The Illinois Labor History Society (ILHS) was formed on August 5, 1969 in the office of the late Joseph M. Jacobs, attorney for the Chicago Teachers Union, Meatcutters, and other labor organizations.
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The ILHS supports the preservation of Illinois labor history and works to share this history with researchers, students and the general public through its website, archival collections and labor history tours. THe ILHS holds the title for the Haymarket Monument in Forest Park, IL and was central to the development of the new Haymarket monument in downtown Chicago. It's Union Hall of Honor Dinner honors men and women who have made important contributions to the state's labor movement.
a powerful voice for justice...
Despite the success of The Weavers, a New York City-based quartet, folk music was still largely a bottom-up phenomenon in the early 1950s, driven by small clusters of teens and twenty-somethings in…
April 24 - Standing Together, Demanding Justice
On this day in Labor History the year was 1999. A headline from the Los Angeles Times declared, “Dock Crews to Halt Work in Support of Death Row Inmate.” Up and down the west coast the ports stood silent. The International Longshoreman and Warehouseman’...
stories from Chicago's past ...
The Quarantine Times is proud to present first in a series of dispatches about how Chicago handled the influenza pandemic of 1918. Written by Chicago historian Paul Durica and brought to you by the Newberry Library, this series brings to light the striking resonances between our city’s current rea...
The biography of Rose Pastor Stokes reads like a fairytale come to life: a sweatshop immigrant marries into Gilded Age New York’s high society only to become a social crusader. In Rebel Cinderella, Adam Hochschild argues that Stokes was a heroine of her own creation, whose activism anticipated the most pressing political debates of the 21st century. Join Hochschild, best-selling author of King Leopold’s Ghost and CEO of Mother Jones Monika Bauerlein for a live stream conversation about what Stokes’s life can reveal about our “New Gilded Age,” fraught as it is with questions of immigration, segregation, and wealth inequality.
The biography of Rose Pastor Stokes reads like a fairytale come to life: a sweatshop immigrant marries into Gilded Age New York’s high society only to become a social crusader. In Rebel Cinderella, Adam Hochschild argues that Stokes was a heroine of her own creation, whose activism anticipated the...
call your Congressional representatives...
A nurse doesn't want your sympathy.
If I die, I don’t want to be remembered as a hero. I want my death to make you angry too. I want you to politicize my death. I want you to use it at fuel...
April 23 - Unity for Strength
On this day in Labor History the year was 1956. That was the day of the founding of the Canadian Labour Congress. Today the Canadian Labour Congress is the largest labor organization in Canada representing some 3.3 million workers. During the early 1950s...
McConnell’s “thank you” to those deemed essential: States should declare bankruptcy to better wriggle out of pension obligations for public sector workers
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he favors allowing states struggling with high public employee pension costs amid the burdens of the pandemic response to declare bankruptcy rather than giving them a federal bailout.
AFL-CIO President on returning to work safely...
WATCH: President Trumka laid out the Working People's Plan for Reopening the Economy the Right Way on Neil Cavuto
Need something to do while quarantined? Here’s coloring pages for the kids!
From Rosie the Riveter to Michelle Obama.
unions are our nation's safety net
Lane Windham is author of Knocking on Labor's Door: Union Organizing and the Roots of a New Economic Divide. She is the Associate Director of Georgetown University's Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, and co-director of WILL Empower (Women Innovating Labor Leadership.)
Blaming the victim...
New details show how Smithfield Foods failed to take action in the crucial days before the plant turned into one of the nation’s largest coronavirus clusters.
April 22 - It’s Earth Day!
On this day in Labor History the year was 1970. That was the first observation of Earth Day. Across the United States, millions took to the streets and parks to demonstrate for clean air, water, a reduction in pollution and care for nature and the environ...
My friend Bill Yund, a retired member of Insulators & Allied Workers Local 2 in Pittsburgh, is an absolutely brilliant cartoonist. Here's a two page spread he recently completed on the fight for Women's Suffrage.
Why unions make all the difference to protect workers.
IF CRISES EXPOSE the underlying dynamics of a society, the coronavirus pandemic has starkly demonstrated the different options available to workers in unions and those who are not. Unionized nurses, factory workers, grocery workers, and janitors have, in recent weeks, demanded increased compensation...
Nurses protesting outside the White House for PPE
National Nurses United (NNU) said its members would be protesting to call attention to health care workers who have become infected with COVID-19 due to shortages of personal protective equipment.
April 21 - The Anaconda Road Massacre
On this day in Labor History the year was 1920. That was the day remembered in Butte, Montana as “Bloody Wednesday” or the “Anaconda Road Massacre.” Butte was in the heart of copper mining country. ...
"Chicago's hospitals are being held up, propped up and supported by our most vulnerable, low-wage, low-educated, most-overworked workers who are disproportionately people of colour," says Dr Bruno.
Hygiene has never seemed more important. Here's how a woman who cleans wards in Chicago is being affected.
Worker safety ignored...
Infections spread like wildfire through a pork factory in South Dakota. Here's how it happened.
April 20 - The Bravest of Conductors
On this day in Labor History the year was 1853. That was the day that Harriet Tubman led her first trip on the underground railroad, the clandestine network that helped enslaved people escape slavery and move north to freedom. One of the most remembered ...
April 19 - The Bombing of Oklahoma City
This marks the day one of the most horrendous acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. History occurred in Oklahoma City. A truck bomb exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building killing 168 people. ...
April 18 - Labor’s First Lawyer
On this day in Labor History the year was 1857. That was the day that Clarence Darrow was born in Kinsman, Ohio. Darrow was perhaps the original U.S. labor lawyer. Known to be a friend to underdogs, Darrow once supposedly said, “Lost causes are the only ...
The Illinois Labor History will join the Chicago Federation of Labor to host an online celebration of May Day on May 1, 2020, 3 pm at https://www.facebook.com/chicagolabor/. We will be joined online by representatives from UNIFOR, the largest private-sector union of Canada.
One of the 20th century's most interesting radicals, who grew up in Chicago....
The life and legacy of the Catholic writer and activist, whom some hope will be made a saint.
“Over the past two weeks, OSHA and the CDC have issued a series of guidelines and directives that have weakened protections for front-line workers outside the medical field.”
Even as the federal worker-safety agency has been inundated with complaints, it has rolled back safety standards and virtually eliminated non-health care workplaces from government protection.
April 17 - Corporate Criminals Know No Borders
On this day in Labor History the year was 1912. That a day of tragedy for workers in the goldfields of Siberia. Gold miners by the Lena River in Southeast Siberia worked under brutal conditions. The Lena Gold Mining Joint Stock Company ran the mining oper...
Premier Labor Historian Leon Fink has a nice article on love in the time of COVID:
Public health is a social and collective imperative.
April 16 - Another Day in the Class War
On this day in Labor History the year was 2000. That was the beginning of a two-day rally in Washington D.C to protest the gathering of world leaders for the World Bank and The International Monetary Fund or what is known as the A-16 summit. The event was ...
April 15 - From the Classroom to the Streets
On this day in Labor History the year was 1916. That was day that the American Federation of Teachers was founded at a meeting at the City Club in downtown Chicago. Three Chicago teachers groups helped to organize the meeting. They were convinced that in o...
COVID-19 in the meat packing plants... tragic
At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat inspector.
April 14 - Agricultural Workers Risk Everything to Organize
On this day in Labor History the year was 1930. That was the day that 114 agricultural laborers in California’s Imperial Valley paid a harsh price for joining together to try to improve their working conditions. The Great Depression was worsening the alrea...
AFL-CIO resource center
Resources and information for workers impacted by COVID-19 on unemployment insurance, paid leave, community services and more.
April 13 - Laborers Join Together
On this day in Labor History the year was 1903. That was the year the day that twenty-five delegates from seventeen cities gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss forming a union for laborers. General laborers, who often performed some of the most back-bre...
Another front-line worker gone, this one with a disability who continued to work...
Leilani Jordan left her family a "goodbye" video on her phone.
April 12 - Historic Walkout at Toledo Auto-Lite
On this day in Labor History the year was 1934. That was the day that workers at the Toledo Auto-Lite factory decided to go out on strike. The company made electric starters for the auto giants in nearby Detroit. The punishing effects of the Great Depre...
Who is protecting the fast food worker who serves us?
Workers say the conditions in their stores pose "imminent danger."
Ken Loach’s film, Sorry We Missed You, has opened virtually at the Music Box. You can view it at this link for $12.
https://kinonow.com/sorry-we-missed-you-music-box-theatre
Discover contemporary, classic and documentary films that will entertain, inspire and amaze you, as only great cinema can. Kino Now gives you a front-row seat for the classics of today and tomorrow.
April 11 - Terrorists Try to Silence Workers
On this day in Labor History the year was 1934. That was the day that labor organizer Frank Norman disappeared from the Lakeland, Florida area and was never heard from again. It is believed he was kidnapped and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. No...
CTA has its first COVID-19 death. Darrell Jones, ATU 241 mechanic
A brief history of public health in Chicago:
Because residents still skirmished with cholera, Chicago's 1837 charter included a Board of Health and a health officer. The officer's responsibilities included inspecting food markets, preparing death certificates, constructing a quarantine hospital, visiting residents with infectious illnesses, an...
Mother Jones and the Memphis Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1867
(From labor folklorist "Con Carbon")
Yellow fever is a virus that is spread by the bite of an infected female mosquito. In North America there have been 25 major outbreaks. In the summer of 1793, in Philadelphia, several thousand people died of the disease, almost 10 percent of the population. At the time of the epidemic Philadelphia was the capital of the United States. The national government, including President George Washington, had to leave the city.
Elliot Gorn, in his biography, Mother Jones : the Most Dangerous Woman in America, described yellow fever as "horrifying to behold." Flu-like symptoms accompanied by pain, bleeding and vomiting characterize this deadly disease. "Yellow fever's unpredictability and its mysterious origins added to the terror." It was not until 1900 that medical science discovered that yellow fever was spread person-to-person from the mosquito.
In 1860 Mary Harris, an Irish immigrant, arrived in Memphis, Tennessee from Chicago, looking for work as a teacher. There she met and married George Jones, a skilled worker and staunch member of the International Iron Molder's Union. They settled in the poorest section of Memphis - called "Pinch Gut" - where most of the Irish lived. Mary gave birth to 4 children, 3 girls and a boy -- Catherine, Elizabeth, Terence and Mary.
In 1867 Memphis experienced an unusually rainy spring, as ponds swelled and creeks overflowed throughout the city. When the heat of summer arrived the stagnant water created a breeding ground for mosquitoes. That's when the yellow fever epidemic hit. Residents tried to halt the spread of the disease by burning barrels of tar on the streets, by spreading lime and carbolic acid. People held sponges to their noses to avoid inhaling noxious vapors; they burned the bedclothes of victims.
According to Judith Pinkerton Josephson in Mother Jones : Fierce Fighter for Workers Rights, "the epidemic hit hard in the Pinchgut slum. The wild cries of the dying and the wails of their loved ones pierced the air. Death carts rumbled through the streets." Public meetings were banned as one public official declared, "yellow fever must run its course and nothing we know of can stop it."
Mary and George watched as their children became ill. Catherine, Elizabeth and Terence died and then the baby. Soon George came down with the fever and, he too, was dead. Mary had lost her entire family - her husband and 4 children - in less than a week. "I sat alone through nights of grief," she said. "No one came to me. No one could. Other homes were as stricken as mine." Believing she had been spared in order to help others, Mary volunteered to care for other yellow fever victims and their families.
In December the first frost came to Memphis and the the epidemic gradually weakened. Over 240 people had died or one out of every hundred people in the city.
Local 66 of the Iron Molders Union held a special meeting to honor the memory of George Jones, their union brother. Mary Jones, now a 30-year old grief-stricken widow, decided to leave Memphis for Chicago. There she would find work as a seamstress for the wealthy.
Memphis suffered through six yellow fever epidemics. The worse was in the summer of 1878 when 5,150 people died. In that year over 17,000 cases were reported and over 25,000 Memphians fled the city. But some were not able, or could not afford, to flee.
Becoming Mother Jones
"The first half of Mary Jones' life prepared her for the task of becoming Mother Jones. She was, above all, a survivor -- she passed through horrific times and transcended them. This is how the twentieth century came to know her. Every time the frail old woman in her outdated black dress was arrested, issued proclamations from jail, then emerged to lead a parade of strikers, the image of her as a survivor was reinforced." (Gorn, p. 55)
"By the end of the 1890s, she had become Mother Jones, had embraced the name and embellished the persona. Once she did that -- constructed her appearance, her speech, her public demeanor, learned to tailor that persona to the needs and expectations of her audiences -- her real career was launched." (Gorn, p. 68-69)
____________
I am indebted to Elliot Gorn for his insightful biography of Mother Jones from which I summarized, paraphrased and quoted. (Gorn, Elliott J. Mother Jones : the Most Dangerous Woman in America. New York, Hill and Wang, 2001.) In the same manner I utilized Mother Jones : Fierce Fighter for Workers' Rights. Minneapolis, Lerner Publications, 1997. I was inspired by author Judith Pinkerton Josephson's storytelling approach in this well-illustrated small biography. On-line resources included: Yellow fever, History of yellow fever (Wikipedia); Yellow fever : the plague of Memphis, Yellow Fever Martyrs Memorial and Mass Grave and Yellow fever epidemics. A solidarity elbow bump to historian Rosemary Feurer and all the good people who are working with the Mother Jones Heritage Project , an effort that deserves our support.
-- Saul Schniderman, editor.
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Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge Commemoration
Today we spent the afternoon at Forest Home Cemetery. ILHS President Larry Spivack gave a tour of notable labor leaders buried there, including the Haymarket Martyrs of course, in honor and memory of Mark Rogovin. We were also there to unveil the Nina Van Zandt Spies grave marker. Mark was instrumental in locating Haymarket Martyr, August Spies’ widow, Nina and we finally have a stone for her. With additional commentary from ILHS members Bleue Benton and Julia Berkowitz.
2019 Union Hall of Honor Friday, December 6, 2019 5:00 to 6:00 pm Cocktail Hour 6:00 pm Dinner Teamsters 705 Union Hall 1645 W Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60612 Inducting CHARLIE HAYES, UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, IRENE GOINS, WOMEN'S TRADE UNION LEAGUE, RON POWELL, UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS UNION, BOB SIMPSON, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS Guest Speaker AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride
Labor Day Kick Off with President Larry Spivack
Honoring the Martyrs’
Bucky Halker singing Union Maid with the Historical Society of Forest Park
Clarence Darrow Memorial Bridge
Keynote speech by UMWA President Cecil Roberts. With Mother Jones Lives
Speech by ILHS trustee Judy Simpson. With Mother Jones Lives
The Casa del Obrero Mundial (English: House of the World Worker) from Mexico being told the story of the Haymarket Massacre by President Larry Spivack.
Just a preview of our UHH Keynote speaker this year!
UAW Region 4 UAW International Union UAW UAW Ford Department
UAW Region 4
President Larry Spivack along with Bucky Halker and Alma “Lucy Parsons” Washington put on a presentation yesterday for the Synapse School talking about Haymarket. They are on a school trip from California.
President Larry Spivack along with Bucky Halker and Alma “Lucy Parsons” Washington put on a presentation yesterday for the Synapse School talking about Haymarket. They are on a school trip from California.
President Larry Spivack along with Bucky Halker and Alma “Lucy Parsons” Washington put on a presentation yesterday for the Synapse School talking about Haymarket. They are on a school trip from California.
President Larry Spivack along with Bucky Halker and Alma “Lucy Parsons” Washington put on a presentation yesterday for the Synapse School talking about Haymarket. They are on a school trip from California.
The presentation of awards
Listen to Mother! With Mother Jones Lives
#ILHLives #MayDay2018 via ripl.com
Historical Society of Forest Park
Bucky Halker singing Solidarity Forever
Bucky Halker singing Storm the Fort, Ye Knights of Labor
Bucky Halker singing The Eight Hour Song
President Larry Spivack honoring the Martyrs Monday for the international delegation attending the Labor Notes Conference.
Our resident Lucy Parsons, Alma Washington talked to a group on a tour led by Julia Berkowitz for the Labor Notes Conference last Friday.
Since her death in 1936, her burial site was never marked. In the midst of updating the booklet, The Day Will Come, author Mark Rogovin discovered the precise location of her grave. The ILHS is working with the cemetery to place a marker for her. http://s.ripl.com/jtvrr1
The Origins of International Labor Day in Our Own Backyard Featuring Music from Folksinger Bucky Halker Monday April 23, 2018 3:00 to 5:00 pm Purdue University Northwest Room with a View SUL 1st Floor 2200 169th Street, Hammond, Indiana, 46323 http://s.ripl.com/e0znkt
Let ILHS help at your next event. Labor History Tours, Seminars, Book tables and more! Message us today for more information #ILHLives via ripl.com.
Join us for the William A. "Bill" Pelz Memorial Meeting. A life celebrated Sunday, January 28, 2:00 - 3:30 PM APWU Hall, 4217 South Halsted St., Chicago
Join ILHS today! #ILHLives via ripl.com
Affiliate your union today! #ilhlives via ripl.com
Details to come but this year’s May Day Celebration will be at Haymarket Square! #illinois via ripl.com
Nice way to end the talk with author Richard March.
Music to boot! Room 804! Come down and ask Richard March questions about his new book with Mike Matejka as our moderator.
Nothing like ending a program with solidarity forever! AFSCME AFSCME Council 31 with Larry Spivack and Bucky Halker
New Year's Eve Gala at the Society for the Ar
1112 N Milwaukee AveIntuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider
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Chicago Women's History Center
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Pritzker Military Museum & Library
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Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum
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National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killin
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Tuskegee Airmen Foundation 75th Anniversary o
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