Title: Teach or go to jail
Description: A multi-faceted look back on a 1977 public school teachers' strike in Franklin, Massachusetts. Through a series of publications and printed ephemera, Josh MacPhee attempts to unpack the strike and engage with questions about what it can tell us about labor and education struggles today. MacPhee traces his family connection to the strike via his father, who as treasurer of the union was sentenced to jail time for refusing to go back to work. The publication reproduces a notebook of drawings the elder MacPhee made from his cell, press and photo documentation of the strike, ephemera, as well as a new interview done with three of the strikers.
Subjects: Labor unions, History, Public schools, Strikes and lockouts, Teachers, Teachers' unions
Places: United States, Massachusetts, Franklin
Time periods: 20th century