Labor History in 2:00

May 1 - May Day 1886

On this day in Labor History the year was 1886. This was the day that began events in Chicago that would make May First the most important day on the calendar for the labor movement across the world.  

April 30 - Coxey’s Army Marches on the Nation’s Capitol

On this day in Labor History the year was 1894. A group of 400-500 unemployed men marched down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the US Capitol. In a buggy at the front of the march rode Jacob Coxey.  

April 29 - The 1963 Bristol Boycott

When you stand up for Civil Rights and Workers Rights you never know how far the struggle may travel. This was the caseon this day in Labor History the year was 1963

April 28 - Workers Memorial Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1971. That was the day that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was founded. Since then OSHA rules have become a powerful tool for the protection of workers health and safety

April 27 - The Lavender Scare

You have probably heard about the Red Scare, when thousands of people lost their jobs in the 1950s for allegedly harboring Communist sympathies. But have you ever heard of the “Lavender Scare” that happened during those same years?  

April 26 - An Act to Protect Free White Labor

In 1848 gold was discovered at John Sutter’s Mill in California. As word spread, fortune seekers from all across the United States and across the world flocked to California in what came to be known as the Gold Rush.  

April 25 - Strikebreaking in South Carolina

On this day in Labor History the year was 1969. 

The Governor of South Carolina sent 1,000 state troopers and National Guardsmen to Charleston.

They were sent there to deal with striking hospital workers who wanted union recognition.  

April 24 - The Deadly Cost of Fashion

On this day in Labor History the year was 2013. 

That was the day of the deadliest workplace disaster in garment industry history. 

More than 1,100 workers lost their lives when a factory complex building collapsed in Bangladesh.  

April 23 - Remembering Ida Mae Stull

On this day in Labor History the year was 1980. That was the day that Ida Mae Stull passed away.

She is widely considered to be the first woman coal miner in United States history.  

April 22 - Remembering Hazel Dickens

On this day in Labor History the year was 2011. 

That was the day the labor movement lost one of its most poignant voices. 

Hazel Dickens was born in Mercer County, West Virginia in 1935.  It was coal country.