Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and Migrant Workers
Edward R. Murrow’s groundbreaking documentary Harvest of Shame aired on CBS in 1960. The film aired the day after Thanksgiving to stress the fact that much of the food eaten during the holiday was picked by exploited migrant laborers. A year later, the documentary was the focus of a PBS news program, The Briefing Session, which featured opposing viewpoints.
Directions
Watch the opening of PBS’s The Briefing Session: Plight of Migrant Workers and take notes on the questions in the boxes below. Then write your questions in the boxes. Support your answer with examples.
Then, imagine that you are a producer planning a segment that explores an immigration issue. Use the storyboard (a simple graphic organizer) to draw and describe key scenes and interviews in a few short lines.
Optional: If time allows, check out CBS’s “Harvest of Shame” Revisited on the fiftieth anniversary of the original documentary.
Briefing Session: Plight of Migrant Workers, episode 515, 1961. Permission has been granted for educational purposes only, courtesy of Thirteen WNET via American Archive of Public Broadcasting (WGBH and the Library of Congress).
Questions
Storyboard Your Own News Segment
Directions
Imagine that you are a producer planning a segment that explores an immigration issue. Use the storyboard to describe the scenes and interviews in your story.
