Paterson, 1913: A Labor Strike in the Progressive Era (Flashpoints)

Bring primary sources and historical debates to life

Paterson, 1913 is designed to be played during the time typically devoted to teaching the Progressive Era in the U.S. history survey course. Set in America’s “Silk City," Paterson, New Jersey, the game pits manufacturers, who try to keep Paterson’s key economic engine running, against labor leaders, who demand a general strike to achieve better working conditions across the silk industry. In the middle of this conflict are townspeople, who must decide whom to support and how to survive a labor struggle that seems to have no end in sight.

From the award-winning Reacting to the Past community, Flashpoints is a new series of immersive role-playing activities designed to help students bring historical ideas and forces to life. Games are designed to take about one week of class time in a survey course, between two and four class sessions. Drawing on primary sources to craft arguments and inform debates, students develop critical thinking and historical empathy. Classroom-tested materials for students and instructors ensure a smooth “flipped classroom” experience.

Mary Jane Treacy is professor emerita of modern languages and literatures at Simmons College, where she was also director of the honors program. She has been involved with the Reacting to the Past pedagogy since 2005, when she played a minor spy in the court of Henry VIII and then set out to write Greenwich Village, 1913, for her course in the roots of feminism. She has taught Greenwich Village in both women’s and gender studies courses and first-year seminars. She is also author of a new Flashpoints game on a labor strike in Paterson, NJ, and a new game on the aftermath of political violence in Argentina (Argentina, 1985: Contested Memories). A member of the Editorial Board, she has the privilege of reading and play-testing new games that take her to all eras and parts of the world.