Labor History in 2:00

March 24 - Dorothy Height is Born

On this day in Labor History the year was 1912.  That was the birthday of Dorothy Height, a Civil Rights leader and a champion for black women domestic workers. Domestic workers had largely been left out of the labor protections passed as part of the New Deal.  

March 23 - Wobblies on Trial

On this day in Labor History the year was 1918. That was the day that trial of 101 Industrial Workers of the World began in Chicago. Their alleged crime? Speaking out against US involvement in World War I. 

March 22 - A Big Dam Deal

On this day in Labor History the year was 1941. That was the day that the generators began to operate at one of the most massive construction projects ever built—the Grand Coulee Dam. The dam generates hydro-power from the Columbia River in Washington State.  

March 21 - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid

On this day in Labor History the year was 1960. That was the day of the Sharpeville, Massacre in South Africa. Black South Africans were required to carry identification documents. These passes limited who could live or work in designated “white” areas of the country.  

March 20 - The Birth of the Republican Party

On this day in Labor History the year was 1854. That was the day that the founders of what became the Republican Party met in Ripon, Wisconsin. The idea was to form a new party, opposed to the Southern labor system based on slavery. That July the Republicans held their first convention in Michigan.  

March 19 - The Tree of Solidarity

On this day in Labor History the year was 1834.  That was the day that six Englishmen, who would become known as the Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced to seven years “transportation” to the penal colony of Australia.  Their crime?  Forming a union

March 18 - Dancing in the Streets

On this day in Labor History the year was 1968. That was the day that the staff at radio station KMPX in San Francisco went on strike. The radio station had broken new ground with their “underground rock” format. In 1967, the station hired Tom “Big Daddy” Donahue as a DJ.  

March 17 - The Fight for the Eight Hour Day

On this day in Labor History the year was 1890.  That was the day that the executive council of the American Federation of Labor decided that the Carpenters union should lead a national campaign for the eight-hour day. The cry “eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will!” had been on the lips of working people for more than twenty years. 

March 16 - The Voice of Freedom

“Too long have others spoken for us." Those were the words published On this day in Labor History the year was 1827. This was the message of the co-editors of the Freeman’s Journal, the first black newspaper in the United States. Slavery had been outlawed in New York that same year. 

March 15 - Bruce!

On this day in Labor History the year was 1999. That was the day the Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Rocking Roll Hall of Fame.

Two years later, an article in Rolling Stone magazine read, “For nearly four decades Bruce Springsteen has been a working-class hero: a plainspoken visionary and a sincere romantic whose insights into everyday lives — especially in America's small-town heartland — have earned comparisons to John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie.”