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Leadville Irish Miners’ Memorial to be unveiled Saturday
The Leadville Irish Miners’ Memorial – which will be officially unveiled this Saturday, Sept. 16 at 10a -- memorializes the Irish community that once inhabited the east side of Leadville, Colorado. The Irish occupied the bottom rung of Leadville’s social ladder, worked the mines and smelters, loved, struggled, dreamed, and died young. In the early 1880s, nearly 3,000 Irish-born people lived in Leadville and surrounding gulches, scratching out a bare existence, and then moving on to Denver, Cripple Creek, Butte, and the west coast. Twice they led massive strikes, walking out of the silver mines and bringing the Colorado economy to a stop. They demanded a raise from $3 to $4/day, an 8 hr. workday, better safety codes, and the right to organize a union. Hear more about the Memorial on the Labor History Today podcast.
There are two other related events scheduled:
FILM: "The Lost Irish Miners of Leadville"; Wednesday evening, Sept. 13th, at 6:00 pm at Regis University Science Amphitheater (just east of the main entrance to the library), a special screening of the new Rocky Mountain PBS documentary "The Lost Irish Miners of Leadville." The screening will be followed by a panel discussion about immigration, labor, social class, and economic inequality.
EXHIBIT: "Unearthed: Voices of Leadville's Shanty Irish"; Friday, Sept. 15th, from 6:30-8:30 pm, History Colorado will host a reception to celebrate the opening of a new exhibit entitled, "Unearthed: Voices of Leadville's Shanty Irish," at the Healy House, 921 Harrison Ave.
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LHF's comprehensive listing of labor's cultural events: music, films, theater, books, history and more...
Click here to add your labor arts event!
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Objects of Permanence: Installation Spotlighting the Rich Histories of the Puerto Rican and Other Migrant Community Labor Forces in NYC’s Garment Industry
Sep 6 – 14, 2023; Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street)New York, NY 10002
A special installation curated by Mellány Sánchez and presented during New York Fashion Week, seeks to spotlight the rich histories of the Puerto Rican and other migrant community labor forces in New York City’s garment industry.
FILM: The Lost Irish Miners of Leadville
Wed, September 13, 6pm – 8pm; Regis University Science Amphitheater (just east of the main entrance to the library), Denver, CO
EXHIBIT: "Unearthed: Voices of Leadville's Shanty Irish"
Fri, September 15, 6:30pm – 8:30pm; Healy House Museum & Dexter Cabin, 912 Harrison Ave, Leadville, CO 80461
FILM: MY IMAGINARY COUNTRY
Fri, September 15, 7:30pm – 9:30pm; Dryden Theatre, 900 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14607
2023 Rochester Labor Film Series (33rd annual); Ticket info here
Leadville Irish Miners’ Memorial (official ribbon cutting event)
Sat, September 16, 1pm – 3pm; Evergreen Cemetery, Leadville, CO 80461
Musical: Mother Jones in Heaven
Tue, September 19, 7:30pm – 9:30pm; Busboys & Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll Street, Washington DC (map)
FREE but space is limited; click here to reserve your tickets (max 2 per person)
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THIS WEEK’S LABOR HERITAGE POWER HOUR
Run for office, not for coffee, Thursday, September 14, 1p (ET) on WPFW 89.3 FM: hosted by Elise Bryant and Chelsea Bland. A panel of women union leaders, members and elected officials on why and how to run for office. Guests: Laura Wentz, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) State President/City Council member; Joanne Sanders, IATSE & CLUW Executive VP, Emily Snider and Danielle Lewis, IBEW, members of CLUW's Young Women Workers Committee.
If you miss the live show, catch the podcast here (posted after 2p).
photo: Pam Ross, a St Louis CLUW board member, reviews the benefits associated with the job of state representative in an effort to recruit women to run for office at the CLUW Women’s History Brunch. – Labor Tribune photo
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Walking the walk for LHF
Incoming LHF Executive Director Chris Garlock will begin his 200-mile walk along the length of the Thames River in England later this week. $1,500 has already been pledged to his LHF Thames Walk fundraiser (all contributions go to LHF and are tax-deductible); click here to contribute and/or follow his progress and he'll also be posting to LHF's Facebook page.
photo: Chris and his wife Lisa, training earlier this year.
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SAG-AFTRA at the 2023 New York City Labor Day Parade on September 9.
Got picket sign? Email it to us! info@laborheritage.org
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The Workers Song Community Project | The Longest Johns
Got a labor song? Email it to us! info@laborheritage.org
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From UNION MOTHER, a new theatre musical about Mother Jones and the formative years of American labor unions. An abbreviated version was aired on FIREHOUSE THEATER on Sept. 3 and an archive of the program is available here for a limited time (find the September 3 episode at the top of the list after broadcast, then click on the SPEAKER or PLAY ARROW icon).
Kirby Gosnell
Got labor art? Email it to us! info@laborheritage.org
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The Song of the Wage-slave
BY ROBERT W. SERVICE
When the long, long day is over, and the Big Boss gives me my pay,
I hope that it won't be hell-fire, as some of the parsons say.
And I hope that it won't be heaven, with some of the parsons I've met
All I want is just quiet, just to rest and forget.
Read the complete poem here (Poetry Foundation).
Got labor poetry? Email it to us! info@laborheritage.org
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“For the first time since I can remember, workers are recognizing the dignity of another’s work and how someone else’s labor brings value to their lives.” - Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler, quoted in the Sept. 7 LA Times.
photo: Actress/singer Dorothy Pincus, left, and M’Ary Warren, center, also and actress and singer, attend as SAG-AFTRA and WGA rally in August. Members of SAG-Aftra and WGA picketed to support Senate Bill 799 on Thursday morning, which would extend unemployment insurance to striking workers. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Got a labor quote (or joke)? Email it to us! info@laborheritage.org
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Check out this week's Labor History Today podcast, Colorado’s lost strike song; The story of how a popular labor song was lost, and then found. From The Labor Exchange, Colorado's only labor focused radio show, airing on KGNU Community Radio, Mondays at 6:00 PM Mountain Time.
September 13: Eleven AFSCME-represented prison employees, 33 inmates die in the four-day uprising at New York State’s Attica Prison and the retaking of the prison. The uprising caused the nation to take a closer look at prison conditions, for inmates and their guards alike – 1971
September 14: Gastonia, N.C. textile mill striker and songwriter Ella Mae Wiggins, 29, the mother of nine, is killed when local vigilantes, thugs and a sheriff's deputy force the pickup truck in which she is riding off the road and begin shooting – 1929
September 15: Some 5,000 female cotton workers in and around Pittsburgh, Pa. strike for a 10-hour day. The next day, male trade unionists become the first male auxiliary when they gather to protect the women from police attacks. The strike ultimately failed - 1845
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LABOR HISTORY QUIZ OF THE WEEK | |
| Congress passed the Landrum-Griffin Act on Sept 14, 1959: Which of these is NOT true? | | | Last week's quiz: The film "Norma Rae" was based on Crystal Lee Sutton's true story, based on events related to her being fired from her job at the J.P. Stevens plant in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, on May 30, 1973, for "insubordination" after she copied an anti-union letter posted on the company bulletin board. | |
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"The worker must have bread,
but she must have roses, too."
Please CLICK HERE NOW to pledge your financial support to our 2023 program, which this year includes our annual Solidarity Forever Award, the Great Labor Arts Exchange, the DC Labor FilmFest and much more (check out our website for details!).
Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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