them rearrange them in the correct positions. This would be easiest if no one is familiar with the mill villages in LaGrange or Hogansville which will be the focus of this lesson.)
Step 1. Give students a copy of one of several oral history excerpts of life in the mill village, Callaway Mills Company booklet and newspaper clippings. Students will read one of these handouts. (See Linked Files).
Step 2. Give students a worksheet with incomplete statements that can be completed with information form the oral histories. (See Linked Files).
Step 3. Students will answer the questions on the worksheet from their short reading and then move around the room gathering the answers to the other questions from classmates who have different. Use the give one and get one rule.(The give one get one rule works by having students give an answer they have to a student and then get an answer they don't have from that student. They move around getting and giving until they have answered all the questions on the worksheet. Monitor for wise use of time.)
Step 4. Review the answers to be sure the students have the correct answers.
Step 5. Have students discuss how life in the village today is different from life there during the 20s and 30s.
The students will complete a crossword puzzle based on the information from the lesson above. The crossword puzzle may be constructed using the worksheet from the instructional activity. (See Linked Files.)
Fuller E. Callaway and Joseph E. Dunson founded textile mills in Troup County during the first quarter of the 20th century. These mills needed workers to run the different jobs in the mills. Because most workers had no transportation and lived in the country, the Mills Company developed a system to provide housing for the workers in the area surrounding the mills. These company owned housing developments became known as villages. Many of our students today live in areas that were once Mill Villages. This lesson plan will explore what life was like in the "village" before 1935. Students will then compare how living in the "village" today is different from pre-1935 village life.
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Village Pictures Show_SI2 Moon
Picture 9_SI2 Moon
Picture 8_SI2 Moon
Picture 7_SI2 Moon
Picture 6_SI2 Moon
Picture 5_SI2 Moon
Picture 4_SI2 Moon
Picture 3_SI2 Moon
Picture 2_SI2 Moon
Picture 1_SI2 Moon
Life in the Village worksheet 1_SI2 Moon
LaGrange Reporter 2 and graphic shuttle articles_S
LaGrange In The Depression_SI2 Moon
History of the Town of Hogansville_SI2 Moon
Crossword Puzzle_SI2 Moon
Callaway Textile Mill Strike_SI2 Moon
Callaway Mill Strike_SI2 Moon
51 Questions and Answers About Callaway Mills_SI2