A daily, pocket-sized history of America’s working people, brought to you by The Rick Smith Show team.
On this day in Labor History the year was 1987. That was the day that Rose Will Monroe, one of the women who came to be known as Rosie the Riveter, died in Clarksville, Indiana. She was 77 years old.
On this day in Labor History the year was 1937. That was the day that came to be known as the Republic Steel Massacre or the Memorial Day Massacre, in Chicago, Illinois. Workers had gathered to rally for a union at the Republic Steel Plant. The crowd included men, women and children and began with a festive holiday atmosphere.
Today in Labor History, May 29 Today in Labor History, May 29, the year was 1941. That was the day that the animators at Walt Disney went out on strike. Attempts to organize a union for cartoonists had begun a decade earlier, resulting in the formation of the Screen Cartoonists Guild in 1938.
Today in Labor History, May 28, the year was 1882. That was the day that John Muir, a Scottish American conservationist founded the Sierra Club in San Francisco California. The Sierra Club’s purpose is to "explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth."
Can you imagine if the earth beneath your hometown caught fire and kept on burning for more than half a century? That is what happened in Centralia, Pennsylvania. Today in Labor History, May 27, the year was 1962. Centralia was a mining town with 2,700 residents, built above a rich vein of anthracite coal.
Today in Labor History, May 26, the year was 1824. That day was the first time when women workers in the United States left their jobs and walked out on strike. It happened at the Slater Mill, part of New England’s rapidly growing textile industry.
Today in Labor History, May 25, the year was 1986. That was the day that more than five million people participated in “Hands Across America.” The event was organized to raise money to combat the problems of homelessness and hunger in the United States.
Today in Labor History, May 24, the year was 1949. That was the day a shot gun blast broke through a closed window and struck Victor Reuther, as he sat reading a newspaper in his living room.
Today in Labor History, May 23, the year was 2003. That was the day that the US Senate approved more than 300 billion dollars in tax cuts over the next decade. The cuts barely passed. Vice President Dick Cheney cast the deciding vote, 51-50.
Today in Labor History, May 22, the year was 1969. That was the day that began the first strike of the Chicago Teacher’s Union. The strike lasted three days. It won teachers a $100 per month pay raise.
