Today's movement in support of the 99 percent is a reminder that throughout U.S. history, a major engine of change has been grass-roots organizing and solidarity. Major history textbooks, however, downplay the role of ordinary people in shaping events--especially those who formed labor unions and used the strike to assert their rights. One of the most significant strikes in U.S. history occurred 100 years ago, in the Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile mills, and yet it merits barely a mention in the most widely used U.S. history textbooks. It was known as the "Bread and Roses" strike because underlying the demand for adequate wages ("bread") was a demand for dignity on the job and in life more generally ("roses"). Until this strike, the U.S. Congress was indifferent to working conditions. In this article, the author argues that educators should teach this 100-year-old strike because: (1) it opened possibilities that continue to resonate; (2) it was important in building some of the freedoms that are now endangered; and (3) there are parallels and lessons for the challenges people face today.