Historical Archive
Historical Articles
Historian Erik Loomis on the Rock Springs Massacre and Class v. Race Identity
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: September 2, 1885. White miners in Rock Springs, Wyoming killed at least 28 Chinese miners. Let's talk about the power of...
Historian Erik Loomis on George Lippard and the Brotherhood of the Union
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: September 1, 1849. The Brotherhood of the Union, an early pro-worker organization, formed. Let's talk about this early...
Roy Reuther: A Brotherly Spirit and Shrewd Mind
A strong believer in democratic participation, Roy Reuther ran voter registration drives and UAW-related political campaigns. In 1960, he was appointed head of the Kennedy National Voter's Registration Committee, where he helped increase voter participation in...
Historian Erik Loomis on the National Miners Union Gallup Strike of 1933
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 29, 1933. The National Miners Union shut down mines in Gallup, New Mexico. This pit Mexican and white miners...
Historian Erik Loomis on the 1963 March on Washington
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 28, 1963. The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom takes place in Washington. Let's talk about the forgotten...
Labor History — 1914 — John D. Rockefeller Sent the National Guard to Kill American Families
The Ludlow Massacre is a dark stain on the fabric of American history. In April 1914, members of Colorado’s National Guard mobilized by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. attacked and set fire to the town of Ludlow. Their intention — to brutally disperse a labor strike for...
Even After Death, Jerry Tucker Inspires Labor Activists
In January of 2013, an obituary of Jerry Tucker, who died of pancreatic cancer a year ago at age 73, characterized the longtime labor activist as “the man who could have saved organized labor.” Tucker might have balked at the suggestion that he...
Anniversary of the founding of the UAW in 1935.
Via the Motor Cities National Heritage Area On August 26, 1935, the United Automobile Workers of America was founded in Detroit. As factory production grew, auto workers faced increasingly dangerous, even fatal working conditions. When the Wagner Act passed in 1935,...
Historian Erik Loomis on William Z. Foster, TUEL, and Communism within the US Labor Movement
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 26, 1922. The Trade Union Educational League under the leadership of William Z. Foster publicly met for the first...
“By Solidarity We Triumph”: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
95 years ago, Pullman porters came together to form a union. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters won union recognition and a contract in a decade-long struggle. Their fight wasn’t just against the Pullman Car Company, but also against racism within the labor...
IUAW President Rory Gamble: “Women’s voices echo in history of labor movement”
August marks a month that salutes women, voting rights and the powerful impact of both on labor. Aug. 6 is the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which more powerfully enforced the 14th and 15th Amendments to our U.S. Constitution and combats voter suppression...
Historian Erik Loomis on A. Phillip Randolph and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 25, 1925. The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was founded. Led by A. Philip Randolph, this labor union became the...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Executions of Anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 23, 1927. Massachusetts executes Sacco & Vanzetti for the murder of two men in 1920. This trial and execution was the...
Historian Erik Loomis on Ada Brown and the Air Line Stewardesses Association
Follow Erik Loomis on TwitterRead Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 22, 1945. Five airline stewardesses, as they were then called, formed the Air Line Stewardesses Association. Let's talk...
Historian Nelson Lichtenstein on Uber/Lyft, Massive Resistance, and the Lockout
Follow Nelson Lichtenstein on Twitter The threat by Uber and Lyft to shut down operations in California has two historical precedents. The first is the "lockout" -- which has a long and ugly history in Anglo-American labor relations. The second precedent --...
Historian Erik Loomis on William Sylvis and the National Labor Union
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 20, 1866. The National Labor Union, the first labor union federation in U.S. history, demanded Congress implement a...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Peterloo Massacre
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 16, 1819. British cavalry charged into a crowd of workers in Manchester, England who had gathered to demand parliamentary...
Historian Erik Loomis on the Construction of the Panama Canal
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 15, 1914. The Panama Canal opens. Let's talk about the labor history of this enormous project. The first real transportation...
Historian Erik Loomis on FDR, the Social Security Act, and the Need to Fight For It Today
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis at Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 14, 1935. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, bringing the modern welfare state to the...
Historian Erik Loomis on Lockouts, the Knights of Labor, and the Anti-Unionism of American Employers
Follow Erik Loomis on Twitter Read Erik Loomis' work on Lawyers, Guns, & Money Historian Erik Loomis on This Day in Labor History: August 13, 1887. Leathermakers in Newark, New Jersey, locked out their employees as a strategy to crush the Knights of Labor....
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