Labor History Today

The Cambridge Movement

Professor of African American History and Culture Bernard Demczuk on how Maryland’s Eastern Shore, a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, was known as “Maryland’s Mississippi” because of pervasive racial oppression and discrimination, about the civil rights and labor organizing that began in Cambridge, Maryland, and how that town became the site of the longest period of martial law within the United States since 1877, and how that that history carries on today in movements like Black Lives Matter. Music: Cambridge Town, by the R.J. Phillips Band.Read more about Gloria Richardson here.
On this week’s Labor History in Two: One of the largest slave revolts in American history.
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Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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“No Labor Dictators for Us”

The success of the Flint Sit-Down Strike that began on December 30, 1936 was far from assured at the time; GM management fought the union bitterly, and then, as now, there were workers who didn’t support the union. In “’No Labor Dictators for Us’: Anti-Union Workers During the Flint Sit-Down Strikes” -- a forthcoming article in the Michigan Historical Review -- Dr. Gregory Wood takes a closer look at the influence of anti-union workers and the General Motors-supported Flint Alliance both during and after the strike. He discussed his research on Tales from the Reuther Library, the excellent labor history podcast from the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University.On this week’s Labor History in Two: The misunderstood Emancipation Proclamation, and Transit Workers Push Back.  
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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A Working-Class Christmas Story Christmas

I don't love economic exploitation, but I do love Christmas and Christmas movies. They work to sell me stuff and ideology, but they also critique commercialism and exploitation. See what subversive messages you can find in a holiday classic; I triple dog dare you. Kathy M. Newman joins Labor Goes to the Movies hosts Elise Bryant and Chris Garlock to explore A Working-Class Christmas Story Christmas, from the Working-Class Perspectives blog. Kathy’s an associate professor of literary and cultural studies at Carnegie Mellon University, where she writes about radio, television, and contemporary media. On this week’s Labor History in Two: Debs Released; Real Gift Was His Message.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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Red Jerseys in Detroit

Argentina plays France today in the 2022 World Cup final. The U.S. team bowed out on December 3 when they went down 3-1 to the Netherlands. But soccer, it turns out, has a long history in the United States, thanks to its popularity among immigrant workers from European countries.From 1927 to 1935, the United States Communist Party (CPUSA) established the Labor Sport Union, a coalition of worker athletic clubs, primarily located in the urban Northeast and Midwest. The CPUSA’s 1925 sport manifesto emphasized that sports should be used as a medium for class struggle and even to create “proletarian fighting units against militarism and fascism.”One of their successful sporting accomplishments was the Workers’ Soccer Association, or WSA, which organized leagues in New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. This communist soccer league played two seasons per year and competed for city, regional, and national championships. On today’s show, history professor Gabe Logan recounts the history of the Workers’ Soccer Association and explains an overlooked aspect of U.S. soccer that intersected political ideology, labor, and athletics.On this week’s Labor History in Two: No Justice, No Bagels!
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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Julia Reichert: “Documentarian of the Working Class”

Julia Reichert, dubbed “Documentarian of the Working Class” by The New York Times, died of cancer on December 1. 9 to 5 co-founder Karen Nussbaum interviewed Julia in 2020 after her film American Factory won an Oscar; Part 1 ran in our April 26, 2020 episode. This week, we’re re-running Part 2. Reichert made documentary films for 50 years and was known as “a godmother of the American independent film movement.” Karen and Julia start out talking about the classic labor film Union Maids and the strong connection of that film – made nearly fifty years ago – to Reichert’s most recent film, 9to5: The Story of a Movement, co-directed with Steven Bognar, who also co-directed American Factory. The interview ends with the wonderful back story of Julia’s call at the 2020 Academy Awards for workers of the world to unite.On this week’s Labor History in Two: Founding of the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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“Capital’s Terrorists”

Professor and labor historian Chad Pearson traces “the continuity of thuggery” by bosses in his new book “Capital's Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century”. Pearson recently talked with fellow Texan Gene Lantz on Workers Beat, a weekly radio show on KNON Radio in Dallas, Texas.On this week’s Labor History in Two: Organizing to end slavery.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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The labor “Parade” that flopped

Two years before the pro-labor musical revue “Pins & Needles” became a big Broadway hit in 1937, “Parade”, another musical featuring pro-labor songs, flopped after just 40 performances and the Theatre Guild -- which did so well with “Pins & Needles” just a few years later -- lost $100,000 dollars.  In today’s brief bonus edition of Labor History Today, we bring you the fascinating prelude to the success of “Pins & Needles”, starting with workers social clubs in Europe and in the United States, and the Worker’s Theatre Movement. Michigan State University College of Music Professor Maria Cristina Fava’s talk, originally given in October 2012, was part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and the MSU Museum. The series is organized by MSU professor John Beck. For Fava’s in-depth discussion of “Pins & Needles”, check out last Sunday’s edition of Labor History Today.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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Pins & Needles’ mass appeal

Eighty five years ago today, the pro-labor musical revue “Pins & Needles” opened on Broadway with a cast of members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. “Pins & Needles” became a big hit, with over a thousand performances. It was performed at the White House for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor, and was revived on Broadway in 1978 and in London in 2010.On today’s show, Michigan State University College of Music Professor Maria Cristina Fava explains the relationship of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union and the Theatre Guild in the production of "Pins and Needles". Fava describes how the production evolved from a variety show with a cast of unionized garment workers in their off time to the cast giving up their jobs to become full time actors with the success of the show. She provides reviews by theater critics and describes how the cast navigated the politics of the day. Fava’s talk. originally given in October 2012, was part of the "Our Daily Work/Our Daily Lives" Brown Bag series sponsored by the Michigan State University School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and the MSU Museum. The series is organized by MSU professor John Beck.On this week’s Labor History in Two:  Death Trap in Newark.
Questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome, and to find out how you can be a part of Labor History Today, email us at LaborHistoryToday@gmail.com
Labor History Today is produced by Union City Radio and the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
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