Lesson 42

Help Wanted, Working Class Cleveland, 1946

OBJECTIVES:

To make students aware of the employment opportunities available to Cleveland residents in 1946.

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS:

• Handout 1 - "Help Wanted, Female"
• Handout 2 - "Help Wanted, Male"

TERMS:

comptometer		corsetiere		Dictaphone
millinery		shirt finisher		insurance underwriter
short order cook		header operator		lathe hand
masseur		plater		porter
punch press		stationary engineer		templett maker
tool and die maker

LESSON FOCUS:

1. What types of employment opportunities were available to Cleveland residents in 1946?
2. How do these opportunities compare to those available to Cleveland residents today?

TEACHING PROCEDURE:

1. Distribute copies of the handout to all students in the class. Have the students examine the handouts and then complete the questions for discussion below.
   

   a.	Do these jobs still exist today? Why or why not?
   b.	Why were jobs divided into two categories, men and women? Are help wanted ads divided by sex today? Why or why not?
   c.	Some jobs were not available to certain racial groups. What jobs were these? Why do you think they were restricted to one racial group?
   d.	Some of the jobs were restricted to applicants in a particular age group. What jobs were these? Why do you think there were these restrictions?
   e.	Would it be legal today to restrict employment to any one particular racial or age group? Why?

2. Have the class make a list of jobs with which they are unfamiliar. Have them divide the jobs among the class members and research what each job did.
3. Have the students compare the jobs available in 1946 with those available in 1846 and 1896. Were the jobs more skilled in 1946 than in the previous years?
4. Have the students speculate as to what jobs will be created to meet new needs in the future.