Filter by:

Filter by published date

Viewing 61–90 of 291 results. Go to first page
A row of colorful houses in New Orleans.

A Forgotten or Simply Erased History of Organized Labor

After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans replaced all its public schools with charter schools. A new book recovers the decades of work the storm disrupted.
San Francisco Communist Party marching in May Day parade, 1935.

California Communism and Its Afterlives

A new book explores the Communist Party's western base and its alliance with the labor movement.
Rednecks by Taylor Brown.

The Battle of Blair Mountain and Stories Untold

An interview with Taylor Brown, author of the novel "Rednecks."
Starbucks workers on strike.

The Paradox of the American Labor Movement

It’s a great time to be in a union—but a terrible time to try to start a new one.
Janitors picketing in Santa Monica in 2008.
Exhibit

Strike!

Stories about American workers who have taken collective action to demand better conditions from those who benefit from their labor.

Cesar Chavez standing next to Luis Valdez.

Cesar Chavez, Family and Filmmaking with Luis Valdez

Luis Valdez on his friendship with Cesar Chavez, his works in the National Film Registry, and a lifetime of activism.
The United Farm Worker’s 1,000 Mile March, 1975.

How Unions Are Made

A new history of labor organizing in Coachella tells us the story of the United Farm Workers and how its rank-and-file members drove the union to success.
At center: organized labor leader John L. Lewis surrounded by crowds of male workers of all races.

Fragile Juggernaut

Introducing a project on US labor history, exploring what we can learn from 1930s-1950s industrial struggles.
An undated engraving depicting Ku Klux Klan vigilantes in Kansas.

When Bosses Were Terrorists

Historians depict late 19th-century American business elites as agents of progress, but many of them could also be called “terrorists.”
UAW President Shawn Fain greeting striking Ford workers.

The Ghost of Reuther Past

The new UAW faces new challenges, but bears some distinct resemblances to the old.
African American factory worker assembling an automobile engine.

How the UAW Broke Ford’s Stranglehold Over Black Detroit

The UAW's patient organizing cemented an alliance that would bear fruit for decades.

Shawn Fain Is Channeling the Best of the UAW’s Past

The ongoing UAW strike is reminiscent of early UAW leader Walter Reuther — before the union and Reuther himself downsized their ambitions.

Eight and Skate

The age of optimism that lasted in the US from the 1940s to the 1970s looked, basically, like a car.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain shaking hands with union members.

Can the UAW Transform America Again?

By thinking big, Shawn Fain is summoning memories of Walter Reuther and the autoworkers’ union’s finest hour.
Disney strikers picketing the premiere of The Reluctant Dragon, Los Angeles, July 1941.

Storyboards and Solidarity

The current Hollywood strikes have a precedent in Disney’s golden age, when the company was a hothouse of innovation and punishing expectation.
Poster of Kate Mullaney holding an iron in a fist above her head, with the words "Don't iron while the strike is hot."

Reopened Museum Honors Women's Fight for Fairness

Kate Mullany's former home in Troy, New York honors one of the earliest women's labor unions that sought fair pay and safe working conditions.
Blue and yellow photo of a woman holding up a sign with the word "Union" on it

Unspooling Norma Rae

The story of Norma Rae, based on the union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton.
Lebanese auto worker Eva Habib in her work coveralls in 1929.

Arab American Labor

On the centrality of the working classes to the Arab American immigrant experience and the pivotal roles Arab Americans played in American labor.
Chicago police pursue fleeing workers in this screenshot from the suppressed Paramount newsreel footage. An officer's gun can be seen in the foreground.

The Bloody Labor Crackdown Paramount Didn’t Want America to See

Executives feared their newsreel footage would “cause riots and mass hysteria.”
A worker in the Shinkolobwe mine.

The Dark History ‘Oppenheimer’ Didn't Show

Coming from the Congo, I knew where an essential ingredient for atomic bombs was mined, even if everyone else seemed to ignore it.
Barbie doll

Barbie and the Problem of Corporate Power

Stars of the movie about an iconic Mattel toy are on strike. Both the company’s history and Barbie’s plot illuminate how powerful corporations really are.
Striking workers at General Motors in 1970.

Nelson Lichtenstein on a Half-Century of American Class Struggle

The esteemed labor historian reflects on his life and career, including Berkeley in the 1960s, Walter Reuther, the early UAW, Walmart, Bill Clinton, and more.
A black-and-white frame of a crowd of police officers confronting strikers - beating them with clubs.

When Unions and Police Clash: The Memorial Day Massacre You May Not Know About

Decades ago, labor protests, picketing and strikes often led to violent confrontations between activists and police, although that almost never happens today.
Tenant farmers picking cotton in Mississippi circa 1890.

The Black Populist Movement Has Been Snuffed Out of the History Books

Often forgotten today, the black populists and their acts of cross-racial solidarity terrified the planter class, who responded with violence and Jim Crow laws.
Big Bill Haywood, Adolph Lessing, and Carlo Tresca, Paterson, New Jersey, 1913.

The Wobblies and the Dream of One Big Union

A new history examines the lost promise and fierce persecution of the IWW.
Prominent writers Billy Wilder and Gore Vidal (right and second from right) join a writers’ picket line at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles, June 25, 1981. (Bettmann / Getty Images)

Hollywood Screenwriters Have Always Known That Moviemaking Is a Form of Labor

Stretching back to Hollywood’s Golden Age, writers and many others in the industry have fought for their rights as workers.
Police beating young people with nightsticks.

"A Trap Had Been Set for These People"

A companion to a new PBS film, "The Memorial Day Massacre," the first oral history exploring the murder of 10 workers in Chicago.
Horseddrawn carts and shoppers in a bustling Haymarket Square in 1893.

The Chicago Evangelist Who Held a Gospel Revival To Stop a Strike

Dwight L. Moody and the 1884 Haymarket Affair offer a look at what happens when Christians side with the wealthy instead of working class.
Man at the wheel of a ship.

The Safe Harbor

Harry Bridges may no longer be widely known, but his philosophy of inclusive, democratic unionism imbues much of today’s most ambitious organizing campaigns.
Demonstrators march with t-shirts and signs in support of labor unions.
partner

Labor Union Activism Is on the Rise, Recalling the Great Depression

Spurred by the pandemic, new groups of workers are pushing to form unions in activism not seen since the 1930s.
Randolph L. White, UVA Hospital, Black hospital workers, union newsletter.

UVA and the History of Race: Confronting Labor Discrimination

The UVA president’s commissions on Slavery and on the University in the Age of Segregation were established to find and tell the stories of a painful past.

Filter Results:

Suggested Filters:

Idea

Person