[Verse 1]
Back in nineteen forty-eight when the war was done
Veterans came home to build what they had won
The GI Bill opened doors to college halls
Housing loans helped families answer freedom's calls
Documents and records tell the story true
Primary sources show us what our nation knew
[Chorus]
Read the documents, check the artifacts
Tax rates high, union strong, those are the facts
Ninety percent at the top, that's how it went
Collective bargaining, prosperity meant
Primary sources never lie
They show us how and tell us why
[Verse 2]
Union density climbed up through the fifties high
Forty percent of workers had their voice to cry
Collective bargaining covered more each year
Wages rose together, benefits stayed near
Contracts and agreements, filed away with care
Show us how the middle class got its fair share
[Chorus]
Read the documents, check the artifacts
Tax rates high, union strong, those are the facts
Ninety percent at the top, that's how it went
Collective bargaining, prosperity meant
Primary sources never lie
They show us how and tell us why
[Verse 3]
Housing policy papers from the postwar days
Suburban Development Corporation's ways
FHA guidelines, VA loan forms too
Built the neighborhoods where families grew
Education records show the college boom
GI Bill transcripts fill up every room
[Bridge]
Tax base definitions changed throughout the years
Corporate rates and loopholes, crystal clear
Union membership rolls tell the tale
Of solidarity's rise and fail
Every document's a window to the past
Showing which prosperity would last
[Chorus]
Read the documents, check the artifacts
Tax rates high, union strong, those are the facts
Ninety percent at the top, that's how it went
Collective bargaining, prosperity meant
Primary sources never lie
They show us how and tell us why
[Outro]
So when you want to understand the way things were
Look to the sources, let the facts occur
Archives hold the truth of our economic story
Primary sources reveal both struggle and glory